Question about a Canadian Passport for a child

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Hey there

My nephew is 2.5, and had his passport issued at 3 months old. They said it was valid for 5 years!

SO of course now he looks completely different. I can't seem to find any supporting info, but my sister in law was thinking they HAD to update the photo. Our trip is in 57 days. sigh. so we need to get on this this week, and in my opinion, she should pay the extra to get it within 10 days. but I digress...

does she need to redo the passport to update the photo?

is there info at the Canada passport site supporting any of this? whether she needs to replace or not?

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

We've been going to WDW since DS was born (he's 11 now) and have never had an issue using a passport where he'd aged since the last photo. I don't think they really expect a baby of 3 months to look like a 2.5 year old.... but they still issue kids passports for 5 years..... You could call the passport program to see what they say... http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/passport/contact.asp has all the info you need to contact them.

 

[22Tink]

When my daughter was a baby I believe they did one photo update renewal at no cost other than getting the picture taken. That might be something to look into?

 

[isabellea]

I was told at the passport office that if the photo was taken before the child was 1 year old, you can have it updated for free BUT it's not mandatory. At the end I decided to keep my DD's passport as is so I could keep it as a keepsake once expired.

 

[mernin]

We haven’t updated our youngest dd’s yet and she’s about to turn 5 and we got i5 when she was 9 months. We’ve had no issue with it travelling since we got it.

 

[ssmurphy28]

The five year expiry must’ve just come in back in 2013. Our first was born in 2012 and only had a three year expiry. If there was any concern about updating photos, I’m sure they would have just left it with the shorter expiry period.

Our second son was born in 2014, so he still has two years to go with his current picture.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would check the Canadian Passport site as they will tell you specifically what does or dies not need to happen. I know my dd’s first passport was only good for 3 years although I don’t remember if I had to pay for the update at that point or not, just that it needed to be done.

 

[Princess Stitch]

The new passports are valid for 5 years, and do not need to be updated with a new picture. My son’s pic was taken when he was 3 months old. We just came back from a trip and he’s 3.5 now. Same passport, no issues. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mort1331]

I was told at the passport office that if the photo was taken before the child was 1 year old, you can have it updated for free BUT it's not mandatory. At the end I decided to keep my DD's passport as is so I could keep it as a keepsake once expired.

You can still keep it before it expires. Just ask at the office and they will either punch stamp it or cut the corners off. I have my last 7 and all my kids. Each one changed before they expired

 

[Hemlock]

You will be fine, my son had his passport photo taken at 6 months old and we used it until it expired.

 

[Sparrow78]

They do not do free pic updated I asked in the spring. It is funny. My middle child is a
Turning 3 and her passport was issued at 2 months and this summer she looked nothing like her pic and no issues crossing.

 

[22Tink]

They do not do free pic updated I asked in the spring. It is funny. My middle child is a
Turning 3 and her passport was issued at 2 months and this summer she looked nothing like her pic and no issues crossing.

That's too bad. They definitely used to because I did it with my daughter with her first passport. She's 9 now though so it's been awhile.

 

[smooreo]

I would imagine you get the full five years or they wouldn't issue them to babies for the same price as older children.

We just got ours last week and it only took 5 business days to receive them, so don't panic too much about timing. I am in the GTA and not sure if that made difference. I did the 10 day timing (lined up in person). I'm so glad I didn't spend the extra $50 pp to expedite them in a couple of days.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Well they say his passport expires after 5 years so they are going with the same passport! Fingers crossed!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I had my son’s passport photo taken at 10 days. (First international flight at 7weeks) We are going to Disney in 20 days and he will be 2 1/2. His passport is good for 5 years so we will be using it as is.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I wouldn't worry about it. The passport is valid. The agents that will be looking at that passport have dealt with the exact same situation a million times.

One thing I would do is to double check the expiry date on everyone's passport. Those expiry dates can creep up on you faster than you think.

 

[lorenni]

They may ask some questions like “what is your name” or “who is that?” (While pointing at mom). Because clearly the picture does nothing to help them confirm who the child is.

We had agents actually laugh at our sons pic in the last year of validity. He was 5 and his picture was taken before he was 1. But they accepted the passport - after all its valid for 5 years!

 

[uremol]

My son was 1 month old when we got his passport, and we recently went to the US in the summer when he was 2. No problems.

 

[Average Joes]

Crossed the border about 30 times when our kids were 3-5 using a baby picture on the passport. Never an issue. They sometimes asked our kids their name and who we, the parents, were in relation to them.