Minimum age for passport

malky800

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 12:42 am

Travelling out of the US requires a passport.
Any idea what is the minimum age for requirements for passport? Do I need a passport for my newborn? How long can I push it off? 6 months, or by then I need one?

brbs

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 12:47 am

You can get a passport as soon as you have the birth certificate. All we needed for my daughters was her birth certificate a picture of her face, and both parents present to sign the forms in front of the officer. (we did it at the passport office in Philly)

SuperMama

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 12:57 am

I would assume you need a passport for a newborn especially if you are traveling out of the country. I mean, how would they know you were not stealing/kidnapping a baby out of their country and posing it to be your own? I'm not saying you would ch'v do this, but from the govt's point of view.... People do this all the time, especially during divorces or for the underage working or sadly the female children trade..

Marion

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 1:18 am

From a newborn. We have one (waiting to get it back in its extended form) for my son from when he was about 3 weeks old. Cute pics. He doesn't look like that anymore though.

drumjj

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 4:31 am

u cant fly any where without a passport even for a newborn

Mama2two

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 4:44 am

in israel u need to have an apt. for a newborn so you need to make one way in advance. I made one when I was in my 4th month. my baby was over two weeks late so by her appointment was only six days old. when she was five days old we went to take her for passport pics and was impossible to get her to wake up. of course the one time I was out of the house and anyways couldnt sleep, but the car put her to sleep. anyways we went crazy we got her completely undressed in this cold passport pic store....at the end after about an hour we got one of her crying but at least her eyes were open. it's nuts you can't have child's eyes closed, need bothe ears....and cannot have parent's hand in pic. so imagine trying to hold a six day old sitting up with your hand on her lower stomach. was nuts!!!!!!!! and then when I got home my sis in law told me that you can just lay baby down on white sheet and take pics at home on a digital and then just bring the camera to the store and they will develope it into the right size. so no matter what age, if it's a young infant-find a store in your area that will do that for you. there is one in Geula someone told me about. anyways good luck to you! and if you're from israel there is a passport appointment gemach thru agudah that is helpful.

pinktichel

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 4:51 am

drumjj wrote:

u cant fly any where without a passport even for a newborn

If I'm not mistaken, they changed the law (in the States) after 9/11. We flew when my baby was 8 weeks and had to get her a passport.

yOungM0mmy

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 5:00 am

Mama2two wrote:

In england you also need an appointment if you want a passport within 7 days, so I also made an appointment for my son before he was born, since we were flying when he was 10 days old. The day after he was born, after he came home from the hospital, DH took him to a local pharmacy that does passport pics, and they have a little white matress which they lay the baby on. Also, for a newborn, the eyes do not have to be open.

pinktichel

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 5:06 am

pinktichel wrote:

drumjj wrote:

u cant fly any where without a passport even for a newborn

If I'm not mistaken, they changed the law (in the States) after 9/11. We flew when my baby was 8 weeks and had to get her a passport.

Just realized you wrote CAN'T. I thought you wrote CAN. These sleepless nights are really getting to me. Rolling Eyes

greentiger

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 5:10 am

Yeah I never heard of being allowed to fly without a passport at any age.

pinktichel

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 5:22 am

greentiger wrote:

Yeah I never heard of being allowed to fly without a passport at any age.

The law before 9/11 was that a newborn (not sure till what age) was able to fly on its parents passport. Nowadays, every human being who wishes to fly to another country needs to have a passport of his/her own regardless of age.

Marion

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 5:44 am

yOungM0mmy wrote:

Mama2two wrote:

I don't know what process you are talking about. In Israel you walk in with 2 pics, a birth certificate, and the fee, and you walk out with a passport or a registered mail tracking number (it depends on which office you go to).

For Canadian passports you absolutely cannot take your own passport picture. The photo needs to be on a white background. For DS we put a very light blue/white blanket over the lining of the infant carseat and "sat" him in that for the 30 seconds it takes to take the photo. (The other thing we did, for the Israeli photo, was I put DS into my carrier, so no hands showed. If it had needed to be a light colour we would have done the blanket over the shirt thing there too.) No appointment necessary, just show up during working hours of the consulate.

For a US passport you may need an appointment, I wouldn't know. But almost for sure they don't allow you to take the photo themselves.

greentiger

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 5:57 am

If you do it right then you can also take the US passport picture yourself. I did it for my baby's visa. I held her up in front of the wall and had my hasband take a few pictures of her. He took the memory card to someone who knows the requirements and picked out whichever one would be most sutible and prited it to the right size. Muuuuch easier than shleping a newborn to a photo studio. (btw you can do this with you own passport pictures too. Theere is no actual requirement that it needs to be taken by a "professional")

mummy-bh

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 6:08 am

greentiger wrote:

Don't try this if you are applying for a UK passport. The photographic requirements are so insanely strict (less so for a newborn). I had an application returned to me because the photo wasn't quite right for them (and the picture had been taken by a professional "passport approved" studio - you can bet I asked for my money back)

yo'ma

Fri, Nov 21 2008, 6:16 am

mummy-bh wrote:

Where do you drop it off? In the states, usually a passport agent would look at it and approve the picture.

Speaking of passports...the is from the readers digest.
At 82 years old, my husband applied for his first passport. He was told he would need a birth certificate, but his birth had never been officially registered.
When he explained his dilemma to the passport agent, the response was less than helpful. "It's all right," the agent said. "Just bring a notarized affidavit from the doctor who delivered you."