zuzia0313

I'm just curious if its okay for a 17 year old (18 in 3 months) to travel alone to Mexico for vacation for 6 days.... I see everywhere that he needs a signed document from parents if he resides there, but its only for vacation. So I'm assuming he's in the clear... Please if anyone knows let me know ASAP as the trip is next week.

JDiver

A letter of permission to travel alone in Mexico and to secure medical care or assistance could prove useful, IMO.

GUWonder

Such a parental-authorization document may be useful but it's not always required in practice. But there are enough times when it is required (even if it shouldn't be) that having it may avoid some hassles during the travel attempt:

https://mx.usembassy.gov/implementat...-minor-travel/

JDiver

Exactly. A gram of prevention... and minors who are detained are (certainly at age 17) treated like adults in terms of detention at the police or jail level, etc.

ESpen36

YES--definitely get a notarized letter of authorization signed by BOTH parents. When I was a teenager (ages 14-17 in the 1990s), I traveled alone to Mexico every summer to meet up with my parents who were already there. Without fail, the airline ALWAYS asked to see my notarized letter at the ticket counter every time. Immigration (INM) officers never asked to see the letter when I arrived, but the airline would not have allowed me to board the international flight to Mexico without the letter.

Unlike the process for some other LatAm countries, in my experience, the letter did not need to be in Spanish or authenticated at a Mexican consulate, BUT.... it did need to include specific dates of travel and be signed by both custodial parents in the presence of a notary.

I highly recommend preparing the letter.


*NB: I am not an attorney and the above does not constitute legal advice.

JDiver

Yep. I did much the same, in the opposite direction. No apostille, just the letter from both custodial parents (or copy of official document certifying the sole custodian's status as such).