Showing your children the world makes traveling a fun and educational sort of experience. If you want to take your children abroad, he or she will need a passport. Tons of questions surround children’s passport, and the answers can leave you feeling much more at ease when traveling overseas with your children.

Everyone from infants to seniors require a passport, and even the youngest child is no exception. For children under the age of 16, a passport is only valid for five years. However, once you get past this age, it becomes valid for ten years. Damaged passports need to be renewed as well. If you simply need more pages in your passport, a passport agency can add more without having to completely replace your passport.

In February of 2008, the rules regarding children’s passports were tweaked a little. Since this law came into effect, both legal guardians or parents of the minor have to give consent in order to apply for a passport. When applying for a child between 16 and 18, this consent is not technically required, but it may be requested in special cases. If the child is under the age of 18, he or she will need to be present in person in front of the acceptance agent, or the AA. Both parents will also need to present valid forms of ID.

You will need proof of US citizen ship if you applying for a passport for your minor. This can be done in a variety of ways. You can either use an undamaged, previously-issued passport, a certified birth certificate, a certificate of citizenship, a naturalization certificate, or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth. Next, you will be required to prove your relationship to the child. In order to do this, you will need a certified birth certificate featuring both parents’ names, a court order directing guardianship or custody, or an adoption decree. This birth certificate can be of a foreign country, you will just need another form of identification. After this, the parents or guardians will then have to prove their own identity. This requirement can be met with valid driver’s licenses, previously issued passports, government IDs, military IDs, or naturalization certificates. Photocopies will then be made, and the process concluded with the consent of both parents, payment for the passports, and submission of passport photos.

On another note, if you and your spouse are American citizens and you have a baby born abroad, it needs to be reported to the US embassy or consulate in the country. A basic American citizenship document, the Consular Report of Birth of a Citizen of the United States of America, will be issued, granting your child American citizenship.

With great new advances in internet travel services, you are now able to apply for and replace passports all online. These services make preparing for trips remarkably easy, meaning trips that include your children isn’t quite as much of a hassle. Tons of great opportunities and ways to bond with your children become available, and these trips will not soon be forgotten. Just knowing how to obtain a passport for minors makes preparing for trips that much easier. And with all the great destinations out there for you and your family to visit, your passports is truly a key to the world.