Sign the Passport Application – Does my minor sign the passport application or do I?

QUESTION:   My nine-year-old daughter needs a passport. I am not sure what to do. Does she sign the passport application or do I?

ANSWER:   Many times, we receive questions similar to this. Many parents are confused on who should sign the passport application. You have a daughter that is nine years old; she may be able to sign her passport if she can. Going this route would be the better option for her. She signing her passport will less likely complicate things and is the traditional way a passport must be signed. Nonetheless, if your daughter is not able to sign the passport, then you can sign the passport for her.

A legal guardian or a parent of the child can sign the passport. Only when the child is too young to sign the passport. When this case came about, the parent or legal guardian will have to print the child’s name and then sign his or her name in the space that is provided for the signature. The legal guardian or parent will, also, have to write his or her relationship to the child in parenthesis beside to their name, so the passport agent is aware of who signed for the child.