Knowledge Share

It seems that many people have the misconception that very young children and infants do not need passports. This is simply not true, and this misinformation could result in a child being denied travel at an airport. This type of misinformation often results in parents scrambling to get their child a passport at the last minute. Luckily, the U.S. State Departments provides channels to secure an expedited passport for children.

As with any type of passport, it is important to become familiar with U.S. passport law before acquiring a child passport. First of all, passports are required for any non-government international travel by U.S. citizens. This includes all citizens, even children and infants.

While there is one set of rules as they pertain to adults and there are specialty laws that pertain to children. One of the concerns of authorities is that a parent will unknowingly flee the country with a child. This is why both parents must sign a consent in order for the child to be able to get their passport. Doing this gives a little more reassurance that both parents know about the travel, even if the child is only traveling with one parent.

This means that when a passport for a child is in the process of being obtained, there is actually an extra step that is required in the process. This is important to know because the process is already a bit time consuming. Adding this extra obstacle means that more time should be allotted for the overall process.

The first step for a child at that point, just as it would be for an adult, is to get a valid passport photo taken. Because of the rush, it is probably best to utilize the one-hour photo shops that do passport photos. Let them know specifically that the photo is for an express passport and they make it the proper size.

The dual-parent consent form must also be signed prior to filling out the application. This can be difficult if both parents are not in the same area. This is often the most difficult aspect of obtaining an expedited child passport. However, if both parents are able to sign the consent form, then the child’s passport application becomes very much the same as an adult passport application.

The normal process of a passport is around two months. If the trip is going to happen inside of that time frame, it is best to pay the $60 to get the expedited service that will have the passport back in about three weeks. If that is still not quick enough, there are other services that are more expensive that will create an even quicker turnaround time.

When traveling abroad, it is best to have all the ducks in a row so that there are no issues at the last second. However, it is perfectly understandable to see how a child’s passport could slip the mind of the parents that they would need to get an expedited child’s passport. When this happens, know that there are several measures in place to make the express passport process as easy as it can be with the added pressure of a short turnaround time.

Technorati Tags: expedited child passport, expedited child us passport, expedited childs passport