The easy way to take a baby’s passport photo (and other lies)

As previously disclosed in a regulatory filing, The MileLion is now under new management.

Having seized power in a bloody coup (and believe me, it was bloody), the next stage of the CEO’s orientation programme will be a fact-finding mission to Bali, where the fact to find is whether we’re capable of surviving a 2-hour flight within the same time zone, with extensive parental and domestic support, on an itinerary built around sedentary lazing by the pool. Should this hypothesis be verified, more ambitious attempts will be made in due course. 

In good time I’ll share my experience booking my very first infant ticket, as well as the various logistical complications brought about by travelling with a baby, but first things first: getting a passport!

Applying for a baby passport

The process of applying for a baby’s passport is much the same as an adult’s. In fact, it’s even simpler, because you skip the payment- since 1 January 2020, the S$70 application fee for the first passport of Singapore Citizens is waived, provided the application is submitted before their first birthday.

Newborns don’t have SingPass, obviously, so to apply for a passport, the parent logs into the ICA website. The system will know that you’re the parent of a newborn, and will list his or her details automatically on the application page.

Click on your child’s name and proceed to the next screen where most of the fields should already be populated. All you need to do is upload a photo, and that’s where the problem starts.

ICA provides the following guidelines for passport photos:

Having read the list, I’m convinced it was written by someone who never had to deal with a baby before. I mean, eyes looking at the camera? Neutral expression? Mouth closed? Here you have a tiny human, whose eyes haven’t learned to focus, whose primary form of amusement is test driving their full range of facial expressions, whose floppy neck contorts into all sorts of angles once laid down. Want me to solve cold fusion while I’m at it?

And it’s not like I can outsource this job either. While I normally visit a neighbourhood photo shop to take my passport photos, they aren’t set up to handle babies (there are a few professional photographers who do that sort of thing, but let’s just say they’re not economical).

So if you’re a parent, it’s pretty much up to you to take the photo and edit it to ICA standards.

Taking the photo

The first rule about taking a baby’s passport photo is that you work on their schedule, not yours. If they’re cranky, fussing or otherwise passed out, you’re just wasting your time.

I thought about taking the photo after a feeding, but realised that milk drunkenness and heavy eyelids kick in surprisingly fast. Moreover, babies are prone to spitting up if laid down just after feeding, which would make for an interesting passport photo if nothing else. 

So I did it after the MileCub awoke from her nap, when her eyes were big and alert. I raised the blinds for natural light, asked the nanny to hold her steady, lifted the camera above her head and made all the bird calls I knew. 

The end result was none too shabby, if I may say so myself.

Other tips I received from parents include:

• Not using flash, which produces horrible portraits and upsets the baby
• Taking the photo in a room with natural daylight, so there’s fewer shadows
• Positioning the baby with their feet pointed away from the window/light source (so the sun lights their face from above)
• Swaddling the baby so their arms don’t instinctively go into their mouths
• Placing a towel or baby pillow under the sheet to prop up the baby’s head
• Getting a second person to stand behind you and attract the baby’s attention with a rattle
• Turning off motion photos/live photos in your camera settings, and choosing a high shutter speed to avoid blurry photos of a fidgeting baby
• If the baby just won’t sit still, you wear a white sheet/shirt and have the baby sit on your lap (this assumes they can hold their head steady, since your hand can’t be in the photo)

Editing the photo

Now that I had the photo, the next step was turning it into something usable. 

ICA suggests a few apps you can edit photos with, such as:

• IC Photo Singapore (Android 2.8★ | iOS 2.3★)
• Passport Size Photo Maker (Android 4.8★ | iOS 4.8★)
• Passport Photo ID Maker Studio- ID Photo Editor (I couldn’t find a link to this app)

In addition to these, there’s also websites like Visafoto, which I thought did an excellent job of taking something I didn’t even intend as a passport photo…

…and with a single click, turning it into something that looked like it might actually pass muster.

However, the problem is that all these apps and sites require you to pay a fee to download the non-watermarked version. I know, right? How dare they charge a fee for the provision of services!

Since I’m cheap that way, I used Adobe Express, which allowed me to:

• Remove the background
• Resize the photo to ICA’s required dimensions
• Crop out the nanny’s hands and adjust the borders to provide the necessary white space

Adobe Express was in still beta when I used it, so all the premium features were free. I believe the beta phase has now ended, and the resize tool is now a premium feature (though removing the background is still free, which is odd because that seems like the harder thing to do).

That said, Adobe Express Premium has a 30-day free trial, so you can sign-up, do what you need, and cancel your plan before it renews. Alternatively, you can resize your photo easily using this tool.

Despite my concerns about her eyes not looking directly at the camera, ICA accepted the photo without any issues (for what it’s worth, I’m told they aren’t very strict about passport photos for newborns).

And while we’re on the topic, a few more odds and ends…

How long are baby passports valid for?

While Singaporeans now enjoy passports with 10-year validity, those aged below 16 need to renew theirs every five years. The rationale is that children’s facial features change more rapidly, so having a more up-to-date photo in the passport will minimise identification problems.

Still, five years is longer than I expected for babies, because a month-old baby is certainly going to look very different from a four-year old!

What’s the waiting time for a baby’s passport?

No different from an adult passport, really. I submitted my application on 16 August, received a notification of approval on 21 August, and the earliest collection slot from a post office was 26 August.

What do I need to bring for collection?

According to the collection email sent from ICA, you need to bring:

1. Applicant’s Birth Certificate
2. Authorisation letter & Proxy’s NRIC (If collect by proxy at ICA only)
3. Father’s physical/digital NRIC
4. Father’s valid passport (If collecting at post office)

In my experience, (4) was not required, which was a bit annoying because I made a special detour just to pick it up.

Does my baby need to be present for collection?

Thankfully not. Children aged below six years are not required to be physically present for passport collection (because they don’t need to enrol their biometrics; see below). 

Parents can make appointments to collect the passport at ICA Building or a nearby post office.

Can I use automated immigration lanes?

One unfortunate thing about parenthood is that you’ll no longer be able to use automated clearance lanes that rely on biometric identification.

The physical features and biometrics of children aged below six are still developing, and may not provide a reliable means of identification. At least at Changi Airport, families will be able to use Special Assistance Lanes (SALs) to cut the waiting time. 

Conclusion

Applying for a baby’s passport is actually an extremely straightforward process- once you have the photo! That all-important piece of the puzzle could be fairly painless if you luck out and have your camera nearby when he/she’s in a good mood. Otherwise, you could be in for a long afternoon.

Next up: the joys of booking an infant ticket…

Any more tips for taking a baby’s passport photo?