Five Tips to Handle Newborns: Getting Passport Photos and Passports Made Is a Breeze

I remember that it had only been a week since I finished my postpartum confinement when Lao Wu flew off to Shanghai for work. To make sure he wouldn’t miss out on our baby’s growth, we decided that once Hanhan had his two-month vaccinations, I’d take him to Shanghai to join Lao Wu.

Originally, tasks like applying for an ID card, registering the household, applying for subsidies, and getting a passport were all agreed to be handled by Lao Wu, who was supposed to research and manage them before the birth. He kept saying he’d checked, he’d checked (and he did look into it), but in the end, he hadn’t prepared any of the documents needed to actually get anything done (shrugs). (Since I only have 365 characters to complain, I’ll stop ragging on him here—lol.)
To take a baby on a plane, you obviously need to get a passport first. And to get a passport, you inevitably need a passport photo. But how on earth do you take a passport photo for a newborn just one or two months old?

On the day, someone needs to hold the baby, then the parents go take their photos afterward and you’re done. But babies aren’t that easy to control—they turn their heads, lower them, cry, laugh—it’s not like the photo studio uncles and aunties care how good your baby looks in the photo. After taking a few shots, if the baby is looking at the camera and meets the requirements, they finalize it.
Parents probably think holding a kid for photos is a hassle too, so they just want to get it over with quickly. If the photos don’t look great, oh well—that’s just how it goes. If the baby’s passport photo isn’t nice, blame it on the baby himself, haha. However, “in theory,” having a professional take the photo should result in better lighting and definitely meet passport requirements (though I’ve also seen netizens whose babies’ studio photos turned out disastrous—their first passport photo was ruined!).

The biggest issue with newborns is that their necks aren’t fully firm yet, and they can’t sit up straight on their own. Therefore, taking the photo at home while the baby is lying down is actually a more relaxing and easier way to succeed. Plus, the advantage of doing it yourself is that you can take lots of shots—if the baby cries, you can try again later or the next day. No pressure. Most importantly, doing it yourself is also cheaper.
But there are downsides, too—the lighting and effect will definitely be slightly inferior, and you’ll also need some basic photo-editing skills. You don’t need to be super skilled at editing, because you don’t need to slim the baby’s face, remove dark circles or wrinkles or anything like that. Just being able to do a simple background cutout is enough, and at most, you might need to adjust the color a bit. Some people recommend using the very convenient Photocap, but I personally just used Photoshop and managed it no problem XD.
Because I felt Hanhan was a bit difficult to deal with, I chose to take the photos at home myself. At first, Lao Wu kept insisting there was no way this could turn out well, but in the end, he said the results were pretty good. (See~~)

First, government regulations state that passport photos must be: color, half-body, front-facing, hatless, with clear facial features, on a white background, taken within the last six months, and sized 2T. Detailed requirements for 2T passport photos: 4.5 cm in height and 3.5 cm in width (excluding borders), taken close-up of the head and the top of the shoulders, with the length from the top of the head to the chin between 3.2 and 3.6 cm (i.e., the face occupies 70–80% of the entire photo area). No part of the head or hair should touch the photo border.

In short, we know we need a completely white background, a large and clear view of the face, and nothing obstructing it.

1. Pick a time when the baby is well-fed, well-rested, and in a good mood. Prepare some items to attract his attention so he can focus steadily on the camera.
2. It’s best to take the photos during the day when natural light is nice—colors will turn out better. Be especially careful about whether there’s any shadow on the baby’s face while taking the photo, because usually passport photos are shot with lighting that eliminates shadows on the face.
3. Lay a sheet of white paper under the baby as the background. This makes it easier to cut out the background and less likely to reveal any flaws. If possible, the larger the sheet of white paper, the better, so overlapping doesn’t create shadows—but honestly, even if there are shadows, it’s not a huge deal.
4. Choose a camera with a fast shutter speed, take as many shots as possible, and then select the best ones afterward.
5. Choose an outfit you like, preferably not too close to white (which makes cutting out the background more difficult), and make sure the clothing doesn’t cover the baby’s face during the shoot. For example, the bow on a onesie might get in the way.

Because of the direction of light in our home, it was really hard to find an angle where the face had absolutely no shadows, so in the end, we decided to place Hanhan on the bed and turn on all the room lights to even out the lighting. Shadows on the white paper were okay—as long as there weren’t obvious ones on the face. I didn’t prepare any particularly big sheets of paper, just pieced together a few A4 printouts. So you can see some overlapping shadows on the paper, but after some editing, it still worked out.

Next, I stood directly above the baby, got his attention, and went wild with continuous shots. I remember I was using a small DC camera at the time, and Hanhan kept squirming around. It wasn’t until I pulled out the DSLR, with its loud click-clack, that he calmed down a bit and stared steadily at the camera. I think I took about twenty or thirty shots back then? There really weren’t that many where his whole face was facing the camera and looked good. He was just turning around nonstop.

At the time, I just thought to take the passport photos on a whim and didn’t change his outfit specifically. As a result, the left photo one had such a cute expression, but the bow on the onesie got in the way of his face—what a shame. I originally wanted to pick another day to reshoot, maybe wear a nicer outfit and get better results, but Lao Wu thought it was too much trouble and said the left photo two was fine to use. So if you have the time to prepare, parents, do pick your baby’s outfit carefully.

Then came the editing work. Open a file with a pure white background and dimensions matching the 2T photo size of 3.5×4.5 cm, then place the cut-out headshot in it, making sure the length from the baby’s head to chin is between 3.2 and 3.6 cm. Adjust the color slightly and you’re done. For extra caution, check the color on multiple computers or confirm the color difference on-site when printing the photos. The first batch I printed came out a bit too yellow to my eye, though they seemed fine on my computer.

To be honest, I don’t actually know how to edit photos (Wu: And you had the guts to say you’d take your son’s passport photos yourself!). I was originally worried that Hanhan’s super thick hair, strand by strand, would make it impossible to cut out the background properly. But I also couldn’t be bothered to edit every single hair strand—it would take way too long. I figured editing it “good enough” would suffice. (Totally casual about it XD)

I decided to just go with it, edited it to a passable level, and went to the photo studio to ask if it was okay. If not, I’d keep editing. Surprisingly, the studio lady took one look and said it was good to print (what a relief). They printed six or eight copies and it only cost 100 NT dollars—so cheap. And the lady at the passport office didn’t even glance at it before approving it. Yay.

The documents needed to apply for a passport for a baby are as follows, or you can refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official website.
1. Original household registration booklet plus one photocopy, or original household registration transcript issued within the last three months.
2. Two 2T color photos with a white background.
3. Original ID card of either parent or guardian, plus one front and one back photocopy each.
4. Fill out the Republic of China Ordinary Passport Application Form (refer to the sample image below).
5. The baby must be present in person (for those applying for a passport via proxy, please inquire separately about the “identity confirmation” process).

Address: 3rd–5th Floors, No. 2-2, Section 1, Jinan Road, Taipei City
Phone: 02-2343-2888
Fee: NT$900.
Processing takes 4 working days (excluding the day of application and holidays).
The passport can be collected in person on the appointed day, or you can go to the post office on the "first floor" to arrange for mailing.

Back when I was applying for Hanhan’s passport, it happened to be just before summer vacation. Since Mr. Wu went to park the car, I was carrying Hanhan in my arms and holding the mom bag all by myself while going upstairs. When I got there, I was completely shocked. There must have been at least a hundred people waiting on that floor — no exaggeration. Luckily, I had already filled out all the forms at home, otherwise even printing out the application form on-site would have required queuing (scary).

Seeing this scene, the first thing I did was ask the staff: Is there a priority counter for baby passports? The staff asked me if I had filled out the forms. When I said yes, they told me to go to the priority counter. I practically ran over, and luckily I was third in line. It took about 15 minutes in total to complete the process (for appointment-based passport applications)! Although it’s probably much better outside of long holidays like winter or summer break, carrying a baby who’s just a few months old isn’t very convenient, so I’d recommend everyone try to make an appointment in advance for passport applications.

Because I didn’t want to make another trip, I went to the post office on the first floor to arrange for mailing, and that’s how we got Hanbao’s passport in hand — Up!

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