Tag Archives: passport for infants

Sugarpie is Goin’ to Italy!

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Does she look excited to you? The answer is yes. Yes she does.

Well, the day has finally arrived. (Remember when we posted about getting a baby passport?)

We’ve traveled to California and other parts of Texas before with Sugarpie, but we haven’t gone trans-Atlantic until now. Hubs and I both lived in Italy at different times in our lives. I lived in Ischia for about four and a half years. I wrote a blog about it starting in January 2006 called my life italian.

Hubs lived there on and off for a span of 10 years while he was gettin’ all smart and pursuing his PhD in Italian literature. He has a blog too, and it’s fantastic. It’s called DoBianchi.

Clearly we share a love of all things Italian (and blogging), and we want to make sure and show Sugarpie what all of the fuss is about.

Hubs goes every September (plus a couple of extra times during the year) to visit clients, so we thought we’d tag along. We’ll be in the Veneto (Montebelluna, Prosecco country), Tuscany (Montalcino, Brunello country), then down to Apulia (Lecce, Negroamaro country). We’ll drive back up to the Veneto but stop in Le Marche on the way. There will be a beach or two involved and this thrills me to the core. I miss Italian beaches!

I used to work in the wine business, he still does. So this is all wine-related, of course.

We will endure about 18 hours of travel to get there and the same to come back, and we’ll have 2 long road trips. We have reserved a bassinett for the Chicago-Zurich legs, we’ll see if she sleeps in it. (Anyone out there ever done this?) We’ll also see how my milk supply is affected, hopefully not at all.

I have no idea how Little Miss Priss is going to handle the travel, let alone the time change but we will roll with the punches! It is worth it, after all.

Italy is SO kid friendly, as the family is the center of the Italian universe. Since she is the center of ours, the transition should be (relatively) smooth.

I’ll be posting from the strada, so keep in touch.

A tra poco!

Obtaining a Passport for Your Baby

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Little Sugarpie’s passport photo…now that’s a whole heap of cute right there.

So we’re planning a trip to Italy in a few months and Sugarpie needs a passport ’cause apparently you can’t get through security with just a gummy little smile. This goes for all children under 16, from newborns on.

Here’s what you have to do to get a passport for your baby…

Go to your local Passport Acceptance Facility (click here for the Austin ones) with the following documentation. Here’s a link to find them for the whole country. Many post offices function as passport acceptance facilities and so do some courthouses.

*Completed but UNSIGNED DS-11 form.

*If both parents cannot appear at the passport acceptance facility, the absent one needs to fill out this consent form and have it notarized: DS3053. You can get things notarized at most banks. If you go without this they will send you back.

*Proof of citizenship, i.e. child’s birth certificate. As of April 2011, both parents’ full names must appear on the BC. This must be an original and yes, you have to leave it, but they’ll send it back with the new passport.

*Valid ID of applying parent along with copy of valid ID of both parents. This could be a passport, driver’s license, or other state or federal ID.

*One 2inx2in photo. Yes, even if applicant is a newborn. CUTEST PASSPORT EVER. Photo must be no more than 6 months old. Call the acceptance facility before to see if they take pictures, some do.

Bring your credit card AND a checkbook, just in case the office has not yet entered the 21st century.

Here’s the official passport info page, in case you don’t believe me. It has all of the appropriate paperwork links and such.

Click here to find current processing times.

Easy Breezy, right? Now go get your jet-settin’ bebe’ and hit the road!