Is there an obligation to renew a small child's passport before its expiry date?

Question

I obtained my daughter's first children passport when she was just a few months old. Now she is three and during our last flight an immigration officer complained that her passport had a baby photo. He let us through but it sounded like he was making an exception and he strongly advised us to renew her passport ASAP. However, it does not officially expire for another few years until she's six and it should have been obvious at issue that her appearance will drastically change.

Obviously a new passport costs money and effort so we'd prefer to just keep using hers as long as possible but could we get into trouble for doing so and in the worst case be declined entry? Are there certain countries where this would be a bigger problem than others?

By the way, if that's relevant my daughter holds a German passport and oddly enough the immigration officer that complained was also a German one.

Answer 1

When we got the passport for our daughter (also German, then also <1 year old) we were told that we can have the photo in the existing passport updated for less than the price of a new passport. Children's passports can also be extended (being valid for another 6 years) and apparently this can be combined with the photo update, costing you 6 Euro and a passport-compatible photo, and the time to appear in person - kid and both parents (unless there is only one custodial parent), or kid, one parent and written permission and passport/ID of the other).

Updating sounded optional the way our local office described it. Googling the problem turns up many personal reports of no problems occurring and even 7 year-olds travelling with essentially baby photos in their passport. We traveled when our daughter was three years older than on the photo and I only remember Turkish officials making friendly remarks about picture disparity (as in "how cute") and nothing out of the ordinary when re-entering Germany.

However, Passgesetz §11 states

(1) Ein Paß oder Paßersatz ist ungültig, wenn 1. er eine einwandfreie Feststellung der Identität des Paßinhabers nicht zuläßt ...

"A passport is invalid if it does not allow a flawless determination of the identity of the holder...", so there may be an interpretation of the law that supports the official you encountered. Also, §5 may be worded a bit ambiguously:

[...]der Kinderreisepass [kann] bis zur Vollendung des zwölften Lebensjahres verlängert werden. Er ist mit einem aktuellen Lichtbild zu versehen.

The final sentence states "The [child's passport] must be equipped with an up-to-date photograph", which occurs in the context of validity extension, but does not explicitly reference it.

Answer 2

Yes, you have to change the passport.

This tells ^* :

Was viele nicht wissen – wenn Ihr Baby, Kleinkind oder Kind zum Zeitpunkt Ihrer Reise keine Ähnlichkeit mehr hat mit dem Lichtbild im Pass, dann kann es sein, dass der Pass nicht mehr akzeptiert und für ungültig erklärt wird.

or, in English,

What many do not know - if your baby, toddler, or child at the time of your trip no longer bears any resemblance to the photo in his/her passport, then it is possible for the passport to no longer be accepted and is declared invalid.

meaning that they can treat the passport as invalid.

In some countries, it is even the law that they do not give babies passport that is valid longer then 2 years, because of their drastic look change.

Answer 3

I can't speak for Germany specifically, as each country sets its own guidelines for this, but there is a general obligation to get a new passport if your appearance changes drastically. However, this is usually intended at adults only, and the US even exempts children officially as long as the change is due to the "normal aging process":

You may have to apply for a new passport if you have:

• Undergone significant facial surgery or trauma
• Added or removed numerous/large facial piercings or tattoos
• Undergone a significant amount of weight loss or gain
• Made a gender transition

If the appearance of your child under the age of 16 has changed due to the normal aging process, you do not need to apply for a new passport for him or her.

FWIW, my son's passport photo was taken at the ripe old age of three months when he was a super-chubby baby, but while there's barely any resemblance left to today's skinny preschooler, nobody has ever complained. I would be pretty astonished if an officer anywhere denied entry to a child traveling with their parents, just because they've gotten older -- and I'd be doubly astonished if they were refused entry back into their home country!