Traveling with a minor who is not our child

[ksw5487]

I am taking my teenage girls, do I need to have a letter signed by my husband?

[Andrea J.]

nope (the short answer)

now if you had said x husband than the answer would be yes

the notarized letter and stuff needed is for minors that are not your kids, relatives that are minors traveling without their parents and kids traveling with 1 parent when there is divorce and custody instructions.

ex: no permission needed if they are YOUR minor children and there is no divorce/custody arrangement.

http://www.ilrg.com/forms/auth-minormed.html (lisa provided this link on pg one of this thread)

andrea

Originally Posted by ksw5487

I am taking my teenage girls, do I need to have a letter signed by my husband?

[corona]

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

nope (the short answer)

now if you had said x husband than the answer would be yes

the notarized letter and stuff needed is for minors that are not your kids, relatives that are minors traveling without their parents and kids traveling with 1 parent when there is divorce and custody instructions.

ex: no permission needed if they are YOUR minor children and there is no divorce/custody arrangement.

http://www.ilrg.com/forms/auth-minormed.html (lisa provided this link on pg one of this thread)

andrea

Andrea, are you sure about that? It was my husband, not ex-husband, and father to our son, who was taking him to Canada about four or five years ago. He was stopped at the ticket counter, and asked for proof that I approved him taking our son out of the country. There was no custody or other issues whatsoever, and I'm not sure how an airline would know that there was anyway, unless they were alerted by the other parent. As I said, I happened to go inside with him to say good bye, and the ticket agent told us point blank had I not been there, and without notarized authorization, they would not have let our son leave the country with his dad. Maybe the agent was wrong, but personally, I'd get the form signed and notorized by the other parent for smoother sailing.

[Arubalisa]

US Customs & Border Protection FAQ

"Question:
If a child (under the age of 18) is traveling with only one parent or someone who is not a parent or legal guardian, what paperwork should the adult have to indicate permission or legal authority to have that child in their care?

Answer:
Due to the increasing incidents of child abductions in disputed custody cases and as possible victims of child pornography, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) strongly recommends that unless the child is accompanied by both parents, the adult have a note from the child's other parent (or, in the case of a child traveling with grandparents, uncles or aunts, sisters or brothers, or friends, a note signed by both parents) stating "I acknowledge that my wife/husband/etc. is traveling out of the country with my son/daughter. He/She/They has my permission to do so."

CBP also suggests that this note be notarized.

While CBP may not ask to see this documentation, if we do ask, and you do not have it, you may be detained until the circumstances of the child traveling without both parents can be fully assessed. If there is no second parent with legal claims to the child (deceased, sole custody, etc.) any other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, birth certificate naming only one parent, death certificate, etc., would be useful.

Adults traveling with children should also be aware that, while the U.S. does not require this documentation, many other countries do; failure to produce notarized permission letters and/or birth certificates could result in travelers being refused entry (Canada has very strict requirements in this regard). ..."

Northwest Airlines nwa.com - Travel Planner - Tips - Children


"Many countries require documentary evidence of the traveling adults' relationship to the child and permission of the parent(s) or legal guardian before they will allow the child to cross the border. Single parents, grandparents, or guardians traveling with children often need proof of custody or notarized letters from the other parent authorizing travel. These requirements are in addition to passport or proof of citizenship requirements.

• Minor traveling with one parent: If a minor child is traveling with only one parent, the absent parent is recommended to provide notarized consent. If only one parent has legal custody, that parent should be prepared to provide a court order of child custody to airlines and international authorities.
• Minor traveling alone: If a minor child is traveling alone or in someone else's company, both parents (or the sole, documented custodial parent) are recommended to provide notarized consent.
• Minor with a different last name: If a child traveling has a different last name from the mother and/or father, the parents should be prepared to provide evidence to airlines and official authorities, such as a birth certificate or adoption decree, to prove that they are the parents.
• Minor has one deceased parent: If one parent is deceased, a death certificate should be readily provided by the other parent.
• Minor has one parent: If the birth certificate shows that the minor only has one parent, it will be sufficient to hold only a notarized copy of the birth certificate."

When we traveled internationally with our then foster child, we were required by law to have a court order from the judge (it was up to him, not the parent since she was in the care of the state) overseeing her case. Traveling domestically as well. We were never asked to see the court order but it gave us comfort knowing that should parentage ever be questioned, we were fully within our legal rights. Better safe than sorry.

[corona]

Thanks for the info from the source, Lisa. From your post, I now understand why the ticket agent made such a fuss about my husband taking our son to Canada.

(Canada has very strict requirements in this regard). ..."

[rob o]

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

Better safe than sorry.

Lisa....though I knew about most everything in your post, I thank you, on behalf of the Forum, for your valuable posting. It affects many who might have had no idea that this documentation is importent.

[Arubalisa]

You are very welcome. The more research I did there more info there was out there.

Suffice to say that each country has different requirements. I cannot specifically find those for Aruba, but imo, if you have a notorized authorization from the parent for travel as well as insurance info AND notorized permission for a child's care in an emergency you should be fine.


If in doubt you can always phone your airline. As with even passports discrepancies as they do sometimes occur with "names", it is they who ultimately determine whether or not you even step foot on the airplane.

Let google be your friend.

[Andrea J.]

good info lisa thanks for doing some hunting for it.
there is a woman here from milton, ma with her 2 sons both preschoolers.
yesterday after reading the additional postings on this subject i asked her what she encountered traveling without her husband and her sons. she told me that all she had as far as documentation was the 3 passports, (hers and the boys).
i directed her to this thread and she was surprised and figures that next year when she comes down her without her husband to visit her parents, she had better follow the instructions and information lisa posted.

but she reiterated she had 0 issues flying from logan on AA on jan 30.
]

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

You are very welcome. The more research I did there more info there was out there.

Suffice to say that each country has different requirements. I cannot specifically find those for Aruba, but imo, if you have a notorized authorization from the parent for travel as well as insurance info AND notorized permission for a child's care in an emergency you should be fine.


If in doubt you can always phone your airline. As with even passports discrepancies as they do sometimes occur with "names", it is they who ultimately determine whether or not you even step foot on the airplane.

Let google be your friend.

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

but she reiterated she had 0 issues flying from logan on AA on jan 30.

We never had anyone ask for verification or I.D. other than passports when we traveled with our foster child. Her mother did not grant permission for her [the child] to travel, but the judge was the one who "gets to" decide. He granted the court order. Never would we have wanted to take the chance that we were asked for documents and could not produce them as back up.

My brother, a divorced father, always travels with a letter from his ex-wife. He too has never been asked to see it, but imagine the kids standing on line at Aruban immigrations and the father being asked documentation and not having it? Like I said, why take the chance?

Without the "official" paperwork, airlines and governments have no way of determining parentage and custody.

A friend sent this to me late yesterday,
"Very important to have documentation for minor child that is not your own and for your child where parents are no longer together. We learned the hard way on our first trip to Aruba. My husband's son brought a friend. We had permission from my stepson's mother and his friend's mother. The friend's father had not been in the picture since he was young. Because we did not have a document stating mother had sole custody he could not go with us. We changed his flight to the next day and his mother took him to airport with documentation for him to board plane. "

[arubaerin]

I am going to Aruba next Friday. My daughter is bringing a friend. They are both 16 and I am wondering if anyone knows if I have to bring special documentation from her parents to leave the USA with her. I just do not want to show up at the airport and run into problems because she is underage and not a family member. Thank you