I have recently brought Aedan to Malaysia (Johor) to visit my 外婆 who is his great grandma (wiill be sharing more photos at the end of this post).
Took a photo with the Christmas tree at my 舅舅's house before we set off for a long day.
Before going to Malaysia, I have checked from Immigrations & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) that all babies are required to make their own passports in order to travel overseas (no more co-sharing of passport with mommies).
Many new parents like myself may wonder how to get a passport done for baby!
After asking around & experiencing the process myself, I decided to share a guide for making passport for baby. Hopefully, it will be useful to you.
Guide to making passport for baby
For all Singaporean residing in Singapore, there are 3 ways to get your passport done.
1. Submit the application online - $70
2. Submit the application via postage - $70
3. Visit ICA building at level 3 to submit the application over the counter - $80
By all three methods, you may make an appointment to collect the passport when it's ready.
It's definitely not a good idea to head down ICA without an appointment as it may require an average waiting time of 2hrs. Imagine waiting 2 hrs with a fussy baby! Moreover, it's more expensive ($10 more) if you apply over the counter.
I prefer online application as it's the easiest method.
Here's a step-by-step guide to the application.
1. Prepare a soft copy baby passport photo based on ICA specification.
- plain white background
- JPEG format
- file size about 150 Kbytes
- dimension: 400 x 514 pixels
2. How to take a baby passport photo?
You can simply do it at home.
- Dress your baby & comb his/her hair neatly
- Let your baby lay on a mattress/bed/mat that has a uniform background colour or you may take on a white background (You may use a white handkerchief as background!) to save the time on cropping.
- take multiple shots of your baby's face using your phone camera or passport photo app
- choose the best shot with baby's head facing front
3. If you need to crop the photo. You may transfer the photo to your computer (you can just email to yourself).
Crop the photo using photo editor or Microsoft word, paste on a white background, save as JPEG and resize it to 400 x 514 pixels.
Click on the above link to apply passport & log in using Parent's SingPass.
5. The following are the information required for submission.
6. Key in baby's birth certificate number & leave the NRIC & passport expiry blank.
7. After making payment, ICA will send a pink card to your home address within 5 working days to advise on collection.
8. After receiving the pink card, you may make an appointment online to avoid long waiting time.
9. On the day of appointment, bring along your baby together with the following documents:
- birth certificate
- mommy/daddy's IC depending on which you use to register
- the pink card which was mailed to your home
I made an appointment at 12 noon, arrived on the dot and only waited for about 15mins to collect the passport!
Aedan's first day trip to Malaysia!
I have not visited my 外婆 in Malaysia for more than a year. This time I took Aedan along together with my 舅舅's family to visit 外婆 for her 87th birthday.
This was the first time Aedan got to meet his great grandma.
舅舅 with Aedan
We went in on Saturday and the jam was really bad. Waited for about 2hrs!
While waiting, we took selfie in the car.
I even fed Aedan and changed his diaper in the car. My first car diaper changing experience.
Our first meal in Malaysia. Really yummy!
When we finally saw 外婆, she was really happy (with tears in her eyes).
She grabbed Aedan's hands, patted his butt and kept saying ”打屁股，打屁股” :)
Baby's butt is really nice to pat.
Later at night, we went to this supposedly famous place for dinner. (picture below).
After a sumptuous dinner, we went to church for servicing.
That pretty sum up my day in Malaysia.
Took another about one hr jam to reach Singapore.
Reached home at about 11plus and Aedan & Mommy were exhausted.
It was a tiring day but all worth it for the big smile on 外婆 face. :)
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Hope the step-by-step guide in making passport will help those who is planning to make a passport for ur little one.
Tips for day trip to Malaysia, Johor:
1. Bring a few toys to entertain your baby during the waiting.
2. Practise changing diaper for your baby on your lap in case he shits during the jam.
3. It will be good if you can nurse your baby to sleep during the waiting.
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Have a good trip!
TwentySixOctober
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ReplyDeleteHi dear, may i knw how do you crop your bb photo for the white background? Tried using some android apps but its really hard. And i dont knw how to use the com to edit ��
ReplyDeleteI used Mircosoft word, it has a crop function. You have to take the picture of your baby with a uniform colour background. Hope it helps :)
ReplyDelete