Two-Parent Consent and Personal Appearance Required For Minors Under Age 16 Applying for U.S. Passports

PR0801E | Date: 2008-01-07

Beginning February 1, 2008, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) will require that, when minors under the age of 16 apply for passports, two parents must consent and make a personal appearance.  Formerly, these rules applied to minors under 14 years of age.  The new rules are published in the Code of Federal Regulations Sec. 51.28(a) and apply to U.S. passport adjudication worldwide.

Raising the age requirement for parental consent and personal appearance is intended to address the troubling issue of runaway children as well as abduction. The change is also consistent with the current passport regulations permitting issuance of ten-year passports to minors age 16 and above.

As before, if a parent cannot be physically present for the application, he/she must submit a notarized written statement of consent.  AIT's American Citizen Services office can notarize a consent statement and will not charge a fee for this service.  Alternatively, such statements may be notarized by Taiwan district courts.

AIT strongly prefers that both parents appear in person together when submitting applications for passports for minor children under 16 years of age.