U.S. Passport Applications for Children Under Age 14 Requires Both Parents' Signatures As provided by Public Law 106-113, Section 236. Effective July 2, 2001 Both Parents or child's legal guardian must: 1. Present evidence of child's U.S. citizenship and 2. Present evidence that they are the parents or guardian and 3. Show valid personal identifications and 4. Sign and take oath before an authorized passport acceptance agent. If the second parent is not available to sign, the appearing parent must: 1. Do the above and 2. Present evidence that he/she has:    • sole legal custody of the child or    • written consent of the other parent for the issuance of the passport or    • written statement explaining why non-applying parent's consent cannot be obtained If no parent is available to sign, the third-party in loco parentis must: 1. Appear with a notarized written statement or affidavit from both parents or custodial parent(s) authorizing the third-party to apply for passport. When the statement or affidavit is from only one parent, the third-party must present evidence of sole custody of the authorizing parent. The law requires that all applications be signed under oath under penalty of perjury. The most efficient ways to apply for a child under age 14 is to present the required documentation and • For both parents to appear at the time of application, or • If only one parent can apply, that applying parent/guardian has the additional documentation required for a single-signature application at the time of application. Incomplete submissions will delay passport issuance. For questions: Visit travel.state.gov or call the National Passport Information Center at 1-900-225-5674 or with Visa, MasterCard or American Express at 1-888-362-8668. This is a fee-for-service call, not funded by tax dollars. Back to Circuit Court page    U.S. Passport Applications