Step 1- Make an appointment to lodge your passport application. The Passport Office operates an appointment system. We will not see you without an appointment.
Passports Office location:
Level 22, CITIC Square
1168 West Nanjing Road
Jing’An District
Shanghai
Appointment Link
Appointment times are normally booked-out up to 4 weeks in advance. Allow a minimum of 6 weeks to receive your new passport. Please keep this in mind when making your travel plans.
Step 2 - Fill out your application form (Australian Passport Overseas Application). Please do not use whiteout on the declaration section. If you make a mistake, you can cross it out and initial next to the change. If you have signed incorrectly, please fill in a new form.
Online: Australian Passport Office (passports.gov.au). This link will allow you to confirm that you are eligible to apply for a passport for your child and complete application form online.
Note: You cannot download blank forms.
Or
In person: You can collect a paper copy of the application at the Australian Consulate General in Shanghai. You will need a guarantor and additional documents so we suggest that you collect this form before making an appointment to lodge your application.
Step 3 - Prove the child’s identity and Australian citizenship
Each child passport application must be supported by the child’s original Australian Citizenship Certificate or original full Australian Birth Certificate to prove Australian citizenship. Extracts, commemorative birth certificate or birth cards cannot be used. If your child was born in Australia after 20 August 1986, you must also provide one of the following four documents:
- The child’s Australian passport issued on/after 1 January 2000 that was valid for 2 years or more; or
- One parent’s Australian birth certificate; or
- One parent’s Australian passport, issued after 20/8/1986, that was valid at the time of the applicant’s birth; or
- One parent’s Australian citizenship certificate, valid at the time of the applicant’s birth.
If you are unable to provide the above documents, you must get a certificate of citizenship. Please refer to Australian Citizenship section under Visas and Citizenship for further information.
If the child was born in China or anywhere outside of Australia, you must provide the child’s original birth certificate and the original Australian citizenship certificate. You can apply for citizenship by descent online. See the Australian Citizenship section under Visas and Citizenship for further information.
If the child has a birth certificate in a language other than English, you must provide an original translation prepared by a registered translation service.
Step 4 – Written consent from parents
Written consent must be given by each person who has parental responsibility for the child. Generally, people with parental responsibility are the parents named on the child's full birth certificate.
If parents in different locations want to consent to a child passport, the quickest option is:
- the parent who will lodge the application generates it online and emails it (in full or just the relevant page) to the other parent
- the other parent prints out the form, makes sure that sections 12 to 14 are completed correctly, signs the consent in section 15, and emails a scan of that page to the first parent to submit with the rest of the application.
If that won’t work for you, then the parent who’s not going to lodge the application can ask for a child passport form at an Australian Passport Office or from an Australian diplomatic or consular mission(link is external) overseas, complete sections 12, 13 and 15, and then submit the consent in person at a capital city passport office (no appointment necessary) or an Australian diplomatic or consular mission overseas.
If you’re submitting a consent in person, you’ll need to bring ID
The consent declaration must be read and signed by the parents or persons with parental responsibility for the child. Section 13 (A) and 14 (A) must be your exact name as shown on your child’s birth certificate. Section 13 (B) and Section 14 (B) must be your most current name as shown on your ID documents, eg. your Australian Passport or your foreign.
The signatures must be witnessed as instructed on the application form. The witness cannot be related to the child and the family by birth or marriage or be in a de facto relationship with either of the child's parents or live at the same address (this includes your domestic helper living in the same address). A different person may witness the signature of each person giving consent. The child's guarantor may witness the consent.
If you are unable to provide evidence of full consent for the child to be issued with a passport, you are required to provide supplementary forms in accordance with special circumstances provisions.
Step 5 - Take three passport photos. Some photo shops may not have the most updated Australian passport photo specifications. Home-printed photos are usually not acceptable as there are strict requirements. Please carefully check on the Passport photo guidelines to avoid rejection.
The “crown of head” is where the top of your skull would be if it were visible. It is not the top of your hair or the start of your hairline. Picture yourself bald and measure from the top of your skull to the tip of your chin.
Your Guarantor (see Step 6) must endorse one photo in black pen as follows: “This is a true photo of [the applicant’s full name]”, and then sign it below. Do not use paper clips or staples to attach photos to the form as this may make them unusable.
Step 6 – Guarantor
As well as endorsing the child’s photo, ensure Section 11 is completed by a guarantor who meets the following criteria:
- is 18 years of age or over
- has known the applicant for at least 12 months (or, for children under one year, since birth)
- is not related to the applicant by birth, marriage, de facto or same sex relationship, or live at the applicant's address
- holds a current (unexpired) Australian passport that was issued with at least two years validity OR be currently employed in the following approved professional or occupational group.
- Judges
- Lawyers
- Police Officers with at least 5 years continuous service
- Branch Managers of a bank
- Accountants who are members of either the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants, National Institute of Accountants or Association of Taxation and Management Accountants.
- Teachers who are full time and who have been teaching for more than five years at schools or tertiary institutions
- Dentists
- Doctors, Nurses or Midwives
- Psychologists
- Veterinary Surgeons
Step 7 – Additional documents – check the Australian Passport Office’s Children’s Passport page to see if you need to provide supplementary information.
If yours or the other parent’s current name is different to the name as it appears on the child’s birth certificate, you must provide documents as proof of name change such as a marriage certificate, divorce certificate or name change certificate.
The lodging parent is required to provide original copy of an address proof (under lodging parent name). This can be either utilities bills, bank or credit card statements, or insurance papers, temporary residential registry, Hukou book, Chinese ID or property lease agreement or home insurance papers.
Step 8 – If you have completed the form online, print it using the "fit to page" setting to ensure no sections are missing and sign and date the application form. Make sure there are no alterations to signatures or dates.
Children aged 10 and over need to sign the application form in the box provided separately from the declaration (which is signed by a parent or a person with parental responsibility).
Step 9 – Lodge your application and pay your fee. Applications need to be lodged in person by a parent or the person with parental responsibility. Children aged 16 or 17 must accompany their parent to lodge an application. Children under 16 do not have to do so. You must make an appointment.
Things to bring:
- The completed and signed Australian Passport Overseas Application form.
- The child’s most recent Australian passport.
- Proof of the child’s citizenship and birth certificate (see Step 3).
- Original translation of birth certificate prepared by a registered translation service, if applicable (see Step 3).
- Three passport photos (see Step 5).
- Lodging parent's address proof and any other additional documents (see Step 7).
- Proof of your own identity that has a photo and signature. If you have an Australian passport please bring that along.
- Payment can be made by Alipay, Wechat and most of the bank cards.
Note: Officer may require further documents pertaining to your application at lodgement