Infant US Passport: A Remedy for New Parents looking for Adventure.

We-fie at Fushimi Inari-Taisha on the hike to Mt. Inari…

If you follow these steps, you’ll find that getting a passport for your newborn is incredibly simple. Read on…

My wife’s best friend Natasha convinced me that welcoming a newborn is incomplete without a proper push present. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. I knew the first few months will be tough; all hands-on-deck caring and nurturing our little one. So perhaps at 6 months we could go on a spiritual rejuvenation. We love sushi, and sake and had deprived ourselves of this pleasure during the pregnancy. The answer was obvious, I’d get two flight tickets to Tokyo.

Fast forward to months after the baby was born — we needed to add her to our itinerary and you can’t get a seat or bassinet for a baby without a passport. Getting a passport isn’t difficult. But it can be really easy if you have everything coordinated. New parents know how important this is.

1. Get Passport Photos

There are two options here. You can take the really easy option and hire a photographer for an hour (about $200) or go to a Walmart or Walgreens that does infant photos (not all of them will).

The other option, is to do it yourself. We did this because we already had a nice camera and was proficient with some photo editing software. The baby was also only 8 weeks old and we were more comfortable taking a photo at home.

An excellent resource for this was Sprouts en Route’s blog post. The main element is to prepare the baby as shown below. We used diaper cloths and swaddles. It really works!

Ensure the room has a lot of lighting, and use a toy to have baby look at the camera. Depending on lighting, extend your arm and angle the camera to prevent dropping a shadow onto baby.

Take a lot of photos. Perhaps 50 or so of them. Now you have passport photos, but they may not be in the right size. Let’s use the Department of State Tool (PC), or IDPhotoForYou (Mac) to get your best photo to the right size. I prefer the Department of State Tool because it was really easy to use.

Now to print these photos I used a free tool like GIMP, created a new document with dimensions 5 inches by 7 inches.

If it defaults to pixels, change the dropdown from px to in

Next import your photo. Copy and paste it 5 more times so you get a grid with 6 photos.

You’ll get 6 passport photos every time you print a single 5 x 7

Export this image on to a flash drive and head off to your neighbourhood CVS or Walgreens and print as many photos as you’d like.

2. Gather your Documents

This should be fairly easy. Here’s the step-by-step guide from the Department of State. Basically you need:

1. Baby’s birth certificate original and a copy
2. Fill out the DS-11 online and print it
3. Photo ID for the parents original and copies
4. If both parents will not be present during the application fill DS-3503 or DS-5525
5. Bring two checks for the application fee ($80) and execution fee ($25). This is assuming you’re getting a Passport Book. There is little value in getting the card if you have the book.

3. Set up an Appointment

Once you have the documents you need to set up an appointment for the passport application at a post office. This is where I spent a lot of time driving around and browsing the internet so I’ll make it easy for you.

• Not all Post Offices offer Passport appointments. Use this USPS tool to figure out which office closest to you works best with your schedule (passport hours aren’t the same as store hours).
• There isn’t an online system to schedule an appointment. Even calling by phone isn’t a guarantee. You have to go to the office during passport hours and make an appointment and it will be written down in a big book!

4. Apply for your Passport!

Show up to your appointment with all your documents and all the people, baby included! Our appointment didn’t exactly start on time so make sure you have a good buffer. After the documents are verified and checks reviewed you’ll be given a receipt and original documents returned. Done!

Very proud father after applying for a U.S. Passport for baby. This was a milestone.

After a few weeks you will get something that looks like the one below in your mailbox. Baby’s passport will be in there!

Now you’re ready to go anywhere. Just remember to pack light!

Plangaroo is an expert travel concierge. If you’re looking for a travel experience as a push present, or need help planning a vacation with children, contact us and we’ll make sure you spend more time enjoying and less time planning.

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