Brought to you by Nuffnang and Australia Post
Every jet setting kid needs a passport – or two, if you’ve got dual nationality like little Cheese does!
As she was born in New York, her first passport was actually an American one, at four weeks of age, followed by her Australian one, at three months of age.
Yes, we were planning our first overseas flight with her pretty much from birth. At three months of age she jetted off to San Francisco, followed by Australia a month later. A little world traveller from the get go.
What I had underestimated about the whole process was how hard it was to get passport photos of an infant that would conform to the required standards! You know the standards your photos need to have? Head in a certain position, expression just so, hair just so – well, kids, even babies, have the same requirements. This is particularly tricky with babies, as they need to be held for photos, and the person holding the baby cannot appear in the photo. Argh!
Getting passport photos taken the first time around was a very difficult process, requiring the person who took them for us at a local pharmacy in Brooklyn to re-shoot them over and over and over again until we got them just right. It was painful and stressful and we all felt like having a good cry afterwards.
Taking Cheese around the world with her passports and baby photos in them has gotten entertaining of late, as she no longer looks like that squishy baby in the front. Her passports are both up for renewal so it’s finally time to retake the photos.
This time around, we went to Australia Post for her passport photos. They have instant photo-taking services in around 1300 of their Australian retail outlets, making the process that much easier for everyone involved.
The Australia Post staff have all taken many, many passport photos of children and babies, so they know all the tricks to getting the shot right the first time, with minimal stress for the whole family.
We were able to drop by one afternoon to our local Australia Post and quickly have photos taken for Cheese’s American and Australian passports – it was great to get the photos taken all in one go, and to have the Australia Post staff print them to the correct specifications for each passport.
What you need to know about getting your child’s passport photos taken at Australia Post:
It’s fast
There’s no waiting around. The photos are ready in minutes.
It’s convenient
You can have the photos taken and organise your passport application during the same
visit.
They’re compliant
With experts taking the photos, there’s no need to worry about whether or not they will meet the strict requirements. If you submit your images to the relevant authority within the necessary timeframe and for some reason the photos aren’t accepted, you can take them back to the same post office and they will replace them at no cost.
They’ve gone digital
As well as the instant photos you will receive printed, you can also buy a digital copy of your photo for use in online applications.
They’re internationally compliant
You can get compliant passport photos taken for UK, USA and New Zealand passports, too. Just be sure to tell the staff member taking the photos as each country has different guidelines. They may do other countries’ passport photos as well, but you’ll need to confirm with the post office.
Pricing and payment methods
It costs $16.95 for a set of high-resolution full colour photographs, printed on quality gloss paper, or $19.95 for a printed set and an emailed digital copy.
You can pay with cash, MasterCard or Visa, or by EFTPOS.
Please note: You’ll need two identical ID photos for an Australian or British passport application.
Find your nearest participating Australia Post
We remember having real trouble with our youngest daughter trying get an acceptable photo at Australia Post of her to meets the passport requirements lol
That’s a shame Mark! Our experience was very positive.
Oh, this is SO good to know. I remember trying to get my (then) 2 year old NOT to smile at the camera and it was just impossible – it makes such a difference when the people taking the photos know how to make kids and photos work!
Very true! It was such a different experience with someone who knew what they were doing.
Very handy info, thanks Christine!
Welcome! Thanks Amy!
It’s good to have this step in the process so easy!
So true! It can be so annoying going through the whole process, so it’s nice to have one easy step!
Great info. I think Australia Post are the go to to get it right the first time.
Thanks Karin, me too!
I wish ours had been this easy – our 3 month old nearly put our AusPost in shutdown, everyone on staff was trying to get a compliant photo! We finally had to lodge our application with a declaration stating that we understood that our branch didn’t consider the photo compliant. BUT, it went through the passport office in a flash! I think because they are held responsible of the photo is knocked back, they are extra diligent at the post office.
Oh dear! We had an epic struggle with Cheese with her baby ones too.
We’re going to get our first Aussie passport soon – I know where we’ll be going for our passport pics!
Is it your first Aussie passport now you’re an Aus cit Sammy? Dual passports for the win!
Yes, I can’t wait to have two!
This is so good to know! I have dual Aust/USA citizenship too and both are soon up for renewal. it’s always been a huge pain to find somewhere that does USA compliant passport pics. So good to know Aus post can do them both! Xx
Yes! I was so happy to get it all done at once. Half the pain!
Just popped in yesterday to renew Sugarpuff’s passport after realising it was expiring in six weeks and we’re about to head O/S. Whoops. They were beyond helpful 🙂
Oh lol! Good to know it can be turned around in such a short time.
I remember the trouble we had getting our kids’ photos for their passports a few years back. My son has albinism and wears glasses (he has a vision impairment) so it was nearly impossible for him to see the camera let alone look directly at it. We ended up having to put in a document explaining his condition with the application and luckily it went through okay. My middle daughter loves the camera so no problem with hers but for my youngest daughter we needed to go to a second Aust Post outlet to find our local kid photo whisperer after trying valiantly to get a compliant photo at the first one. Luckily they got a beauty the first time around at the second outlet. Couldn’t fault any of the staff – they were great!
Oh wow, it takes a lot of effort to get passport pics sometimes, doesn’t it? Our first lot were so trying. Thankfully she is now happy to follow (other people’s) directions!
Oh my goodness. We fussed around for hours, on three seperate occasions, trying to take passport photos of our then 1 year old, because my husband was too stubborn to take him to the post office. This post just reiterates to me what a stupid waste of time that process was, all to save 17 bucks.
Oh how funny! Did you take them yourself at home? I tried to do this when she was a baby too and failed miserably.
We had an epic struggle when the kids were young too even though Australia Post were doing the pics. First their heads weren’t big enough, then they were told not to smile – what do kids do when they are told not to smile? I think we were knocked back three times until we got compliant photos. But because it was Aus. Post at least there wasn’t a charge. I do think it’s easier when kids are older. Then you just want a pic where you all look good!
Haha yes it’s true – I just want the pics to look decent. My daughter’s baby passport photo was awful! She looked like an orange marshmallow.
Urgh, I’ve heard about friends’ struggles with kids passport photos. Our boys will be a bit older by the time we need passport photos of them, so hopefully it won’t be as hard!
Fingers crossed for you! It’s def easier the older they get.