And Then My Head Fell Off

Because I am going to France today, I woke up thinking about passports. Not mine, mine are valid and I know where they are. My kids' American passports, however, are either expired or about to expire.

This is something I've been procrastinating about because renewing the children's passports will require collaboration and cooperation with my ex-husband, which basically means that I must inform him that he's going to have to take both kids to the nearest consulate. I know he's not going to like that.

Poppy Fields' post about renewing her girls' passports brought the issue back to the "urgent" part of my brain.

If you want to know what a nightmare this is going to be, read on.

Every few years the rules regarding passports for minors change. The latest rules went into effect on February 1 of this year. A minor's passport is valid five years, so both kids are on their second one. My daughter's expired in October; my son's will in June.

Last time I renewed the passports, I was still married, and I believe I simply sent the paperwork to the embassy in Paris. Both J and I signed the forms, attached the photos and old passports, and within a couple of weeks, the kids had shiny new travel documents. If I took the kids to the embassy, I've forgotten about it — but how could a person forget going to the embassy in Paris in this post-9/11 world, especially with passport services being open from 9 am to 12 pm only, Monday through Friday, American and French holidays excluded?

So, no. I mailed the stuff.

Now, before I go any further, I get that all of these rules are put into place in order to limit parental kidnapping in case of divorce.

[Alison takes deep breath]

Children under the age of 16 (age 14, prior to February 1st) must be presented by both parents at one of the 9,000 passport acceptance offices in the U.S., or at the American embassy or consulate wherever you happen to live.

The parents must present proof of citizenship AND proof of relationship. Previous passports do not count as proof of relationship, so a birth certificate must be presented. The parents must present photo ID.

It doesn't sound so bad right now, does it? I mean, c'est normal to ensure that the child is who the parents say it is and all that, right?

If both parents cannot be present, the non-present parent must have completed form DS-3053: Statement of Consent. The form must be notarized. (Waaaaaiiit a minute; I just saw something that may save me, but I'm still going to finish writing this entry.)

So if I wanted to have the passports renewed while the kids are here (because there are several passport offices in town), J would have to give me the DS-3053. Except that there are no notaries public in France. And a French official cannot put an apostille on an American document.

So that means I sign the DS-3053, have it notarized, send it to J with all the necessary papers, and he takes the kids to Bordeaux, where the nearest consulate is.

Why didn't I get it all straightened out with him before going to France? We could have taken the kids to Bordeaux together. (Can you hear me chuckling?) Fear, probably. Annoyance, as well. You can't just walk into a drugstore in France and slap down eight bucks for passport photos. You can't, because U.S. passport photos are a special dimension, a dimension no photo booth in France has. So you have to go to a photographer who can print you 2x2-inch photos for a hefty sum. Annoyance at all the rigamarole. Annoyance in general.

My plan was to have the kids' photos done while they're here with me for their spring break — my daughter's need to be redone, since we did that last summer and the photos must be less than six months old (yeah, I know, I could fudge it, but I'm not going to), then send all the necessary documents to J. However, as I noted above, I saw something on the DS-3053 just now that may mean I can do this on my own, and that is this:

STATEMENT OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES To be completed by applying parent or guardian when the written consent of the non-applying parent or guardian cannot be obtained.

Perhaps I can do this on my own.

And that would be really nice, you know. My ex-husband was able to procure French passports for our children without presenting them to anyone, and without needing my permission.

Comments

[steph]

geez, and i thought just getting my passport was a pain in the rear. good luck with all that.

[samantha]

Hey, I just renewed my passport a few months ago through Paris, and I only paid 6€ for my photos (a lot cheaper than the $16 bucks I paid for the ones I got at Target and that didn't even turn out).

I just went around to a couple of the photo shops in town to see if they were able to do it and to get prices and 4 out of the 5 were able to, and at prices much cheaper than the ones on the list the embassy puts out!

[jeorg]

essentially, they are american citizens, and you have joint custody and all, and i know that i am being crazy by even thinking that this has to be simpler than it is considering the numerous lectures i have received for my own passport and my husband's greencard... blah blah blah... but this has to be easier than it is made out to be on paper... it just has to be...

[ckmunson]

That does sound like a real nightmare. We went and got passports last year for all our kids. We made a day of it - it was a lot of hoop jumping. Hopefully you can do it on your own and it turns out better than you had anticipated!

[Aly]

Consulates and Embassies provide regular 'ole American notarization services, so you could do the form, sign and notarize it all over in France--just have your nearest US post stamp it for you. Unless I'm missing something?
But if that's all you need (plus the photos), it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[sizzle]

What a pain in the arse! They sure don't make it easy, do they? I hope it all works out!

[Aly]

By US post, I meant US CONSULAR post (embassy or consulate)--it sounded confusing when I re-read it. Anyway, you got it I'm sure!
Good luck and have a safe flight!

[Michael C]

Whoa, I am lost. I had better never travel internationally. My head is still spinning from reading that...

[Pumpkin]

In Strasbourg, I could get things notorized but had to make an appointment and it was only done on a certain day and between limited hours.

I understand the big mess. We had to renew my oldest daughter's passport a couple years ago. I went to the consulate in Strasbourg to have the DS-3053 form notarized and mailed it to my ex along with the money to get it done. It wasn't really hard but it was a pain having to go to the consulate to get the notorization.

[winter]

Zoiks! Good luck with all that.

[Betty C.]

This has been the progression of the passport issue for kids:

1. In the gay nineties, we used to just be able to do it by mail.

2. Post 9/11, we had to make an official appearance at the consulate, I guess to show that we posed no security threat, but the presence of the American parent sufficed.

3. As you mentioned, since not so long ago, both parents must be present or the other parent must sign the papers you are talking about. Thierry and I just took the half-day trip to Toulouse to renew our youngest's passport somehow to prove, I guess, that I wasn't going to kidnap my kids. However, as I said on Poppy Fields, what was really funny ws that the Consul took only the vaguest interest in Thierry and didn't ask him anything about whether he gave me permission to travel to the US with my daughters without him, etc!

So things are indeed more and more complex.

The other new thing in France is the "autorisation de sortie de territoire." This is from the European side of things, also apparently to prevent one member of a couple from taking off to another country with the offspring.

I would imagine, for example, that if you take your kids to the USA from France, you really should have an "autorisation de sortie de territoire" signed by your husband. These are done at the mairie.

I almost didn't get my own daughter to London for a four-day trip last year because we didn't have this paper! Luckily my husband was at the airport and was able to orally vouch for the fact that he agreed she could take the trip with me...so that is another issue to think about.

Sigh...

[Margaret]

C'est fou. Apres avoir lu cette description du proces, j'ai mal a la tete.

[Carrie]

Good for you for coming with a solution to this mess. I hope it all goes well. I'll be thinking of you {Hug}

[misschrisc]

Ewww... we´re in the middle of securing the French and American passports for the baby here in Mexico and the French one is easy breezy compared to the American one. The American actually asks me to include ultrasound photos.

You have my complete sympathies!

[meredith]

my head falls off every time I think about doing this...

[madame l]

may i suggest you get them u.s. passports when they are home with you next? (if they don't already have them - i'm not clear on this.) as minors they are entitled. as you know, my kids have both british and american passports. one has an irish one instead of a british because she can.

anxiety provoking stuff, bore-ocracy, for me. don't get me started on how the british held them for five hours at heathrow in a room full of ill somalians when they only had their american passports. cue: god save the queen. sex pistols version.

[anica]

Good luck with getting those passports.

*Take a deep breath and breathe deeply*

you will get through this.

[booby g]

why not shoot and print the pics yourself? a flikr babe has got to have a photo printer, right?