Passports for Study Abroad

No matter what type of educational experience you’ll have overseas, there’s one thing for certain: you are going to need to have a passport!  Any time you travel internationally by air, you must have a valid passport book.  If you don’t have a passport yet, G3 Passports can help you get one quickly.  Students age 15 and under will need to get a minor passport.  This type of passport is valid for five years, and requires the formal consent of both parents or legal guardians.  If you are 16 or over, you can get an adult passport valid for ten years.  There are some special requirements for passport applicants who are age 16 or 17… if that applies to you, check out our article for all the details.

Types of Study Abroad

Before we begin our discussion of visas for study abroad, let’s consider the different kinds of educational trips you might make.

• Enrolling in a foreign school or university.  You are attending an accredited school for a full term or longer. You’ll be earning credits toward graduating from the school in the foreign country.
• Participating in an educational exchange program.  You’ll remain officially enrolled in your school in the US, but you’ll travel overseas and attend classes at an accredited school in the foreign country.  The credits you’ll earn will count toward your graduation from the US school.
• Doing a semester abroad program. Much like an educational exchange program, you’ll remain enrolled in and earning credits from your school in the states.
• Taking classes at a non-accredited school.  Going to India for yoga teacher training?  Or to Thailand to study Thai massage?  Spending a month in Costa Rica taking Spanish classes?  These educational trips are different because you won’t be earning credits toward a high school, college, or higher degree.
• Taking a school trip. You’re making a short trip overseas with a school or club group.
• Participating in an amateur sports competition or artistic performance overseas. Your team has been invited to participate in an event overseas, but you won’t be earning any money or school credit for your participation.

Will You Need a Visa for Your Study Abroad?

Whether or not you’ll need a visa to study abroad will depend on a number of factors, including what country you’re going to, how long you’ll be there, and what kind of trip you’ll be making.  There’s no one-size-fits-all answer!  You may need a student visa, or a tourist visa, or possibly even no visa at all.  The visa experts at G3Visas.com can help you figure out if you will need a visa for your international educational adventure.

The post Get a Passport for Your Study Abroad appeared first on G3Passports.

That’s a trick question.  Minor passports — US passports that are issued to children under age 16 — can’t actually be renewed.  Instead, you’ll need to go through the same issuance procedure that you did the first time your child was issued a passport.

Minor Passports Are Only Valid for Five Years

Unlike adult passports, which are valid for ten years, passports for children are only valid for five years.  Why?  For one thing, children change in appearance very quickly.  If you get a passport for your daughter when she is two, she’s going to look quite different by the time she turns seven!

Passports for children also have a limited validity to help protect against international child abduction.  The US Government wants to make sure that both parents approve of their child having a passport.  The quicker expiration means that every five years, the government can re-confirm that both parents want their child to be able to travel out of the country.

Applying for Your Child’s Second or Third Passport

Depending on how early you get your child his first passport, you may need to apply for a new minor passport two or three times before he turns 15.  The procedure is exactly the same.  You’ll need to gather all the required documents and take your child to the Passport Acceptance Agent.  The parental consent requirements remain the same — both parents or legal guardians need to go in person to the Passport Acceptance Facility, or if one parent can’t attend, he or she will need to sign and notarize form DS-3053.

You’ll need to submit all the same documents, with one addition: you must submit your child’s expiring passport.  (If your child has a passport card, you’ll need to send that in, too.)  The passport will be marked cancelled and returned to you.

Is the Original Birth Certificate Required When You Renew a Minor Passport?

Yes, you’ll need to submit both the expiring passport and your child’s original birth certificate!  If you’re applying for an adult passport, the birth certificate is used to prove your US citizenship.  You have the option of submitting a previous passport instead of the birth certificate, if you have one.  Your old passport also is a proof of US citizenship. However, for a child’s passport application, the birth certificate isn’t just used to prove citizenship.  It’s also needed as proof of your relationship to your child!

Don’t worry, you’ll get back both the birth certificate and your child’s old passport when the new passport is issued.

What Happens When Your Child Turns 16?

My oldest son is currently on his third and final minor passport.  His first passport was issued when he was a one-year-old baby, the second when he was 6, and the third when he was 11.  His current passport will expire when he’s 16.  Even though he’ll be eligible for an adult passport, he still won’t be able to renew his current passport. He’ll need to apply for his first adult passport instead.

It’s convenient that my son will be able to get his first adult passport shortly after he turns 16, but what if we’d applied for his most recent passport when he was 14?  That would mean that his minor passport would be valid until he’s 19.  Even after turning 16, he’d be able to use that minor passport until it expires.

Do you have questions about minor passports?  Stay tuned, we’ll be talking about children’s passports all month here on the G3passports.com blog!

The post Can You Renew a Minor Passport? appeared first on G3Passports.

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.