Tips to Renew Your Child's Passport in Hawaii

After we returned from our summer trip to Italy, I received an email reminding me that my child’s U.S. passport would expire within one year. Since many countries require every visitor’s passport to be valid for at least six months beyond the date of arrival, I started the renewal process even though we have no upcoming travel plans. 

Since my son is 14 years old and you cannot renew a passport for a child under age 16, I had to apply again in person using Form DS-11. You can find the form here. There are requirements for any child under age 16 applying for a passport: 

• Both parents or guardians must give their approval for a child to receive a passport and must be present with the child when applying.
• If one or both parents or guardians cannot be present with the child, you will need to show more documents. 
• You cannot renew a child's passport using Form DS-82.
• Passports for children under age 16 are valid for 5 years.

I took the kids to Walmart's photo center to get their passport pictures. The cost was $7.99 for two prints. This was much cheaper than what I paid at CVS years ago. You could also take your own passport pictures, but I like that through Walmart or CVS, the photos will meet the official requirements.

Next, you'll have to make an appointment at one of the Satellite City Halls to submit your passport application. Although my daughter is 18, she did not qualify for renewal because her passport was issued when she was under 16 so we also had to go in person. 

Be sure to read the instructions carefully because I missed that she was to provide photocopies of proof of US citizenship and proof of identity. In total we were charged for five copies which came out to $2.50. If you do make your own copies, they must be on letter size paper, single sided, and black and white (no color). 

Cost for the passport book is $130, but you will also need to pay a Facility Acceptance Fee of $35 so bring a check for each. Hope this eases any hassles and safe travels!

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Online Passport Renewals

Despite repeatedly reminding my co-worker his passport needed to be renewed, he kept procrastinating.  

This time, procrastinating worked in his favor, however, as the option to renew passports online has since became available for most adults, and this also allowed for digital photo uploads.

If you're wondering if you can simply submit a photo taken with your phone, the answer is yes - as long as it meets their requirements.

If it doesn't, your photo will automatically be rejected.

For instance, I offered to take a photo of my co-worker, and he stood in front of a white wall.

The wall was textured, however, so the photo got rejected.  

Fortunately, there are lots of apps out there which lets you remove the background very easily, so I removed the background (I used PS express) and saved it as a new photo for him.

The photo and his application got accepted.  The fee was paid, and in just a few weeks (3, to be exact, and he just paid the normal processing fee - it was not expedited), he got his brand new passport.

Definitely take advantage of online passport renewals to save time renewing! 

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