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Let's say a child's passport was issued when he/she is 6 months old and now this child is 4 years old. Passport is still valid for at least a year. Is the child's passport still acceptable? Though clearly in the passport photo the child has little resemblance, but on the child's visa is his/her most recent photo? Will this be granted access or be accepted by an immigrations officer? Clearly it isn't the child's fault since it is understandable that the child will go through aging process. But such circumstances are, do you think the child's passport is still good for use even if he/she has a most recent photo on his/her visa?

The child's mother/father will be accompanying the child. I have searched some threads/article and found out that some countries accept passport of minors even if they look different on the photo for as long as the passport is valid.

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    If you think problems like that will arise, the so-called "best practices" solution is to carry a small album of print-outs showing the child at 6 month intervals since their passport was issued. Normally problems like that are rare, but you didn't mention if the child is travelling with the bio parents and where to and your own nationality all of which have a bearing. Please edit to narrow down the scope. Close voting as too broad/opinion based pending clarification, thanks.
    – Gayot Fow
    Sep 1, 2016 at 15:31
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    "it is understandable that the child will go thru aging process": exactly. If the difference in appearance between a newborn and a four year old were an insurmountable problem, they wouldn't issue 5-year passports to newborns.
    – phoog
    Sep 1, 2016 at 15:31
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    In the UK, the childs passport is 100% valid with a baby photo on it right up until it expires at 5 years. There is very little public guidance on this, but a good search on Mumsnet shows that people have no issues using a passport for a 4 year old where the photo was taken at 6 months. mumsnet.com/Talk/general_advice_tips/…
    – user29788
    Sep 1, 2016 at 15:41
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    I got my son's passport when he was less than a month old. Used it regularly for all 5 years.
    – Berwyn
    Sep 1, 2016 at 15:48
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    Since it seems that part of the family lives in the US and part does not, I wonder whether the child is a dual citizen of the US and some other country. If so, the child should enter the US with a US passport.
    – phoog
    Sep 1, 2016 at 17:41

2 Answers 2

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Yes, this will be accepted by the immigration officer since the passport is valid. They also tend to use other means to confirm the kid's identity, such as asking him/her what's their name, and (in some cases) questions like "is this your mommy?" when the kid is old enough.

As a side note, my new passport has a photo which imho has very little resemblance of me. Still went already through like 14 countries with no issues at all.

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You might get a little extra scrutiny when going through immigration control (usually involving a long hard stare at your child, then the picture, then back to your child, repeat a few times until the officer is either convinced or asks a supplementary question), but they aren't going to refuse you just on the photo.

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