Traveling internationally can be a great experience for a child, but many parents forget that when children travel, they are going to need a passport. Unfortunately, this realization will often come when it is late in the day and an expedited kids passport is the only way to make the trip happen. It is always best to know all the passport laws to make sure there are no issues when planning a trip abroad with a child.

Just because they are a child, does not mean that there are not travel laws that pertain to them. Any family that is getting ready to travel aboard would do well to get on the Internet and do some research on passport rules and regulations. For the record, anyone traveling abroad needs to have a passport.

However, there are some amendments to the law that have been added specific to children. The most important of these is that any child that is not at least sixteen years old will have to have written consent from both parents before a passport can be obtained. This law is in place to prevent a parent from unknowingly leaving the country without the second parent’s permission.

This special passport law means that an additional step has been added to the process, but other than that, the process is pretty similar to adults. Once the consent forms have been signed, the application process will go as a new passport application would. Just make sure that the consent form is properly done so that there will be no snags as the process moves forward.

The child must have his or her photo taken prior to applying in person at an application center. One-hour photo stores in pharmacies or supermarkets are often then best and least expensive places to obtain passport photos. When pressed for time, these one-hour photo stores are by far the best place to get express passport photos because they can crop the photos to the requisite specifications immediately on site.

Before the application can be submitted, the dual consent form has to be properly filled out and signed by both parents. If the parents are divorced or living in separate cities, this can sometimes cause a problem, especially if expedited service is needed. This is actually the cause at times for the expedited service as it takes both parents so long to get the forms signed.

The normal process of a passport is around two months. If the trip is going to happen inside of that time frame, it is best to pay the $60 to get the expedited service that will have the passport back in about three weeks. If that is still not quick enough, there are other services that are more expensive that will create an even quicker turnaround time.

It is always best to plan well ahead of time when dealing with international travel. Expediting a passport can be a hassle, especially with a child. Luckily, an expedited child’s passport only requires one extra step and there are express U S passport services out there to help. If both parents are able to sign the consent form, it is usually not that unreasonable to get the passport in time. Still, it would be much easier in the long run to stay prepared and keep everyone’s passports up to date.

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