Infant Passport Picture Question

[jack87891]

We will be taking our grand daughter on a cruise for her 1 year birthday in October. the cruise is going to the Bahamas so i believe a passport is required. I don't want to wait and forget to get the passport so we'll go ahead and get in now. Her picture at 6 months will probably be different than what she looks like at one year. Also, since passports are good for a long period of time, would her picture need to be "updated"?

 

[aggiedog]

Children's passports under age 16 are only good for 5 years. That's obviously still a big change at that age, but what can you do? You can't update the picture without updating the entire passport.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/under-16.html

One thing to remember is that you must file for the passport in person and both parents need to be present. If not, that requires extra, notarized paperwork.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We will be taking our grand daughter on a cruise for her 1 year birthday in October. the cruise is going to the Bahamas so i believe a passport is required. I don't want to wait and forget to get the passport so we'll go ahead and get in now. Her picture at 6 months will probably be different than what she looks like at one year. Also, since passports are good for a long period of time, would her picture need to be "updated"?

No, they understand kids that young change quickly. But just to clarify, on a closed loop cruise to the Bahamas (a cruise which begins and ends at the same US port), US citizens do not need a passport. I still highly recommend one, but you can get by with just a birth certificate (or birth certificate plus photo ID for an adult).

 

[Capt_BJ]

assuming you are US citizens, a passport is not required for a cruise from the US to the Bahamas and returning to the same port. This is called a "closed loop" cruise. for this cruise a birth certificate is sufficient. The birth certificate must be issued by the state ... an 'official' BC ..... not something from the hospital. I don't believe BC's are much of an issue today; older folks often find they don't have an 'official' one.

 

[wilkeliza]

No need to update the photo until the passport expires. My nephew got his at just a few weeks old and will have that photo until he is 5. Fiance had similar photo. Had his passport as soon as they had the paper work to process one for him and he said it was always fun seeing the change from the photo to when he was using it.

 

[palenskec]

You will be fine. When you to go apply, both parents need to be there in person, with all the paperwork, pictures, and original birth certificate. We live in a rural area - and it took us a while to get all these things in the right places on the right day! LOL.

 

[Miggee]

my girls both got their passports at 1 and 2 yrs old, look nothing like the picture on it now, totally ok as they understand kids grow and looks different, but they are only good for 5 yrs.

 

[tlprice]

My daughter got hers at 1 month. We didn't have to update it until it expired. The difficulty was getting a good usable picture at that age!

 

[lorenni]

My daughter got hers at 1 month. We didn't have to update it until it expired. The difficulty was getting a good usable picture at that age!

Ain't that the truth. I think it took 5 CVS employees to get DS's passport photo at 11 months old. One to help me position him and keep him still (but no grown up hands in the photo,); three to get him looking at the camera (but not smiling and no crying and mouth closed!); and one to actually take the picture. In the end they handed me 12 photos and wished me luck!

 

[darnheather]

My children got their passports before they were 3 months old and regularly used them up to the 5 year limit. While some custom agents made a show at looking at the photo and my children carefully most just flipped through quickly. It's not a problem.

 

[msmama]

My son at 5 got a lot of laughs from the people looking at his baby picture on his passport (5 months old with a HUGE round head).

I actually had a friend who is a photographer do his photo and it was easier than going to the post office or some other grownup passport place (which failed miserably when I tried it).

 

[jrabbit]

My daughter got hers at 1 month. We didn't have to update it until it expired. The difficulty was getting a good usable picture at that age!

Yea, all of the duct tape to keep the head still, scotch tape to keep the mouth closed, the baby straight jacket to keep the arms out of the picture, etc etc. Maybe "baby Valium" would work - but gotta keep the eyes open as well.

 

[billyinlasvegas]

I got my first passport when I was 6 months old and I used it for five years.

My mom said customs officials loved it.

 

[luv2cruisedisney]

At the Walgreens's where our son got his, they laid out a huge piece of white posterboard and took his picture laying down from above. Worked great

He was about a year old

 

[mmouse37]

I wanted to buy my two granddaughters their first passports before our cruise (they were 8 and 10 months at the time we applied for passports). I also wondered about how much they would change but that is just how it works. They look so cute with their little baby faces in their photos. Now they are toddlers and look so different already!

MJ

 

[PurplePencil]

Tips for taking photos of infants and newborns:

• Lay the child on its back on a white blanket or sheet to ensure its head is supported without the aid of a hand.
• Alternatively, cover a car seat with a plain white sheet and take a picture of your child in the car seat.
• Please make sure no other person is in the photo.
• A photo with the child looking at the camera is preferred, although not required.

 

[WestFamily]

No need to worry about it. Our son was three and with long (really long hair). About a week after the photo he wanted his hair cut. So now three years later he is older and has short hair. The last guy who saw it coming back from a cruise in Long Beach just laughed and said his son had been the same way. They get it. That's why it's every five.