joejones

I don't think anyone *requires* a letter -- the letter is just to shut up immigration/customs/law enforcement officers who might get suspicious. In that regard, you are probably best off in general with some sort of official document (like a birth certificate) showing who the parents are, together with a notarized consent letter from the other parent. Hard to doubt the veracity of that.

There was just a news story last week where someone went through immigration at Narita with what sounded like an obviously fake passport, and were only caught at the customs inspection on the way out of baggage claim.

bmwe92fan

+1 good advice - I've got six kids and I/her have always carried a notarized letter with a raised stamp on it giving permission for the specific trip. For some reason there are many countries that really want to see a raised stamp on it (particularly eastern European countries) - and have never had an issue - must make them feel better that it's authentic lol...

mkjr

As much as I agree in this case to get something, one said hard to doubt veracity. That's really the issue. Even if OP gets something, a notary in Canada means nothing on its own in Japan. All the notary does is ask for a doc that is what appears to be official ID, like a passport, and witness that this person signed the document. What they don't do is certify the person is actually who they say they are or who their id says they are.

Further, unless the document is also legalized at the embassy or consulate after certification at local provincial office where the notary resides, there is no proof the notary is even a notary.

So even if OP gets something, it's not entirely certain there will not be issues given on its own, the letter under notary seal is of limited legal value.

That's why I've never understood the advice by our own Canada border services to have something of no value.

The child abductors will just get around it if they want.

So why make the lives of non abducters hard by asking them to get something that's meaningless? Well perhaps most don't know it's meaningless.

joejones

Limited value != no value. A notarized letter is obviously not perfect evidence of custodial authority, and could be challenged in court for all the reasons you state, but the point (again) is to make the relevant officials feel reasonably comfortable that you are not abducting the child[ren].

mkjr

perhaps, but any relevant official should have better training when it comes to the abduction of children and should not be fooled or comforted by some quasi legal looking document....or there is a much larger problem...

and if anyone was actually serious about it, there would be a much more formalized process, but there is not.

mapleg

When I travelled with my school aged children (not to Japan specifically, but we did go there), I would bring a letter from my wife confirming her permission for the children to travel with me outside of Canada and giving a phone number where she could be reached in the event of a problem. Letter was not notarized.

No one ever asked to see it in Japan, although I vaguely remember being grilled at a land crossing (Peace Bridge) into the USA by US border control . He asked if I had such a letter, but never actually asked me to produce it.

Agree the letter really does not have "legal weight" to it, but I still took it.