A US Passport for Your Child: Why the Rules Are Different

Parents arrive with a fair assumption: the child has a US passport, it is about to expire, so you renew it the way you renew your own. It does not work that way, and it is better to know before you book flights.

Children do not renew

Under 16 there is no renewal path at all. Every application is a new one, on Form DS-11, with an appointment and an in-person visit. That holds even if the last passport was issued six months ago and is in perfect condition.

It is also not something you can mail in or leave at the Jerusalem drop box. That window takes DS-82 and DS-5504 only, and DS-11 is neither.

The validity is different too

A passport for a child under 16 is issued for five years. From 16 up it is ten. For parents of young children that means this is a recurring errand, and the sensible move is to put a reminder in the calendar a year out rather than a month out.

Why both parents

US law requires the signatures of both parents or guardians before a passport is issued to a child under 16. The simplest way to satisfy it is for both to come to the appointment with the child.

When that will not work, and with families it often will not, the parent who cannot attend completes Form DS-3053, a Statement of Consent. It is a formal document, not a phone call, so prepare it in advance instead of discovering the gap at the window.

The cost

A passport for a child under 16 costs $135 in US government fees. Since March 1, 2026 that is paid in advance on the payment site, and you bring the printed confirmation to the appointment. Cash and checks are not accepted.

For larger families

You can put several family members on one appointment under a single profile, so three children does not mean three separate mornings. What you must not do is hold spare appointments as insurance: duplicate bookings, in one location or across both, cancel every one of them on the spot.

Where we come in

We prepare a DS-11 for each child, sort out the consent form when one parent cannot be there, arrange the advance payment, and book a single appointment that covers all the children together. You show up. That is your part of it.