My grandson is almost 2, his mom (my daughter) is a US citizen altho' she was born in Italy and has her US passport. The father is Italian. Can she add the baby onto her passport in order to travel to USA this summer? I dont think he is eligible for his own. Do they have to get Italian passports for each member of the family?

Mary Jane
Elegant Etruria: Cultural Holidays - Travel Consultancy

I am pretty sure the US no longer allows a child to be added to the parent's passport. Is the child a US citizen?
If you daughter wants the child to have a US passport, she can apply at the US embassy or consulate. http://travel.state.gov/ppt_faq.html#ca15
There's no age limit for getting US passport. My children have had theirs since they were babies.
If your daughter does not wish the child to carry a US passport, I think the child would need an Italian passport to travel to the US.

[This message was edited by SteveS on 28 January 2004 at 01:53 PM.]

Hi Mary Jane,

Here is an explanation of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 posted by the U.S. Department of State:

http://travel.state.gov/childcit.html

My reading of it (if I understand it correctly) is that your grandchild is not automatically a U.S. citizen. Your grandchild COULD become a U.S. citizen by first becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident of the U.S., but it seems that the family first would need to jump through a few hoops. As I said, that is my reading of it.

Hope this helps.

Mary Jane, your daughter will need to go to the US consulate and do a Report of Birth Abroad The only thing is your daughter must have spent at least 5 years livijng in the US and 2 of those years have to be after the age of 14.

Your son in law can put your grandchild on his passport but it isn't really valid for travel to the US anymore as all must have their own passports. This came up with the new immigration laws and new passports needed for visa waived countries like Italy. Your SIL also will need to either get a visa waiver or make sure he has a new computer readable passport to travel to the US. Hope this helps.

Moving to Italy and Driving in Italy

This may have been taken care of by now, but I think I can add a little.
We adopted our children from Ukraine and Russia, and the same law applies, I believe. You have to apply to have your child admitted to the US as a permanent resident, and fill out an affidavit of support. She would come on an Italian passport which would be stamped at the airport by immigration. Then they send the green card. At that point, you can apply for her US passport, as technically, as soon as she sets foot on US soil she IS a US citizen. But the bureauocracy hasn't streamlined it.