Sep 7 2011
Passports For Minors: The Way To Get One For Your Kid
The passport for your children is literally their ticket to see the world. To be in other countries is simply a bigger and more valuable learning experience than the classroom. Interacting with people who are not your children’s countrymen, visiting the places they may have known only from books and from television, broadens their horizons. Travel actually makes them better persons. If you want to give all this to your children, you need to give them their passports. USA Passports for minors are similar to what adults have. The only difference is how to apply for them. You will find out that it applying for a passport is not really a difficult process.
A personal appearance at the passport office is required for all applicants of all ages, even if applying for a replacement American passport. A parent or a guardian, when asked to appear at the passport acceptance center, must accompany all minors below 16 years old. Children 16 or 17 years old may show up unaccompanied by adults but they must be able to show other documents proving parental consent allowing them to travel. All applicants need a filled-up Application for a US Passport or Form DS 11 when applying. This form is free and can be downloaded from the Internet.
When you are ready to submit the passport application for your child, the document that will be asked for first is his birth certificate. The document must show the full names of the parents of the child. Other important information that must be found in the child’s birth certificate includes his full name, date of birth and place of birth. A seal of the office where the birth certificate originated must also be present.
There are other documents that will be asked for from the parent aside from birth certificates. These are proofs of identity of the adult, which may include a driver’s license or the parent’s passport. After the documents are completed, the next step is paying for the application fee.
Typical passport processing takes at least four to six weeks. This is the reason everyone is encouraged to apply for a passport early. There are times when parents and their children have to travel in the soonest possible time. The family on a rush can avail an expedited passport processing which shortens waiting time to at least two to three weeks.
Parents, take note. Get a certified copy of your child’s birth certificate now. Even if you have no plans for travelling, this vital document is important in many situations. Make sure that all required information is there and is accurate.
When our kids set foot in a foreign land, they gain deeper understanding of the world and the situation it is in. This deeper understanding is very important in these times when the people around the world are desperate for peace. Our kids will begin to appreciate their country more for bringing them up free from war, poverty, and ignorance.
International travel is one of the best gifts to give to your children. The sights of foreign lands, languages they will hardly understand, food and culture are all waiting for them. If you prepare for this early, getting USA Passports for minors should at most be a half-day of waiting for a personal appearance at the processing center. There is certainly nothing difficult about that, especially if applying for a replacement U.S. passport.