A child under 16 cannot renew a passport. Here’s the actual errand.
Kids under 16 cannot renew. It is DS-11, in person, with the child in the room. Both parents when you can. Five-year book. Do this before you open a card.
A child under 16 cannot renew a passport. There is no mailer. There is no “just send the old book.” Every time, it is a new application: Form DS-11, in person, with the kid in the room. The book lasts five years. That is the whole rule.
If a trip is on the calendar and the kid’s book is expired, missing, or about to be, this is the errand. Do it before you open a card.
Who this is for
A working family with at least one kid under 16 and a real trip in the next year. Spring break. A long weekend that needs a book, not a hope. You are trying to get out the door, not collect a document for someday.
Skip this if
Nobody in the house is under 16. There is no international trip in the next 12 months. The kid’s book is already valid through the trip. Do not start a passport errand so you can “be ready.” Be ready when dates exist.
How it works
The official page is Apply for a Child's Passport Under 16. Use that. Not a blog. Not a Facebook group.
The child has to appear. Both parents or guardians should appear with them. Bring physical photo ID for the adults, plus a photocopy of the front and back of each ID. Bring proof the kid is a U.S. citizen (a U.S. birth certificate that meets State’s rules, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, a Certificate of Citizenship, or the kid’s undamaged full-validity U.S. passport). Bring proof of parental relationship. State lists the documents. If yours is messy, stop guessing and read the page.
If one parent cannot be there, you do not invent a workaround. You bring more paper: a notarized DS-3053 (or a notarized statement with the same facts), plus a front-and-back photocopy of that parent’s ID. The consent has to be submitted within 90 days of being notarized. Or you bring a death certificate, or a court order that actually gives you sole authority, or a DS-5525 if the other parent cannot be reached. That is the official list. There is no “the clerk will understand.”
You cannot renew. The old five-year book does not get a sticker. You apply again on DS-11. The new book is another five years.
Fees, as listed on travel.state.gov (confirm before you go; they move). For a child under 16 you pay two fees: the application fee to the Department of State, and a $35 acceptance fee to the facility that takes the papers.
Passport book: $100 application + $35 facility
Passport card: $15 + $35
- Book and card: $115 + $35
The card is not a substitute for air travel. If you are flying, get the book.
Processing, from State’s processing-time page (confirm before you go; the dates move). Routine is 4–6 weeks. Expedited is 2–3 weeks plus $60. Mail is extra: up to two weeks in, up to two weeks back. 1–3 day return delivery is $22.05. If you need it faster than that, you need a passport agency appointment and proof of international travel within 14 calendar days. That is the official urgent path. There is no trick.
Photos have rules. Use State’s photo page. A phone picture from last birthday is how you get rejected and lose a Saturday.
What to do this month
Look at the kid’s book. If it expires before the trip, or it is already gone, start now. Fill DS-11. Do not sign it at the kitchen table. You sign in front of the acceptance agent.
Find a passport acceptance facility. Post office, library, clerk. Call and ask how they take payment for the $35 and whether you need an appointment. Bring the kid. Bring both parents if you can. Bring originals and the photocopies.
Count the weeks before you buy nonrefundable tickets. Routine plus mail can run toward ten weeks door to door. If spring break is the trip and the book is thin, apply this fall. If the trip is already inside the 4–6 week window, pay the $60 and read State’s appointment rules. If it is inside 14 days, you are in agency territory, with proof of travel. Confirm the live times on travel.state.gov before you assume any of those numbers.
What not to do
Do not mail a DS-82 for a child under 16. That form is not for them. Do not send one parent with a note on a legal pad. Do not book the international flight first and “get the passport later.” Do not use a courier who promises to skip the line. Do not apply because a points blog said you needed a card this month. The document is the bottleneck. The card can wait.
Next
Adult renewal is a different errand. Global Entry for kids is a different errand. Neither is this post. When the book is in the house, then we talk about the trip, and only then the card.
Pick the card for the trip that’s already on the calendar.