Our second son, Jet, was born several weeks ago. Of course as a travel geek, one of my first (non-urgent) orders of business was getting him his passport, even if we don’t have any immediate plans to travel internationally with him.
In this post, I’d like to outline the general process of applying for a newborn baby’s first passport, as I figure it’s something other parents (or soon-to-be parents) might find useful.
Our experience applying for a newborn’s passport
What’s the process like of applying for a baby’s first passport? It definitely requires some attention to detail, but it’s a bit easier than you might expect. There are a few key things to understand:
- You need the baby’s birth certificate before you can apply for a passport; this is typically mailed to the parents after birth, and it can take up to a few weeks for it to arrive
- Once you’ve received your baby’s birth certificate, I’d recommend first making a passport appointment, as this typically requires at least a couple of weeks notice (though sometimes you can find last minute appointments)
- Once you’ve completed the application, both parents need to submit the documents at a passport acceptance facility; fortunately many post offices are acceptance facilities, so most people shouldn’t have to go far to do this
- You can expect that it will take four to six weeks for standard processing, two to three weeks for expedited processing, and if you have travel within 14 days, you can get it expedited even faster; you can find current processing times here
- Once issued, the passport is valid for five years
With that out of the way, let me share my experience, in the order in which I went through this process. I want to note that the Department of State actually has a great webpage that lays out the process, which I’d recommend referencing.
Getting a passport application appointment
Once you have your baby’s birth certificate, I’d recommend first making an appointment at a passport acceptance facility. This includes everything from post offices, to city halls, to libraries, to the county clerk’s office. For most people this should be pretty close by.
For us, the first appointment was available just five days out, which was great. So as soon as we received Jet’s birth certificate, we made an appointment. After all, filling out the paperwork and getting all the documents in order doesn’t take very long, so the wait for an appointment is often the limiting factor.
Filling out passport application & collecting documents
If you’re applying for a passport for a newborn, you need to fill out form DS-11. You can either download this as a PDF and then handwrite everything in, or alternatively you can use the form filler feature. I went with the latter option. You’ll of course want to make sure that you quadruple check everything.
Once you print the page, you’re not allowed to make any changes in handwriting, so you’d have to complete the form all over again.
You can find all the required documents on this page, as there are in some cases multiple options for documents you can submit. In our case, we collected the following documents to bring to the passport acceptance facility:
- A certified copy of the birth certificate, plus a photocopy of it; this kills two birds with one stone, as it provides US citizenship evidence for the baby, and also proves parental relationship
- Both parents need to present a form of ID, plus a photocopy of it, so we both presented our passports, as well as photocopies of our passports
- If both parents can attend the appointment then there’s no need to prove parental consent beyond that, while if only one parent can attend, there’s additional paperwork that needs to be filled out
Taking a passport photo for a newborn baby
You must provide a passport sized photo of your baby, and you can find the requirements for that here. If you have a newborn, this is kind of a hilarious exercise, since photographing a baby that’s a few weeks old isn’t exactly easy (good luck getting them to open their eyes, never mind that they can’t support their own neck).
At a time when Jet was awake and alert, we had him lie down on a white sheet. That seemed easier than trying to get him to sit up and hold his neck in front of a white background. Maybe I’m just biased, but the passport photo is possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s probably weird to share here, but new parents might just have some fun with this. We then went to a drugstore to have it printed in passport size.
It’s hilarious to think that this will be his passport photo until the age of five.
Paying fees for a new passport
There are of course costs associated with applying for a new passport, and this requires some preparation in advance. The passport acceptance facility charges a $35 fee, which you can typically pay with credit card, debit card, or cash. That’s easy.
The trickier part is paying the Department of State. Currently you can expect to pay the following:
- The cost for a passport book is $100, while the cost for a passport card is $15; so both would cost $115
- If you want to expedite the application, that costs an extra $60
- If you want to have your passport mailed to you expedited (within one to two days), that costs an extra $22.05
This needs to be paid either by check or money order, made out to “U.S. Department of State.” Sometimes the passport acceptance facility can also get you a money order, but you’ll want to check based on where your appointment is.
Submitting your passport application
We made our appointment at a post office. The process was painless but a bit disorganized. There’s not actually a dedicated area for passport appointments, but rather you just wait in the general line. When it was our turn, we informed the employee we were applying for a passport, and she offered to help us. It makes me wonder if you actually even need an appointment, or can just walk in.
The whole process took maybe five minutes. She just reviewed our documents, our passports, and filled in the section of the application that is supposed to be completed by an official. She “awwwwed” at the passport photo, looked at him (even though he was sound asleep), and then sent us on our way.
Tracking the status of your passport application
We applied for Jet’s passport on July 18. You can track a passport application here, though it can take two weeks from the date of application for it to even show as being “In Process.” To track the application, you’ll need the last name, date of birth, and last four digits of the social security number for the applicant.
We submitted an expedited application, which in theory is supposed to arrive within two to three weeks. The passport arrived in the mail on July 29, so it ended up taking well under two weeks. Awesome — we’ll take it!
Bottom line
Applying for an infant’s first passport is more straightforward than you might expect. Just wait for the baby’s birth certificate to arrive, then make an appointment at a passport acceptance facility, then complete the application, then have fun taking a passport photo, then attend the appointment, and then wait.
The whole process was painless, and it would have been even more painless if I had a printer or a check book. With our request for an expedited passport, it took well under two weeks for it to arrive in the mail, which is great.
Next up we need to apply for Global Entry, since infants can’t go through immigration based on their parents being members. On the plus side, at least kids can be added to Global Entry for free nowadays, in conjunction with an adult. Anyway, I’ll report back with our experience with that process!
If you’ve applied for a passport for an infant, what was your experience like?
