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Passport for a baby


pepsiwoman4711

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We are cruising in November with our 4 year old son and (then) 6 month old baby. It's a closed loop cruise from Miami to Key West, Cozumel and back to Miami. Is it worth getting the passport for the baby since we technically don't have to because of the closed loop cruise? Our 4 year old got his passport when he was about 10 months old, so his picture still sorta looks like him. We don't want to get a passport for the baby, knowing obviously he'll change quite a bit over the life of the passport.

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If all goes according to plan, you don't have to have a passport for the baby. It is entirely a personal decision.

 

If it were me, I would not even consider leaving the country without a passport for my child--even if it were allowed (closed loop cruise). If anything were to happen & we would have to return to the US by air a passport would be required. I know you can work with US authorities to get an emergency passport in this case, but it would be quite a hassle & expensive.

 

Kids passports are only good for 5 years because they change so quickly. Nobody would expect a child to look the same over the life of their passport.

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I would never leave the country without taking a passport for my child, no matter their age. You never know what could go wrong, and I'd rather have the peace of mind that in the event of an emergency I wouldn't have to worry about travel documents. YMMV.

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Passports are the only form of ID we use to travel anymore(even if only in the US), including the one for our son which has his photo from when he was 2 months old(and we think is horribly cute) :)

 

Lots of people don't look like their passport photo-babies or adults. Goodness adult passports are good for 10 years! A friend of mine was 200lbs heavier when her photo was taken and they still accept it. One of my old passports showed me with highlighted blonde hair even though my real color is black.

Security really don't look too much at the photo, what they look at is the dates to check that the person standing there is the appropriate age as well as to make sure it's not expired. Also they check the watermarks and stuff to be sure it's not a fake.

 

No, you don't need the passport so it's up to you if you want to get it.

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I was one that had my 8 month old catch something on Disney Magic, seize and stop breathing while we were off the coast of Castaway. So I am going to tell you YES, get a passport for the baby. Chances are high you will never REALLY need to use it - but in an emergency situation you will be glad you have one :(

 

And fast forward 8 years and that SAME kid decided to get into an accident in Adventure Ocean that required x-rays and I SWORE we were going to have to fly home from Bermuda due to a cracked cheek. I now pack bubble wrap for that child ;)

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I highly recommend getting a passport for peace of mind. We just ordered my 1 year old DS passport a few weeks ago. I believe they are valid for 5 years if you get them when they are infants. And it is so easy to renew once those 5 years are up. Makes sense to do it now.

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I highly recommend getting a passport for peace of mind. We just ordered my 1 year old DS passport a few weeks ago. I believe they are valid for 5 years if you get them when they are infants. And it is so easy to renew once those 5 years are up. Makes sense to do it now.

 

Actually it's not a "simple renewal" when they are 5. It's a whole new application with them getting their pictures retaken all over again and both parents being present (or one parent and a notarized paper from the other parent).

 

I just had to do this for my girls for their Epic cruise last year. We were on our second set.

 

Adults simply send in their passports and get new ones. Kids have to report to a passport agency or authorized office for renewal.

 

It was a darn pain to get all four of our schedules to gel during one passport meeting. We work and have school during their hours. So we took off work. And then the woman at the passport office rolled her eyes and said "We tried to call you - we need to reschedule your appointment - someone called off"

 

Ohhh heck no! You are taking us T-O-D-A-Y!

 

And that "number" she tried to call me at was a FAX number that appeared in an old phone book.

 

I am glad I have 5 more years till the next "renewal".

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Oh that stinks!!!!! I didn't know that! But I would still recommend getting a passport!

 

Actually it's not a "simple renewal" when they are 5. It's a whole new application with them getting their pictures retaken all over again and both parents being present (or one parent and a notarized paper from the other parent).

 

I just had to do this for my girls for their Epic cruise last year. We were on our second set.

 

Adults simply send in their passports and get new ones. Kids have to report to a passport agency or authorized office for renewal.

 

It was a darn pain to get all four of our schedules to gel during one passport meeting. We work and have school during their hours. So we took off work. And then the woman at the passport office rolled her eyes and said "We tried to call you - we need to reschedule your appointment - someone called off"

 

Ohhh heck no! You are taking us T-O-D-A-Y!

 

And that "number" she tried to call me at was a FAX number that appeared in an old phone book.

 

I am glad I have 5 more years till the next "renewal".

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We got our daughter her first passport at age 3 (before her second cruise) and I really like having that photo ID for her. Even if she does change quite a bit in five years, it still looks enough like her. A couple of years ago, got her second renewal (next renewal, it's for ten years!), and it wasn't simple (due to all three of us being off at the same time, even though we may have taken care of it before the school year began), but at least our local post office no longer has appointments. You just need to show up with both parents, the kid(s), your check book and photos (but this post office has a camera, if you need photos).

 

It drove me crazy some years ago, when appointments were required, but I had trouble getting through to the office there to make the appointment. I guess enough people complained and it's now first come, first served.

 

If you apply at the right time (where there's fewer people doing so, if you can figure that out or be lucky), you can get your new passport in a couple of weeks. My hubby sent in his renewal last month, but got a letter saying his photo wasn't clear enough (I took his photo on his camera -- we have done our own photos before, but it is a pain). So he got another one taken and used the app on the US passport website (he found it last week when trying to figure out what went wrong), and is confident this photo will pass the test.

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Actually it's not a "simple renewal" when they are 5. It's a whole new application with them getting their pictures retaken all over again and both parents being present (or one parent and a notarized paper from the other parent).

 

I just had to do this for my girls for their Epic cruise last year. We were on our second set.

 

Adults simply send in their passports and get new ones. Kids have to report to a passport agency or authorized office for renewal.

 

It was a darn pain to get all four of our schedules to gel during one passport meeting. We work and have school during their hours. So we took off work. And then the woman at the passport office rolled her eyes and said "We tried to call you - we need to reschedule your appointment - someone called off"

 

Ohhh heck no! You are taking us T-O-D-A-Y!

 

And that "number" she tried to call me at was a FAX number that appeared in an old phone book.

 

I am glad I have 5 more years till the next "renewal".

We tried our post office three times. Then we found out that our city hall does them.

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We tried our post office three times. Then we found out that our city hall does them.

 

Our county courthouse where I live also accepts passport applications with no appointment necessary.

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Our nearby post office is also by appointment but I showed up to get a passport for my 1 year old and told the lady I was leaving in 2 weeks. She was nice and said she would see me after all the people with scheduled appointments. I sat down for maybe 5 minutes and was called up when someone did not show up for their appointment.

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I'm with Cruismama my healthy 10 month old had his first and worst asthma attack in Bermuda and we were left there when the ship left. Since we had passports we were able to fly home and arrive 2 hours after the ship docked, no work or school missed, and this happened on a weekend.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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My youngest sons passport currently has him as a newborn as he first went overseas when he was 3 weeks old. My now 6 year old up until a year ago also had a newborn photo as we went away when he was 5 weeks old. It never has caused us any issues.

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In case of an actual emergency does anyone really believe they will deny a 6 month old baby entry into the United States if the child's entire family has passports ? you must be joking right ?

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In case of an actual emergency does anyone really believe they will deny a 6 month old baby entry into the United States if the child's entire family has passports ? you must be joking right ?

 

It is the law that all people entering the US have passports, regardless of age (yes, there are exceptions for closed loop cruises, minors with birth certificates and passport cards for some vehicle crossings). If you show up at an airport for a flight out of the US or to the US without a passport you will be denied boarding regardless of age.

 

The US Department of State might be willing to make an exception for extenuating circumstances, but that would be up to them.

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In case of an actual emergency does anyone really believe they will deny a 6 month old baby entry into the United States if the child's entire family has passports ? you must be joking right ?

 

Why shouldn't they? It's the law. They're especially vigilant about minors leaving/entering the country because of human trafficking. I'd much rather face an emergency abroad with a passport for an infant than having to say "Gee whiz, I hope the immigration officer trusts me."

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It is the law that all people entering the US have passports, regardless of age (yes, there are exceptions for closed loop cruises, minors with birth certificates and passport cards for some vehicle crossings). If you show up at an airport for a flight out of the US or to the US without a passport you will be denied boarding regardless of age.

 

The US Department of State might be willing to make an exception for extenuating circumstances, but that would be up to them.

 

All that typing and your last line proves exactly what I said in my post.. They will make an exception and won't deny a 6 month old US citizen entry back into the United States when the entire family has passports.

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