Flying out of MUC with kids but without husband
 

Hi,

I'll be flying from CPH via MUC to HKG alone with my 3 kids for 2 weeks. I'm from there but I'm travelling with my Danish passport (kids are Danish too). I know that I have to go through passport control at MUC. We have passed through MUC before and we realised that the bundepolizei there are very serious about checking all of us thoroughly.

Does anyone know what kind of paper I should have with me to prove that I'm not kidnapping my kids?

I know that going back shouldn't be a problem since we are returning to our 'home' country.

Thanks in advance.

nacho,
Yes they are very strict. Trust me I know first hand and it wasn't fun...

What I would recommend is get a notarized (I don't know what Notary Public's are called in Denmark) letter signed by your husband.

Have fun on your trip.

Are u kidding? Is it suspicious nowadays to travel alone with your own kids?

Well, international travel with kids and a single adult may raise some alarms. In Germany you only can get a passport for your underage kids with your spouses consent.

I am traveling a lot with one or all of my kids. I always have this with me:
http://www.forium.de/redaktion/wp-co...t_englisch.pdf

So - how do single parents go about getting passports for their children?

And once a single parent has, somehow, managed to obtain a passport for their child... do they then have to provide proof of their single parent status every time they travel?

This doesn't quite sound right somehow...

Quite simple.
If a single parent has sole custody, they can obtain a passport for their children without consent of the ex spouse. They have to produce proof of sole custody.

If they have dual custody, they can not and need their (ex-)partners consent.
Regardless of marriage status, even if married they also need their partners consent if they would travel with their kids abroad.

If something smells fishy to the border police they have the right and the duty to check upon you.

I had this only once leaving germany (ex cologne, going to US), but a couple of times when entering other countries. Canada, US, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Australia and Thailand.

And yes, if you travel alone with your kids, you should have appropriate papers as proof with you.

A friend of my wife's has been given sole custody over her child, when she goes on international travel, she always has a copy with her.

Interestingly enough, I have never seen that mothers are being questioned when travelling alone with their children. I have seen a couple of times that fathers have been "interviewed" at immigration when travelling with their kids alone and at least once that was at MUC.

My little one holds 2 passports and I have never been questioned or stopped when we were using the same, i.e. the one from "my" country. On an up-coming trip, however, I will have to use the "other" one and I believe in this case it is better to have a declaration that's signed by all relevant parties. Might save me a discussion or two.

A fellow FTer was flying BIO-MUC a few days ago with his two kids and had a wait at checkin while they figured out what to do and if its OK to let him fly :rolleyes: (all three have the same last name and german ID)

There is a lot of paranoia around, but there have been cases of one parent kidnapping his/her own kids from the other parents and taking them abroad. Authorities are likely to be sensitive right now as there is a current case, they are searching for a rather weird father who escaped with his three kids to Egypt or Sudan for some ultra-religious motives without the mother's consent.

Yes, I agree, being a father of three who do not share my last name, I am confronted a bit with questions. But I have to say, this is the one thing where I do not feel annoyed by the officials. Kidnapping your own kids, away from your spouse is just awful.

Very very common, my wife used to work at the tunisian embassy and they got umpteen calls about such cases each week. The mothers are pretty much SOL once the father and kid enters his home country :eek: