Getting your child a passport for international travel
Doing paperwork for our children is one of life’s many pleasures.
That was sarcasm…
When it comes to getting your child a passport, it must be renewed every five years and must be done in person with BOTH parents present or with a notarized form explicitly giving the other parent permission to submit an application. (Adult passports can be renewed by mail)
When my daughter was a baby, we went through the process and to be honest - it was kind of a pain in the butt. We were sent away TWICE for passport pictures that were not satisfactory to the passport officer. Mind you… we took the photos “professionally” at the nearest Longs Drugs.
This time, I made sure to bring the professional pictures from Longs ($17), but I also took my own pictures and simply had them printed at Longs ($0.26). I knew that I could return the “professional” shots for a full refund if we didn’t use them (from experience).
Soooo, what must be done in order to get your child a passport?
First, fill out the form online. Here is a link for the application online. For children under the age of 16, a new application (DS11 form) must be filled out. You can access that HERE.
Both parents must be present, OR you can fill out the DS3053 form by tapping HERE.
A single 2” x 2” passport photo is all you need. You can use THIS WEBSITE to upload your own pictures and edit them to your satisfaction. They download as a set of four pictures. This is useful for those of you that experience what I did - only one of the four images I printed was without flaws. Once the file is downloaded to your computer, put it on a thumb drive or airdrop it to your phone. Then, take to your nearest photo center to print as a 4” x 6”. I tried to print mine at home but my printer had some issues. Printing at a photo center was a much safer option and the cost was minimal. Travel.gov also has a handy guide which you can access HERE.
A birth certificate with both parents names on it.
The cost is $100 dollars for a new passport. An additional $60 for expedited service (5-7 weeks… although we got ours in 2 weeks). And an additional $19.53 for rush shipping (1-2 days). When I did this in 2021 (at a Hawaii State library), I could only pay by personal check or money order. In 2022, I made my appointment at the post office and they allowed me to pay the full amount via credit card. To be safe, I would recommend coming armed with a personal check - just in case.
The processing fee is $35 paid directly to the passport facility at which you made your appointment. You can pay by cash or check.
Make sure to bring your ID (parent).
Make an appointment. This can be easy as pie or extremely difficult… it all depends on the demand in your area at the time. In 2021, we were in a time crunch and needed an appointment ASAP. We called all of the post offices on Maui and each of them directed us to THIS WEBSITE to book an appointment. There were no appointments. If you run into the same problem as us, you can check THIS WEBSITE for a list of acceptance facilities. Many local libraries or schools take passport appointments. Another option is to go to the post office during their “passport fair,” or simply go to the post office and see if they will fit you in between scheduled appointments. I’m told if you have a confirmed flight, they are more likely to fit you in. This year (2022), time was on our side. We accessed the website I mentioned above to book an appointment at our local post office. There were multiple openings and the appointment only took 30 minutes (for two passports). Keep in mind, even if your passport appointment is for a baby - they MUST be present. It took all of me not to burst out laughing when they addressed her directly, “do you swear that all of the information provided, to your knowledge, is true.”
IF YOU NEED AN EXPEDITED PASSPORT, keep these things in mind. If you do the expedited service they do not guarantee that you will get your passport before your flight. They give you a window of time in which it is probable that you will receive your passport (5-7 weeks). I’ve heard the typical time is usually 2-3 weeks but again - it’s not guaranteed. IF YOUR FLIGHT IS WITHIN TWO WEEKS, and you have a BOOKED, CONFIRMED FLIGHT (there are also exceptions due to illness, death, emergency, etc…) you can go to the passport agency in your area (for Hawaii, it’s the Honolulu Passport Agency). You can call 13 days prior to your confirmed travel departure date to make an appointment and they GUARANTEE to get you the passport before you leave. Click HERE for a link. If you expedited your passport but you still haven’t received it within two weeks of your departure date, you can contact the National Passport Agency to get an update.
Once your application has been submitted you can check THIS WEBSITE to view the status of your passport.
Those are the steps! Hopefully, that was a helpful list for you as you prepare to renew or get a first passport for your child.
Personally, we booked our appointment on a neighbor island. We drove to Lahaina, hopped on the Expeditions Lanai Ferry ($50 round trip/adult + $20 round trip/child). You will need to get to Lanai City somehow and there is ONE uber on the island and it may not be available. The best suggestion is to call ahead to book a shuttle ($10 each way). It will drop you off in town and you can walk down to the Lanai Public School Library (they might even drop you off in front). There are places to eat and a couple of grocery stores. The restaurants, for the most part, are cash only. There is a bank where you can withdraw cash (speaking from experience - I had NO cash 😂). The appointment itself will likely take all of ten minutes, so you will likely have time to catch the next shuttle back down to the beach and hang out in the sun until the next ferry departs. I believe we caught the 9:30am ferry there and the 2:30pm ferry back. It was a long day with a six-year-old but also a fun adventure!
Happy traveling!!