In France, any minor can have a passport, regardless of age (even a baby). This travel document allows entry into many countries. It is compulsory for traveling to countries outside the European Union (the identity card is sufficient for traveling within the EU). Here are the steps to follow to apply for a passport for your child for the first time.

To apply for a child’s passport for the first time, the minor and his / her manager must go to a town hall issuing biometric passports. The presence of the legal guardian (father, mother or guardian) and the child is compulsory. The person in charge must exercise parental authority and bring their identity document during the meeting.

For the choice of town hall, it is not compulsory that it depends on your domicile. You can go to any town hall that issues biometric passports.

The meeting at the town hall can be prepared in advance to save time on D-Day. For this, you can make a pre-request online on the passport.ants.gouv.fr website. The online pre-application allows you to carry out a certain number of steps before finalizing the passport application at the town hall. If you do not opt ​​for the online pre-application, you will be asked to fill out a cardboard form at the counter of the chosen town hall. 

The passport pre-application is done in 5 steps:

1. you buy your dematerialized stamp.
2. you create your account on the site ants.gouv.fr (National Agency for Secured Titles).
3. you complete the online passport pre-application form.
4. you write down the pre-request number issued at the end of your process.
5. you make an appointment with a town hall equipped with a collection system.

The list of documents to provide will depend on several cases:

• if the child has a valid or expired identity card of less than 5 years: you must provide the child’s identity card, an identity photo of the child dating less than 6 months old and in accordance with the standards, a fiscal stamp, proof of address, the identity card of the parent making the request, the pre-request number (if the procedure was made online).
• if the child has an expired identity card of more than 5 years or does not have an identity card: you will have to provide an identity photo of less than 6 months in accordance with the standards, a fiscal stamp, a supporting document of domicile, the identity document of the parent making the request, the pre-request number (if the procedure was made online), the full copy or the extract with filiation of the birth certificate dated less than 3 months if the civil status of the place of birth is not dematerialized, and proof of French nationality.

The price varies according to the age of the child:

• Between 0 and 14 years old, the passport costs 17 €.
• Between 15 and 17 years old, the passport costs 42 €.

As the passport is not made on site, it is not issued immediately. Manufacturing times depend on the location and period of the request. For example, as the summer holidays approach, the number of requests explodes, so the deadlines can increase significantly. 

To find out the manufacturing times depending on the location of your request, you can call an interactive voice server on 34 00. You can also follow your request on the ANTS website.

In any case, you will be notified of the availability of the passport by SMS (if you have indicated your mobile phone number on your request).

The passport is collected at the counter of the town hall where the request was made. If the child is under 12, the legal guardian must go to the counter and sign the passport. If the child is between 12 and 13 years old, the legal guardian must go to the counter with his child and sign the passport. From the age of 13, the legal guardian must go to the counter with the child. With the consent of the legal guardian, the child can sign the passport himself.

Please note that the passport must be withdrawn within 3 months of being made available. After this period, it will be destroyed. The document is valid for 5 years.