No-Fee Passports for Military Kids: The OCONUS Run-Book
Family members going overseas on PCS orders usually get a no-fee (official) passport through the installation passport office, not a regular tourist passport from the post office. Apply once your overseas orders are fully executed, not before. Every family member, babies included, appears in person. A child needs an original birth certificate, and normally both parents’ signatures or a notarized consent form from the parent who can’t be there. Processing takes weeks, and a visa can only be requested once the passport exists, so the passport office is a first-week task.
The details below come from one Army installation’s published passport office page, used as a worked example. Your own office’s list and timings are what count, so check every line with them.
Who gets a no-fee passport
The Fort Gordon passport office page lists who is eligible for a no-fee (official) passport, including “Family members traveling overseas on orders with spouse.” It also notes that “Contractors are not eligible for a No-Fee Passport.”
It’s tied to the orders. The same page says applicants should apply “after receiving a fully executed notification/order of their pending overseas assignment requiring an Official Passport for travel,” and it is blunt about early applications: there is “NO LONGER the issuance of passports for ‘JUST IN CASE,’ ‘POSSIBLE’ or ‘MAYBE.’” Orders that look likely aren’t enough. Wait for the executed version, then book the appointment the same day.
Whether a passport is required at all depends on the destination. The page sends readers to the DoD Foreign Clearance Guide (fcg.pentagon.mil) to check the passport and visa requirements for a specific country. Leave travel is a separate question: ask your passport office whether your family will also want a regular tourist passport for trips that aren’t on orders. That’s a separate application with its own fee.
The kid-specific rules that catch families out
Everyone appears in person. “Everyone applying for a passport must appear in person. This includes all family members, regardless of age, who are applying for a passport and their sponsor.” That includes the baby. Book an appointment time that fits around naps.
Children always use the new-application form. The page lists the DS-11 as the form for anyone who has never had an official or dependent passport, and adds that it is “always used for children regardless of previous passport.” The renewal form only works for applicants who were at least 16 when their last passport was issued, among other conditions. Fill the form in online and print it. The page says handwritten forms aren’t accepted and tells applicants not to sign the printed copy until the appointment.
An original birth certificate, not the hospital one. Children under 16 “must submit the original birth certificate with one or both parent’s full name on it.” The page lists what is NOT acceptable evidence of birth: birth registrations, birth notification abstracts, hospital birth certificates and notarized birth evidence. If the certified copy is in a box somewhere, finding it is your first job. If you don’t have one, order one from the state’s vital records office now.
Both parents sign, or one sends notarized consent. On this office’s page: “BOTH BIOLOGICAL PARENTS MUST BE PRESENT TO SIGN.” If one parent can’t be there, a notarized DS-3053 (the original) can be submitted with the application, with the ID portion completed and a copy of the ID used, front and back. “If only one parent is listed on the birth certificate, the one listed will be the only one needing to sign for child.” Children’s passport consent rules are set by the State Department, so if your family situation is complicated, ask your passport office or check travel.state.gov before the appointment.
That last rule is where military families most often get stuck, because one parent is often already gone: in-processing at the new station, at a school or on a course. If that might be you, get the DS-3053 notarized before you leave. Ask your installation legal assistance office whether it offers notary services.
Custody, adoption and name changes need court papers. The page asks for “Original or Certified copy of court documents showing legal name changes, custody documents, adoption, etc.” It also asks families to describe their household accurately when booking (stepchildren, a single parent, a family member who isn’t a US citizen) so the office can say exactly what documents you need.
How long it takes
The page gives this office’s processing times: “October - March: 4-6 Weeks” and “April - September: 6-8 Weeks.” Summer, the busiest PCS season, is the slow half of the year.
If your destination needs a visa, add more. The page says passports with a visa requirement need “additional time required, approximately 6-8 weeks,” and “You must have your passport before the visa can be requested.” So the two run one after the other, not side by side. That’s why the passport has to be among the first things you do when orders land. It’s also why an OCONUS PCS with kids treats passports as one of its three long-lead items, alongside dependent screening and pet paperwork.
These are one office’s figures. Ask yours, and don’t book a flight around a passport you don’t yet have.
The passport run-book (printable)
Use this as your checklist. Print the page and tick it off.
The day orders are fully executed
- Book the passport office appointment for every family member, sponsor included.
- Check passport and visa requirements for the destination in the Foreign Clearance Guide.
- Tell the office about your household when booking: stepchildren, a single parent, a non-US-citizen family member.
Before the appointment
- Original birth certificate for each child, with one or both parents named. Not the hospital certificate.
- Any previous no-fee passport for each person.
- Court documents for any custody arrangement, adoption or name change.
- A copy of the orders.
- DS-11 for each child, completed online and printed, unsigned.
- If one parent can’t attend: an original notarized DS-3053, with a copy of the ID used, front and back.
- Ask whether photos are taken at the office or brought in. This one takes them and asks you not to wear white or light beige.
At the appointment
- Every applicant present, including the baby.
- Both parents present to sign for each child, or the DS-3053 in hand.
- Ask the processing time, how you’ll be told it’s ready, and whether visas are next.
After
- Track the passports, then start any visa applications.
- Keep every family member’s passport together in one carry-on folder with the orders.
A zippered family passport wallet such as the WALNEW family passport holder keeps the whole family’s documents in one place for the flight. If your child is in early intervention, the same carry-on is where the IFSP goes; see EFMP with a baby or toddler. The rest of the move timeline is in the PCS checklist.
FAQ: no-fee passports for dependents
Do military kids need a passport for an OCONUS PCS?
Usually, depending on the destination. Family members traveling overseas on orders with the sponsor are eligible for a no-fee (official) passport. Check the destination in the Foreign Clearance Guide and confirm with your installation passport office.
When can we apply for no-fee passports?
After you receive fully executed orders for the overseas assignment. The office page used here says it no longer issues passports “just in case,” and asks every applicant for orders or travel justification.
Does my baby have to go to the passport appointment?
Yes. The office page used here says everyone applying must appear in person, “regardless of age.”
What if one parent is already at the new duty station?
On this office’s page, both biological parents sign for a child, or the absent parent supplies an original notarized DS-3053 consent form with a copy of their ID. Arrange it before the parents are in different places, and check your own office’s requirements.
How long do no-fee passports take?
One Army office lists 4-6 weeks from October to March and 6-8 weeks from April to September, plus roughly another 6-8 weeks if a visa is required, which can only be requested once the passport is issued. Times vary by office and season.
