Although it may seem a little ridiculous to some people, anyone with an infant must have an <a href=”http://trcb.com/Travel/Travel-and-Leisure/An-Infant-Passport-Is-A-Matter-Of-National-Security-23283.htm” target=”_blank”>infant USA passport</a> 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.
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.
Requiring passports for infants is also an issue of human rights. Requiring children and infants to carry passports helps to seriously curb illegal human trafficking. By requiring infant passports, the government has made it much more difficult to deal in the illicit trafficking of children.
Applying for an infant passport is rather similar to applying for an adult passport, save a few practical differences. Obviously and infant will not be able to fill out his or her own passport form. A parent will have to fill out the forms, and a parent will have to aid in the passport photo process.
Since the children will not be able to sign the <a href=”http://www.squidoo.com/infant-passport” target=”_blank”>infant pasport</a>, this must also be handled by the parents. This is like more of a co-signature in that the parent signs there name in place of the child. It will go next to the child on the passport and serve as their signature until the child can actually get a passport renewal and sign the passport on their own.
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.
If a child is not yet 16 the passport can only be obtained if consent is given by the parents. The obvious reason for this is so that one parent does not get the passport and take the child out of the country without the knowledge of the other parent. This will not be a problem for parents that are still together, but if there has been a divorce or separation, make sure time is allotted to get everything together so there is not a problem in securing tickets or making the trip.
It should now be pretty obvious why the <a href=”http://www.uspassportnow.com/services/ChildPassport” target=”_blank”>infant passport application</a> exists. It may sound a little silly when you first look at the law, but it actually there to protect children from various things. Therefore, getting these passport is a smart decision for any parent, regardless of how old their child is. If an emergency or surprise trip comes up, the baby or young child will be ready to go with you and there will be no challenges in getting in and out of the country.
