If you wish to apply for a passport for your child, you must appear in person at the Citizen Service Centre of your local municipality. When you go there, you should note the following:
- You must bring the child
- You must bring the child’s original certificate of birth or baptism
- If you have joint custody, both parents must sign the application form. However, both parents need not appear. The parent who appears must be able to prove his or her identity. If you have sole custody, the Citizen Service Centre may demand supporting documents
- The photo requirements are the same for children and adults.
Passport in case of disagreement
If parents have joint custody of a child and it is not possible to obtain the consent of the other parent and the applicant maintains his or her application, the municipal council will submit the application to the police. The police can make a decision to allow a passport to be issued without consent in very special circumstances. If the child is not in Denmark, it is also the police who, on the same conditions, can allow a passport for the child in question to be issued.
If the child is not in Denmark
If the child is not in Denmark – e.g. if a Danish child has been abducted to another country – and the child does not have a passport, e.g. because the passport is lost or expired, a Danish consular or diplomatic mission abroad may under certain conditions issue a passport for the child or extend the validity of the passport. The same rules apply to the issue and extension of passports abroad as apply in Denmark. This means that it is not possible to have a passport issued directly if there are two custodial parents and one of them refuses to sign the passport application. In such cases, an exemption must first be obtained from the Danish police for issuing a passport without the consent of both custodial parents.
If such an exemption is granted and a passport is issued for a child abroad and one or both custodial parents refuse to sign the passport application, a condition will typically be that an emergency passport be issued for the period required for the journey and only authorising one journey which as a general rule will be to Denmark or to the country in which the applicant resides.
Contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the police for further information.