Record who has signed a minor's passport application
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- List who the file shows has signed for the minor, the minor's age if the file states it, and whether a court order in the file grants sole custody or joint custody. Write no application and no consent form. Do not decide that a passport will be issued.
- What the lawyer must review
- You decide what the Department of State still needs. For a minor under 16, section 51.28(a)(1) requires the minor to appear in person unless a senior passport authorizing officer specifically excuses appearance. Except as the section provides, paragraph (a)(2) requires both parents or each legal guardian to execute the application, whether it is a first passport or a renewal, and to provide documentary evidence of parentage or legal guardianship showing the minor's name, date and place of birth, and the names of the parent or parents or legal guardian. One parent or legal guardian may execute under paragraph (a)(3) by providing a written statement or affidavit from the non-applying parent or legal guardian consenting to issuance, signed before a notary public or, when the Department authorizes it, a passport specialist, or by providing documentary evidence that the person is the sole parent or has sole custody. That evidence includes the birth, death, adoption, and court-order examples paragraph (a)(3)(ii) lists. An order granting sole legal custody must contain no travel restrictions inconsistent with issuance, or must specifically authorize the passport or the travel. An order providing for joint legal custody, or requiring the permission of both parents or the court for important decisions, is interpreted as requiring the permission of both parents or the court, as appropriate. A person acting in loco parentis uses paragraph (a)(4). Paragraph (a)(5) allows issuance when only one parent, legal guardian, or person acting in loco parentis executes, in exigent or special family circumstances as that paragraph defines them. A senior passport authorizing officer makes that determination. A passport issued for special family circumstances may be limited for direct return to the United States under section 51.60(e), which was not opened. A minor 16 or older may execute under subsection (b), and the passport authorizing officer may still require notarized consent. This is a federal passport rule. Family Code section 3020 is a California custody policy and does not set who must sign.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Consider narrowly defined preparation support after confirming the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Confirm each factual assertion with the witness and original record. Preserve the witness’s own knowledge and words, and check the court’s rules for this document.
- Check the specialist’s assumptions, qualifications and limits. Obtain the relevant expert or specialist review before relying on a technical conclusion.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.