Although it may seem a little ridiculous to some people, anyone with an infant must have an infant passport in order to be able to cross a border with a child. There are actually some very good reasons for this and it is actually for the children’s protection, not to make the parent’s life more difficult. There are some exceptions to the process, but it is very similar to what adults are already familiar with in order to get their passports.
There are plenty of people that merely shake their head as the prospect of having to have a passport for their child. First and foremost, it is still a matter of national security. If children were able to come in and out of the country with no checks and balances, pure chaos could ensue. As any parent can imagine, this could lead to plenty of legal problems.
Something else to consider are such horrible things as human trafficking and kidnapping. Believe it or not, this happens with parents of children who are trying to get away from another parent. The angry mother who has just lost her child custody case or perhaps the father that has disappeared to another country and suddenly shows up and wants his child back.
The process of getting a passport for an infant has a few extra steps from a standard passport, but it is nothing that is overly inconvenient. The obvious point is that a baby is not going to be able to fill out their own forms, so the parents are going to have to take on this task. They are also going to have to get passport photos, just like the ones that are on adult passports.
Likewise, an infant will not be able to sign his or her passport. This is a bit more significant than the child’s inability to fill out an application. In situations where a child is too young to sign his or her own name on their passport the parent must co-sign the passport.
In order for the co-signature to be valid, the parent will have to sign their child’s name and then their name next to it along with their relationship. In other words, it would read: child’s name, parents’ signature and then mother, father or guardian in parenthesis. The ideal situation would be that the parent that is signing the passport would actually be accompanying the child on the trip. This could alleviate any challenges that may be faced going through customs.
When a child that is under the age of 16 is getting a passport, there must be permission given by both parents. For married couples, this is obviously not a problem. However, if the parents are divorced or separated and living far away from each other, they still have to have both signatures on the form. This is done so one parent does not just leave the country with the child without the other parent knowing about it.
It may have seemed a little silly before reading all of this as to why an infant US passport is required, but it should be clear now. Unfortunately, international travel is not always about business or fun. There are a lot of people with ulterior motives that would love to be able to get children in and out of countries with no records being kept. While it can take some time, infant American passports are a necessity and always will be.