grahamb

IIRC, Ireland says the same on our son's passport.

He's travelled into a couple of countries that require landing cards to be completed and I've never signed on his behalf and never had any problems.

whlinder

Thanks for all the info. I guess I will go with what the State dept. website says. I suppose I should have looked there first.

evdog19

In Canada, infants' passports specifically state that a signature is not required.

jsnydcsa

FWIW - A Recent Infant U.S. Passport Experience

On October 1, 2008, we applied for our newborn's (5 weeks old) U.S. Passport at a U.S. Post Office in the Northern Virginia, U.S. area. The Post Office was a sleepy operation on the public side of what appeared to be a postal distribution hub (we're new to the area). LOTS of PO boxes but only a small service counter and passport application office. The P.O. staff kept the baby's birth cert with the application and assured my wife and I that it would be returned. They were pretty strict about the two parents being present rule. My wife had to run out to the car and the postal clerk waited until she returned to continue the process. Even though note required, postal clerk asked us for two ID's each.

We expected the worst throughout the entire process and expected everything from a rejected application, to unacceptable photos, to lengthy delays, to you-name-it-the-bureaucracy-is-a-mess hassles and issues.

At least our child kept eyes open at the photo shop (digital camera made it easy to get a good shot). High marks to Penn Camera in the D.C. Area. And, we had extra copies of the birth certificate.

Shockingly, on Friday October 10, 2008, I returned home and the mail contained both the baby's passport and, in separate postal envelope, the birth certificate.

Passport's issuance date was October 8, 2008.

Valid for five years (when the kid is 4, I have no doubt we'll get quizzical looks at passport control). Never thought they would let it be valid for the full five years. While State's web site says five years, it hinted at possibly lower. I thought someone might say two, three years for such a newborn infant. But, whatever.

Passport came via U.S.P.S. Priority Mail. Birth Cert came via regular mail. We did NOT pay for expedited service of any sort nor include anything for expedited shipment back. Moreover, our travel plans are several months off so we could not even say travel was imminent to get it rushed.

Strangely, on the same date the thing arrived (Oct. 10), I checked the status of the application online and came up with zero. Perhaps I mis-entered the baby's info.

So, FWIW, this could be a very simple, fast process. Less than 1 1/2 weeks from start to finish.

Or, not.

Now, on to his dual-citizenship country. The consulate here tells us 6 months for the citizen born abroad application, then wait another 6 months for the passport. So, check back in about 1 year for the status of that application.

jonesing

Minor passports are valid for 5 years, no matter the age of the child. The only exception is the situation where the passport for is needed but the birth certificate isn't available (the child is a newborn baby and b/c hasn't been issued, child is being adopted but without finalized adoption decree the state won't re-issue a new b/c naming the new parents etc) in which case it is possible to get a "Limited Passport" which is valid for only one year. The procedures for this are spelled out in the Consular Affairs Manual.

BTW It turns out that Wal-Mart has an "ID/passport" photo setting on their self-serve Kodak photo printing systems. We used our own digital camera and took baby's photo (in infant carrier draped with a white sheet) and then printed the photos off the Kodak machine. Cost was the standard 29 cents for a 4x6 print which contained six 2x2 photos.

cricketdog

jsnydcsa - did you need your child's social security number/card to get the passport? I'm worried that waiting for the social security card to arrive before we apply for the passport will add a lot of time to the process.

jsnydcsa

I wouldn't say we "need[ed]" the SS #. We had the number and the card and included the number on the passport application. The only infant related document the postal worker asked for was the infant's birth certificate. She did not "check" the SS# on the application against the infant's SS card. We had the card at the ready if she wanted to check it.

That said, the child was born in D.C. In my experience the D.C. government is far from the most efficient government operation I've encountered. At the hospital (in late August 2008) we completed a birth cert form at the hospital and the hospital submitted it to D.C. along with (I think it was a check box on the birth cert form) a request to forward the birth to SSA and request a SS#. Baby born late August, and actual physical SS card received middle- to late-Sept (which, in my opinion, impliedly meant the birth was recorded at D.C.'s birth registry). Not bad in my humble opinion for D.C. I walked over to D.C. birth registry and walked out in about 20 mins with a copy of my son's birth cert. (How quaint, the office still had a safe).

cricketdog

Thanks Jsnydcsa! I think we'll try it without the social security card.

6rugrats

A social security number is a requirement to obtain a passport, even for an infant. Reading your other posts, I see you have not had your child yet. To expedite receiving your baby's SSN, be sure to apply for one when you also apply for the birth certificate while in the hospital. If you don't do it at that time, and apply later at a Social Security office, it can take up to 12 weeks to get the card.

jsnydcsa had a SSN for their child. You do not have to bring the original card, but you will need the number.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get...inors_834.html

hfly

Yes, and as I said a long while ago one can write 000-00-0000 in that slot and MAY be contacted at some point (most likely 2-20 years later) by the IRS asking to supply the number. One could also make up almost ANY 9 digit number and then correct it later.

BillScann

This is 100% incorrect information.
You do not need a SSN to get a passport.
If you have a SNN, you must put the number in on the form. If you have no SSN, than you should write 000-00-0000 in the space provided. Neither of my children have SSNs and both have passports.

hfly

All the relevent information ever needed on the subject was written here three years ago. Anyother information added this last week or so is just imparting the exact SAME information along with the EXACT same inaccuracies.

ansatzjp

Has anyone ever "hand-carried" a passport application to "U.S. Passport Agency"? I need a passport really quickly for my infant and was thinking the following procedure.

1. Visit a local post office with my infant baby and spouse to have a clerk there to check documents and to place them in a sealed envelope.

2. Hand-carry the sealed envelope to one of "U.S. Passport Agencies," which is about 100 miles away in my case.

3. Get the passport on the very same day.

According to various "get-passport-quickly" websites, they're hand-carrying certified applications to Passport agencies (for instance, http://www.timelyvisa.com/pa_4.html), but I am not sure whether I can do it by myself. After all, I don't want to drive 200 miles with my infant baby.

rsolomon

What's "really quickly"?

You can get an appointment with a passport agency *IFF* your travel is within 14 days.....

http://www.travel.state.gov/passport...sing_1740.html

Richard

ansatzjp

I know I can get a passport on the very same day if I go to one of the passport agencies (of course with a ticket departing within two weeks.) The problem is that I do not want to drive 200 miles with my 3-week-old infant baby (babies need to apply in person.)

Rather I was looking into the option where we (me, spouse, and baby) appear in person at a local post office, have an agent there to certify all the docs, and then I drive alone to a passport agency.

Would this work? Or is this option applicable only to those get-passport-quickly companies?