In this specific case I was trying to pick up my baby’s passport. I had his mynumber card and my own. It was all fine except he apparently needs to be with me in order to pick it up.
I wanted to understand what that rule protects against. So I asked. But instead of explaining the rationale, she just repeated the rule. I tried asking in four different ways. But there was no thinking happening. Just reciting the rule.
I obviously know rules are important, when there’s a reason.
I think there is a lot of fraud with passports. Maybe this doesn't seem to help, but it makes it slightly harder to cheat and makes it more likely fraud would be detected by insisting on the 本人 to be present, I imagine. They allow the application part to be done by a parent without the kid there. It's just the picking up of the actual passport which requires the kid. Must be to also ensure the photo matches the kid's actual appearance. Some people are also lazy and don't use a photo taken within 3 months etc., so it would also help flag that. A pain I know but there are good reasons for the rule, I'm sure. Anyway, I don't imagine this particular one is unique to Japan, is it?
Fair enough. But I wanted them to tell me. Honestly I thought he was required at application time, because we had him with us last week. That’s when you give the photo, so that’s when they should reject the photo if it doesn’t match. Once it’s applied for, picking it up shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think it solves much. But regardless, my frustration was the inability to have a conversation with the passport control person.
