Baby Travel Tips: #1 Passport Photo for Baby

I will post occasional useful (well, what I think are useful!) baby travel tips. These first tips are related to getting that all important passport photo for baby to open up the travel world.

Passport Photo for Baby: 10 Tips

  1. Research the rules and regulations around the specifics of the photo. For the UK, check the government website. Fortunately, the current rules for the UK do not require the baby’s eyes to be open. Some friends were getting a NZ passport and the baby’s eyes needed to be open. How on earth do you persuade a 2 week old baby to open it’s eyes?
  2. If you are anything like us, waste a couple of days trying to take the photo yourself. Whilst making lots of stupid faces. And trying to prop up the head of a newborn. Without the prop showing in the photo. Indoors. Outdoors. Eyes open. Eyes closed. And have endless conversations about whether there is a shadow which might get the photo rejected. Or whether the background is the right colour. Or whether the proportion of head vs the rest of the photo is correct.
  3. Panic a little because you are running out of time to get a passport.
  4. Give up and go to a professional photographer. We went to a local place in South Ealing called Digital Picture & Print (no website). Which is what we should have done in the first place, given that we did not have time to experiment ourselves.
  5. Professional takes photo in 30 seconds.
  6. Wonder why it was so difficult to do that yourself.
  7. Find someone you know who is a ‘professional’ and who has also met the baby who can certify that it is a true likeness. Which seems a little pointless. In D’s photo she looks like a bowling ball. She looked completely different 1 month later, let alone 5 years…
  8. Send off application and hope it gets back in time for your flight.
  9. Google ‘waiting times for UK passport’ repeatedly until…
  10. …passport arrives (and repeat process if you now need a visa…)

Happy travels!

Baby Travel Tips: Passport Photo for Baby

Cuddle Fairy

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