An enormous number of our readers have been asking about the documentation requirements needed to leave the US with your minor child and without his or her other parent. We hope this section will be helpful to you.

READ THIS FIRST: Don't Leave Home Without It!

SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS: Click here

OBTAINING US PASSPORTS FOR MINORS Click here

Mom Couldn't Withhold Consent To Passport From Missouri Lawyers Weekly May 15 2000
Excellent article about a legal case (Fondell v. Telmer MLW No. 26409 May 5) where a mother tried to withhold consent to allow a father to take their child to the Amazon.

SAMPLE NOTARIZED LETTER HTML PDF

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR:
United Kingdom
Mexico
Canada

CONCERNS ABOUT ABDUCTION

Tips for Families at Risk for Parental Abduction Carlson Law Firm

Australia: There is an Australian web site www.austlii.edu.au which gives a link to US sites. The Australian site gives access to all laws and cases over x years and can be used by people to look up laws for themselves without paying a ton of money to a lawyer - it's good to use before a lawyer is involved too, as people will then have a clue about what's happening. You can search on cases by entering key words - eg Geneva Convention on Civil Kidnapping (I think) covers taking children from one country to another. Or just type in child kidnapping.--Thank you, C. D. for this info.

READERS' COMMENTS

Sep. `03

Single Parent Tours just returned from our Single Parent Family Fun week at Beaches Boscobel in Ocho Rios. None of the single parents that went to Jamaica were asked for a notarized letter by the Jamaican Immigration authority.

July `03

"Based on your heads up in spring 2002, I renewed my son's passport earlier than needed to meet the deadline before my trip to Paris with him in June 2000. This saved a lot of aggravation trying to get my ex to sign the passport forms. I have also used your tips on contacting embassies ahead of time and using the templates you provided for travel documents.

Like a few of your respondees, my situation includes a hostile ex husband who I'd rather not have to ask for signatures for my eight-year-old son.

My son and I are traveling to Ecuador for 2 weeks this August with other families that I have met thru him. Per your suggestions I contacted the Ecuadorian embassy, they do not need the info for my son to enter but signed and notarized documentation is needed for him to LEAVE Ecuador.

I asked his father to sign the blank form you provided from your website. As he is in arrears for payments due to me, he asked that in exchange for the arrears (over $3,000) he would sign the travel authorization. Such manipulation and extortion is not uncommon with abusive exes.

Is there anything you or your readers can share that would help me?

My passport has my maiden name; my son has his dad's name. Considering the problems this causes, I would recommend to mothers getting divorced (when they can) to keep their married name especially on passports after divorce." - M.

GLOBALBRENDA ANSWER: Have any of our readers dealt with this situation before?

Q: "I will be leaving soon to go to the Bahamas. My child who is 15 and has a passport will be traveling with me. We have made this trip twice before and I have had a notarized letter from his father (we are divorced) each of those two times. This year I have been unable to secure "the letter" as his dad is traveling and I cannot reach him. I do have my divorce papers that state that I have "sole and exclusive custody". Is this enough documentation in and of itself without the notarized letter from the father?" - S.

GLOBALBRENDA ANSWER: "It would seem that your sole custody papers should suffice. As a double check I would call the airlines you are flying and your local Bahamian Consulate office. Take down names, dates and times when you call. " D. W. wrote, "I called [the Mexican Consulate and] found out that due to the fact that the father's name was not on the birth certificate, they did not require a notarized letter from him." - D.W. More information on documentation needs can be found at http://www.SingleParentTravel.net/Writing/Documentation/

June `03

C.B. had an unusual situation, " When I traveled to Mexico, I was told by the airline that all I needed for my son was an original birth certificate. I did not even ask my ex for a letter, as I thought I did not need it. We went to Mexico, had no problems, and no one ever asked for a letter. We got lucky I guess. The problem now is that my ex is threatening legal action for me taking our son out of the country. He knew we were going to Mexico, and seemed glad that our son was getting to go. I guess he was hoping we would fly down and be denied entry because he knew we needed a letter. He never voiced an objection about us taking him. Oh well, it worked out. Thanks again for your help!

D. W. wrote about her experience with the letter of consent: Thank you for your help. ..I was able to get another phone number for the Mexican Consulate, . and to speak with someone (who informed me) that due to the fact that the (my son's) father's name was not on the birth certificate, they did not require a notarized letter from him.

When K.G booked a flight to Hawaii through SunTrips she was told that she needed documentation from her son's father in order to enter Hawaii! K.G. was stunned; she knew she needed the documentation to enter a foreign country, but not to travel in the states.

GlobalBrenda followed up by calling SunTrips and verified that the ONLY documentation requirement for a minor (child under 18) traveling to Hawaii is a birth certificate and, preferably if you have it, a photo ID to go along with it. If you have a passport, that solves the problem in one fell swoop.

S.R. passed on what Virgin Airways said about documentation required for entering the UK, "You will not need an authorization letter, just the child's passport will be fine. Virgin Airways Customer Services"

R.F. inquires, :I'm arranging a family vacation for all of my family, children (all grown up) and grandchildren for December, somewhere in a hot climate. One of my daughters has an eight-year old boy whose biological father will likely be hostile to her--although they are not and never have been married. The issue is requesting a consent letter from him to take the eight-year old boy out of the country. She would distinctly rather not have to request that consent this year--is this requirement of a consent letter a matter of US law or is a matter of the laws of some foreign countries? If we all go to Puerto Rico, I take it this is just not a relevant issue. If we were to go to Aruba, for example, would this still be a US issue even though I'm told Aruba has not a requirement for such a letter."

GLOBALBRENDA'S ANSWER: " What a wonderful idea for a family vacation! To answer your question, the letter of consent is required by some countries - Mexico is one example - but not all. I am not certain about Aruba. You would have to check with the Consulate of Aruba and the airlines."

C.B. told us of her conflicting advice; "I traveled to Cancun, Mexico in 1998. (I am divorced and remarried). I traveled with my son and his stepfather (my husband). We were advised that the only documentation needed for my son was his original birth certificate. We flew to Cancun, stayed a week and had no problems. I need to know what year the law was changed that a notarized letter of consent from the absent parent went into effect. Also, I have gotten conflicting information concerning taking a cruise to Mexico, and docking less than 24 hours. I was advised by the cruise line that a notarized letter from the absent parent was not necessary. A travel agent is advising me that it is. I appreciate any and all help!"

GLOBALBRENDA'S ANSWER: "Sorry you are getting conflicting information. It is not uncommon. I receive about 100 emails a week from my readers; 20% of them concern documentation. Readers tell me they also get conflicting information. I sense their frustration and know it well from personal experience.

You have two choices in the matter:

1) Gather all the information you can and take the minimum required documentation 2) Gather all the information you can and take the maximum required documentation, even if you are not sure that you will need it.

I highly recommend the second option.

I do not know offhand what year Mexico changed its documentation rules on traveling as a single parent. Perhaps your local Mexican consulate can give you that answer. "

May `03

G.L. was kind enough to share her experiences in obtaining proper documentation needed to enter Mexico as a single parent with her child. "I am the single mom of a 16 year old daughter. She has her father's last name (on the birth certificate) but her father and I were never married. I left him when she was 1 year old because of abuse. I have a restraining order from 1989 suspending his visiting rights which he never contested. We have had absolutely no contact with him since that time. Do you think the restraining order, even as old as it is, will be sufficient for proving it unsafe to try to contact him? I don't even know where he is (nor do I want to). I'm planning on visiting the Mexican Consulate as well, with this documentation to see what they say."

She later gave us an update: "The consulate first told me to go to the courthouse to get a special order from the Judge stating it would be unsafe to contact the father. This was useless. Since no custody orders have been established, there is no case, and the restraining order is expired, which makes it a moot point in the eyes of the court. I went back to the consulate with the results and they are now calling Mexico for me. The restraining order helps but it is not exactly what the airlines wants. Keep your fingers crossed for us, and maybe my experience can help someone else."

May `02

One of our readers, D.R. in the U.K, had some excellent comments and pointed out some serious omissions in our April 2002 newsletter. For clarity, I paraphrase some of his comment below.

"For the section covering entry into the UK, you should make it clear that you were referring to holders of US passports! Readers of your e-zine may well be of other nationalities. Even a permanent resident of the USA who holds (say) a Mexican or Filipino passport will require a visa to enter the United Kingdom.

Furthermore, the ticket requirement is for a return OR ONWARD ticket: someone who arrives in Britain from the USA who shows a ticket for further travel to another country (say France) is likely to be admitted to the UK (although they may later have trouble persuading the French authorities to let them in!).

Your basic point is correct: the British Immigration authorities do not attempt to verify that the adult travelling with a child has any right to move that child from one country to another. (This is also the case when leaving Britain, a fact which made possible the international abduction of my son.) However, the British (and US) authorities are exceptionally conscientious about returning unlawfully abducted children if the proper procedures are followed."

As a special note, DR did succeed in securing the return of his son from the Philippines: "assisted by lawyers in three countries, private detectives, the Catholic Church within the Philippines and even the leader of an Islamic secessionist movement there!" Thank you once again DR and happy travels to you and your son.

Feb. `02

"I was able to travel with my daughter with only a small problem in Mexico. I didn't have any problem in Los Angeles since I have a passport in her name and not just the birth certificate. The Mexican Tourism Board told me that since they had changed the laws last July that you need a letter from the other parent in order to get a passport for a minor, that you no longer need a letter in order to go to Mexico. Unfortunately that information has not made its way to the immigration department at the airport in Cancun.

"So there was no problem with me leaving LAX, but after waiting an hour in line the man at the immigration counter in Mexico asked me for the letter. I tried to explain to him about the changes and that I had spoken to the Mexican Tourism Board and that they told me that it would be okay. He clearly didn't believe me, but since I was already in Mexico he decided to just let us through and not call over his Supervisor.

"I am very glad that I was able to go and had a wonderful trip, but I probably won't be planning any other vacations to Mexico or Costa Rica since they are the only places that have this law regarding the letter. My daughter's father is a dead-beat-dad who works under the table to avoid child support and it was very frustrating that he was almost able to stop us from going on vacation." - C.C.

Oct. `01

LB of NY pointed out an important entry requirement for Mexico, "for single adults or single parents traveling into Mexico with one or more children, the law requires that you present a notarized letter in which the absentee parent gives you permission to take the child or children out of the country. If you have sole custody of the children, you should carry proof of that fact. The law is not always enforced. Several times I have entered Mexico with my children as a single parent and not been asked for this letter, but single parent travelers to Mexico should be prepared. This requirement does not pertain to all countries so check with the airlines or your travel agent at the time you plan your trip."

To send in your comments, please email Brenda@SingleParentTravel.net.

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