How to Prepare to Renew your American Kid's Passport in Japan

I've been through this process a few times before, but I also know it's easy to be nervous about things like this, so here's a handy guide to getting your American kid's passport renewed in Japan.

First go to the US embassy website. Make sure of where the closest US embassy is to your home in Japan. To renew your kids passport, it used to be required for both parents to appear in person at the embassy. Because of this, my husband and I just plan to make it part of our family vacation for that year. We really can't afford willy-nilly trips to Tokyo otherwise.

If you're living in one of the big cities, this probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal. For those of us further away from an embassy, this can be a very challenging thing.

At some point in the last five years, the US embassy has chosen to include options for parents who can't appear in person on the website, including filling out a couple of forms. It seems that in some cases, a child can be sent for a passport renewal with a non-parent guardian, but I'm not entirely sure on the specifics.

The US embassy website is pretty easy to navigate for this situation. When you click through to renewing a passport for a child under 16, You'll find a page that lists all the things that need to be brought. These include proof of citizenship which would be the old passport, proof of family relationship which could be a certificate of birth abroad or your Japanese family register (koseki tohon) for which you will have to provide a translation since it is not an English. Downloadable templates to aid in translating this are available on the internet.

The entire list of necessary documents is available on the website.

Click make an appointment, then make the appointment.

One important factor is making an appointment. These have to be made before you go and can be made as little as a few days ahead it seems, but I recommend making an appointment for a time that works for you at the embassy closest to you around 3 weeks before you plan to go especially if you don't live near that embassy.

You can't book January in November. You can't book anything more than 30 days out.

When you are ready to book your appointment, click on the day and then click on the time and click through till you have confirmation that you have an appointment. Make sure to jot down the important information about exactly when you're supposed to be there and then get there 15 to 30 minutes early and prepare to spend a few hours working through the paperwork you've already filled out and making sure everything is correct.