My fiancee has a dependent child who is included as a derivative on her passport. I was thinking that it might be better or more convenient to bifurcate him onto his own. I would be curious to hear opinions and reasons (both positives and negatives) to both options.

hi, just based on my experiences....

a child to have his own passport even a minor:

positive: - a very useful as another proof of identification likewise BC
- if you plan to adopt the kid that makes him US citizen, granted a US passport, the old
citizen passport could be used again for proof if he still wants to claim his dual citizenship.

negative: - additional expenses, if expires again expenses.
additional important documents you need to take care of.

God bless!

I was also thinking along the lines of in the event the dependant child needs/wants to travel without having to be accompanied by the passport holder parent.

In most european countries a child must have their own passport... including babies...

Kinda my suspicion and this is probably the trend most likely to continue, however Ukraine still allows the child to "ride" on the parent's passport until the age of 16. I am thinking that it is best to get this taken care of now instead of later as she is still in country. Not to mention not having to deal with an inconvenient consulate here in the US.