Parental Consent for Teenager’s Passports

Until your child’s 16th birthday, getting a US passport requires the specific consent of both parents.  You can give your consent for your child’s passport by accompanying your child to the Passport Acceptance Agent.  If both parents go in person to the Passport Acceptance Facility, great!  If one of you can’t go, you’d have to sign and notarize form DS-3053, the official Statement of Consent.

For teens age 16 and 17, full parental consent is not required.  What’s needed instead is called “parental awareness.”  16- and 17- year-olds need to show that their parents know that they have applied for a passport.  There are two ways to demonstrate parental awareness for your teenager’s passport request:

• Accompany your teen to the Passport Acceptance Agent.
• Write a letter addressed to “US Department of State, Passport Agency” stating that you wish for your child to be issued a passport.  This letter should be signed in ink.  Submit a copy of your passport or driver’s license along with the letter.

Under State Department regulations, teens age 16 or 17 only need to show parental awareness from one parent, but in our experience, it’s better to have it from both parents.  Some Passport Acceptance Agents are over-cautious and unwilling to execute passport applications from teens unless than have confirmation from both parents.

Identification Requirements for Teen Passport Applicants

When your teen goes to the Passport Acceptance Facility, they will need to show official identification. The following documents can all be used as proof of identity:

• State issued driver’s license
• State issued learner’s permit
• State issued non-driver ID
• Passport book (even if recently expired)
• Passport card (even if expired)

If your teen doesn’t have any of those official IDs, they will need to submit a combination of secondary forms of identification, such as a school ID card, Social Security Card, work ID card, health insurance card, or club membership card.

Passport Renewals for Teens

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a passport renewal for a teenager.  Even if your teen has a passport that was issued before he or she turned 16, it can’t be renewed.  Instead, the new adult passport process must be used.  Only passports that were issued after the applicant turned 16 can be renewed.

The good news is that you’ll only need to go through this once. By the time your teenager’s passport expires, he’ll be well over age 18 and able to get a new passport via the much simpler passport renewal process!

The post Teenager’s Passports: How to Get a New Passport for Teens Age 16-17 appeared first on G3Passports.

Tip 1: Keep an eye on your Child’s Passport validity.

If the whole family applied for passports at the same time, bear in mind that the kids’ passports are going to expire long before mom and dad’s! Minor passports issued to US citizens age 15 and under are valid for only 5 years, rather than the 10 years issued to adults.

Another important thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a passport renewal for kids! Only adult passports – the ten-year passports issued to travelers age 16 and older – can be renewed. Kids who are still under age 16 will need to go through the minor passport procedure again to get a new passport. If your son or daughter is now 16 or older, the new adult passport procedure will be used to issue their new passport.

Tip 2: Plan your visit to the Passport Acceptance Agent.

When a child applies for a US passport, both parents will have to demonstrate that they want the child’s passport to be issued. The easiest way to do this is to have both parents accompany the child to the Passport Acceptance Agent. (If only one parent can accompany the child, the other parent will have to complete Form DS-3503 and have it notarized.) Passport Acceptance Agents are typically located in major post offices, or at other government facilities such as Clerk of the Court offices, and most of them require appointments to be scheduled in advance. We recommend that you plan your visit to the Passport Acceptance Agent to make it convenient for the whole family. Perhaps it’s most efficient for you to go to a location near your office, or one near your child’s school so she doesn’t have to miss too many classes. Some locations also have evening hours, which are great for working parents!

Tip 3: Consider taking your young child’s passport photo yourself.

A school age child can be trusted to sit patiently on a photographer’s stool to have a passport photo taken, but what if you have a wiggly toddler, or a tiny baby who can’t sit up yet? If you have a digital camera, or even a smartphone with a good camera, you can take your child’s passport photo yourself. You can format the photo to State Department specifications by uploading it into their photo cropping tool online or by using a website like PassportPhoto4You. You can then print your photo yourself if you have a good color printer and photo paper, or you can have it printed at a drug store or office supply store that offers photo printing services.

Here are our tips to get a good passport photo of your child:

• Take the photo in a well-lit area, against a plain white wall or blanket. There should not be anything in the background of the photo, or any shadows across your child’s face. For young babies, we recommend having the baby lie on a white sheet or blanket on the floor, while you snap the photo from above.
• Your child’s head should be bare – no hats or headbands.
• There should be no other items in the photo with your child – no chairs, toys, pacifiers, bottles, or parent’s hands!
• Your child should look straight at the camera and have a relatively neutral expression. Both eyes should be open, but the State Department is often lenient about this requirement for newborn babies.
• Take a lot of photos and choose a cute one!

The post Minor Passports: Our Top Three Tips appeared first on G3Passports.