Passport Application Process for Minors
When families go on vacation or travel outside of the United States, each member will need to obtain a U.S. passport. The application and process for obtaining a passport is different between the adults and minors. For the applicants who are minors, the parent will need to provide his or her consent and process the application on behalf of the minor. Often, one of the parents will be responsible as the "applying parent" who will need to attend the court with the child who needs the passport. There is also a "non-applying parent" who grants consent, or permission, to the child's passport application request.

The Immigration Form DS-3053 and Its Uses
The Statement of Consent, also known as Form DS-3053, is useful to both the applying and non-applying parent during the child or minor's application for a United States passport. When the permission or consent of the non-applying parent cannot be obtained through writing, the Form DS-3053 must be completed by the applying parent. However, this is not the most common situation. In most cases, the non-applying parent will file the DS-3053 form when the applying parent is not able to appear in court with the minor. It is crucial for the parents to submit the DS-3035 form with a child's petition for a passport. The parents are responsible for the passport application must be correctly dated as well as notarized by a notary public. In order for the child, or minor, to receive a passport successfully, the DS-3035 needs to be filled correctly and accurately. For parents who fail to comply with the guidelines, the child will have complications in attaining a passport. This could delay travel plans or cause unwanted problems.

The DS-3053 and Child Abduction Prevention
In addition to allowing the child to travel outside of the United States, the DS-3053 also has a crucial role in preventing child abduction. Prior to the DS-3053 requirements for both parents to partake in the child's application for a passport, many cases of child abduction occurred. In these cases, one parent would secretly obtain a passport for the child and then escort the child out of the country. This is committed without the other parent's knowledge. Once the children are no longer in the country, they are no longer subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Thus, it becomes difficult for U.S. authorities to track these children. It also becomes devastating for parents who had no knowledge of their child's departure from the country. The Form DS-3053 becomes very useful in preventing these cases from occurring. Because one of the precautions of the DS-3053 form is to require detailed information about parents themselves, present photocopies of their identifications, and provide detailed knowledge of their child during the filing, it is difficult for non-parent adults to fabricate the role. Furthermore, the DS-3053 also must be notarized by a notary public prior to its filing. When both parents have such demanding involvement in the attaining of a child's passport, it becomes unlikely that one parent can secretly take the child out of the country. Therefore, the Form DS-3053 becomes extremely important in preventing child abduction.