I recently decided to take my oldest daughter on her first international trip which I think will be an amazing daddy / daughter date. As part of the planning, I had to go through the process of applying for a passport for her.

1)I had to fill out Form DS-11 online and print a copy to bring to my appointment where they asked for name, date of birth, hair color, eyes, height, and weight. I do like on the height drop down menu how you can select up to 10 feet tall.

After I was done filing out the form, I printed off the form to bring to the appointment.

2) I also was required to provide proof of US citizenship as an original or certified copy. This would include a US passport, a US birth certificate, a certificate of citizenship, or a Consular report of birth abroad. A photocopy of this document was also required.

3) I had to show proof of parental relationship to my daughter through a US birth certificate, Adoption decree, divorce/custody decree, foreign birth certificate, or a consular report of birth abroad.

4) As parents, we had to bring a driver’s license, passport, military ID, foreign passport, or government employee ID along with a photocopy of this ID.

5) Both of us also had to come to turn in the application. If one of us couldn’t have been there, there is a Form DS-3053 that can be completed in front of a certified notary public along with a photocopy of an identification. If one of the parents can’t be located, there is a form to be filled out that may require additional documentation such as a custody order, incarceration order, or restraining order to guard against abduction by one of the parents.

6) A passport photo of my daughter was required.

7) A check for $80 along with a separate $25 fee to the passport office.

The times and days of passport acceptance are listed on the travel.state.gov website. The passport site that we ended up going to had different opening days than what was listed on the website and we were lucky that we picked a day that they were actually open.

We were told that the passport could take anywhere from 6-8 weeks but were surprised to receive it 2 weeks later.

Overall it wasn’t an entirely difficult process and I was actually glad it is required to have both parents’ consent.