What Is Form DS-3053? (Child Passport Consent)

Form DS-3053 is the U.S. Department of State form titled Statement of Consent: Issuance of a U.S. Passport to a Child Under Age 16. In plain terms, it is how a parent who cannot come to the passport appointment gives written, notarized permission for the passport to be issued.

It exists because federal rules require both parents or guardians to consent before a passport is issued to a child under sixteen, and children do not always have two parents who can stand in the same room on a Tuesday morning.

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When you need one

The child is under sixteen, is applying for a passport, and only one parent or guardian can appear at the acceptance facility.

The parent who attends brings the child, the application and the evidence. The parent who cannot attend completes the DS-3053, has it notarized, and sends it to the attending parent to submit with the application.

You do not need one if both parents attend together. You do not need one for a child aged sixteen or seventeen, because the two parent consent rule applies to children under sixteen. And you do not use it where one parent has sole legal authority, which is a different route entirely. See the sole authority route.

The three requirements that decide whether it is accepted

Almost every rejected DS-3053 fails one of these, and all three are easy to get right if you know them in advance.

It must be notarized. Not signed at the kitchen table and posted. The absent parent signs in front of a notary who verifies their identity.

Do not sign it in advance. The notary has to witness the signature. A form that arrives already signed has to be signed again, which for a parent in another state or another country is a genuine delay.

A photocopy of the front and back of the identification. The identification the absent parent showed the notary must be photocopied on both sides and submitted with the form. Sending only the front is one of the most common reasons a child’s passport application is rejected, and it is entirely avoidable.

It expires in 90 days

A notarized DS-3053 is valid for ninety days from the date of notarization.

That number drives your planning. Notarize it too early and it lapses before the appointment; leave it too late and you are chasing a parent in a different time zone the week of travel.

The sensible sequence is to book the passport appointment first, then arrange the notarization once the date is known. See how to plan the timing.

What the attending parent brings

The DS-3053 does not travel alone. The application itself, evidence of the child’s United States citizenship, evidence of the parental relationship, the attending parent’s identification, a passport photo and the fees all form part of the package, and the acceptance facility will have its own checklist.

Follow the current instructions published by the State Department rather than any summary, including this one, because passport requirements change and the facility applies the version in force on the day.

What a notary does and does not do here

We verify the identity of the parent signing, confirm they are signing willingly, witness the signature and complete the notarial certificate.

We do not verify that somebody is a parent, confirm custody arrangements, decide whether the DS-3053 is the right form for your situation, or advise you on your application. A notary is prohibited from giving legal advice, and passport eligibility is not a notary question.

What we can do is make the mechanical part painless and fast, which matters when the other parent is deployed, working abroad, or simply four states away.

Getting it signed from anywhere

The absent parent does not need to be in New York, or anywhere near you. A DS-3053 can be notarized online over secure video in a few minutes from any state, which is precisely the situation the form was designed for.

They will need valid unexpired government issued photo identification, a device with a working camera, and the completed but unsigned form. Afterward, make the two sided photocopy of the identification and send both to the parent attending the appointment.

Start with the DS-3053 form page, which has the current form and routes straight into a notarization.

Filling it in without creating a problem

The form is short and the errors are predictable.

Use the child’s full legal name exactly as it appears on the birth certificate, not a shortened version the family uses. Same for the parent signing: the name on the form should match the name on the identification being photocopied.

Complete every field before the appointment, and leave nothing blank. Where something genuinely does not apply, write N and A rather than leaving space, because a blank on a notarized form is a space somebody else could fill in later.

Type it if you can. Handwriting that a clerk cannot read is a rejection for a reason that has nothing to do with the substance.

Which identification works

Valid, unexpired, government issued, with a photograph. A driver license, a state identification card, a United States passport, a military identification card.

Expired is expired, however recently it lapsed, and it is the leading reason a notarization cannot be completed. Check the date the day before rather than at the session.

Then remember the photocopy. Front and back, legible, submitted with the form. If you take a photograph rather than using a copier, put the identification on a plain surface in good light and check that every character is readable before you send it.

Where families lose time

Three patterns account for most of the delay we see.

Signing before the appointment. The parent means well, signs the form, and it has to be redone.

Notarizing far too early. The ninety days runs out before the passport appointment, usually because the appointment was rescheduled.

Sending only the front of the identification. The application is rejected, the family finds out weeks later, and by then the ninety days may also be gone.

None of these are complicated. All of them cost a trip and sometimes a trip that was booked around a travel date.

Why the two parent rule exists

It is not bureaucratic caution. The consent requirement for children under sixteen is a child protection measure, aimed squarely at international parental abduction.

A passport is what makes it possible to take a child out of the country. Requiring both parents to consent means one parent cannot obtain travel documents for a child without the other knowing, which is the single most effective preventive step available before a child leaves.

Understanding that reframes the paperwork. The notarization, the identification photocopy and the ninety day limit all exist so that the consent is traceable to a real, identified person on a known date, rather than to a signature anybody could have written.

It also explains why a notary will decline a DS-3053 that looks wrong. Refusing is the safeguard doing its job.