An Infant Pasport Is Required For International Travel
Although some people seem to think otherwise, infants engaging in international travel must have a valid U.S. passport. All U.S. citizens must have a valid passport for international travel. An infant American passport is very similar to normal passports, with a few exceptions.
For a parent to raise their arms and question the fact that they have to have an infant passport is not uncommon. However, many people forget that it is still about people leaving and coming back to a country. To allow random children to enter or leave the country without accountability could lead to some very serious issues.
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.
Since an infant cannot sign their own name, mom and or dad are going to have to handle the task for them. It is actually a co-signature that goes on the infant American passport until the child can sign the passport by themselves. When the child is able to sign their own name, the passport can be renewed with their actual signature on the passport.
For the parent signature to be valid on the passport, it has to be done in a very specific way. The parent will have to sign the child's name and then sign their name right next to it. After that, they need to put their relationship next both signatures in parenthesis stating their relationship to the child. If only one parent will be going on the trip with the infant, it is best if that parent is the one that signs the passport for the baby.
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.
