CDTraveler

I'm not sure why you'd need to add countries to the letter. Back before I had sole legal custody, I carried a notarized letter stating that I had "permission to travel with minor child _____ outside of the United States" and it did not specify where or when.

manda99

Interesting thread. I'd never even thought about this issue. I travel rather frequently domestically with my son while my husband stays home. We've traveled overseas together without him without problem, but we're headed to Sweden and Denmark over spring break and now I'm realizing that maybe I should be carrying some sort of authorization just in case!

6rugrats

Check the entry requirements for the countries you'll be visiting. I am taking my daughter to a country this summer that has new requirements for minors with one parent. I not only have to bring her dad's death certificate, I must also bring her full birth certificate. Better safe than sorry.

GUWonder

Danish and Swedish passport control have never asked my extended family for these ridiculous letters, and we have hundreds of entries into CPH and ARN where the minor children came in only with one of the two custodial parents and passport control just looked at the passports.

Redhead

It really depends on the country. Canada is very strict, Colombia and Mexico can be. I did not have to show my daughter's birth certificate in Costa Rica but it's easy to keep a copy in her passport (I'm the only parent on it)

GUWonder

manda99 was asking specifically about Denmark and Sweden. I provided an answer that explicitly covers Denmark and Sweden's practice given how very frequently my relatives enter Schengen in Sweden and Denmark on trips where the young relatives are traveling only with one of their two custodial parents.

My relatives do a lot of US-Canada(YYZ)-CPH and back. Even then my extended family has never shown such a consent letter, although Canada indeed tends to be more strict about this than most OECD countries. The letters are joke anyway, and we could just as well use a video testimony, live or not, if they really wanted to try to make a show-stopper over the absence of an easily faked letter.

icedancer

Just an FYI -- got hassled at the border today in the NEXUS line at the Pacific border crossing going from Canada into WA because my name doesn't match my kids'. We're all US citizens, and my last name is my kids' middle name, but when I flash the NEXUS cards at the reader, it only comes up on the border agent's screen as <first name> <last name>. This was our first time ever using the NEXUS lanes, as they were closed last night when we crossed into Canada. I was pretty peeved to have gotten hassled, since we're US citizens entering the U.S. I just showed the guard the cards again at the window and he waved us through.

KyRoamer

Until recently, conventional wisdom for one parent taking a minor who was a United States Citizen to Mexico needed a certified copy of the minor's birth certificate and a consent letter from the other parent. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative now requires the minor to have a passport.

Mexico used to require consent letters. Not anymore or so it seems. See http://gomexico.about.com/od/entryre...rent_autho.htm. Are consent letters still recommended?

Facts are that a divorced mother who took back her maiden name intends to go to Cancun with her four year old twins. Their last name and hers are different. The father has no objection to their going and just recently did what was needed to get passports issued for the twins.

So what must the mother have to avoid any problems?

At a minimum she will have her own passport and passports for each of the twins. To evidence the name change from her husband's surname back to her own should she carry a certified copy of her divorce decree? Should she have a consent letter from her ex-husband? Since the twins now have passports, does she need to travel with their birth certificates?

Anything else that she should consider having with her?

All help is appreciated.

Eclipsepearl

Birth certificates and parent permission is not needed with a passport. That's why both parents have to be present (or give the certified letter that they agree to the child getting a passport, required if married or not). That's how the parents agree to letting the child travel with either.

She might want to carry a birth certificate if it indicates that she's the mother and both surnames will be listed.

She also might want to also take something indicating custody, whether it's shared or that she has primary. She should ask her lawyer and contact the Mexican consulate or embassy. Emailing them might be a good idea (replies can be printed up).

I never traveled to Mexico but my kids don't look anything I do and for awhile, I had a passport in my original name. I never had any problems.

azepine00

While not mandatory, it is strongly recommended to have a consent letter when only one parent is travelling to avoid possible delays to sort thing out.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...ot-a-parent-or

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/children/consent-letter

princeville

^^

Agreed. The fact that other travelers here haven't been asked for a consent letter is not a guarantee that you won't be asked. Immigration officials aren't always consistent and all it takes is one officer who decides that something might be off to ruin your trip. Once they have asked you, trying to point out their country's policy or that other travelers weren't asked for a consent letter will not help your cause. Printing out a form letter and getting the signature of the other parent and a notary is a very small inconvenience in comparison to attempting to sort it all out from another country.

I've kept my maiden name so my children's surname doesn't match mine and they don't look like me. I've only had to show a consent letter three times (England twice and Germany once) but we've also entered the same countries without any questions asked. I also travel with a copy of their birth certificates to prove that I'm their mother, but that hasn't been necessary yet.

Bjorniskogen

I'm looking for advice on traveling solo with my 2 children who are 3 and 5. On every flight I've looked at, there is one leg with seating that is 2-2. Is it possible to make this work? I'm considering having them sit together with me across the aisle. I don't especially want one of them sitting with a stranger. But it seems like it could be a disaster!

It is the second leg of a 7 hour flight. The leg itself is 1.5 hours. They've both flown before and are fairly content sitting with their tablets. But they are both also pretty clingy kids.

Thoughts? TIA!

GUWonder

The way this is done on 2-2 planes is to have the younger child in a window seat, the adult companion sit in the aisle seat next to the younger child, and the older child in the aisle seat just across or in front of the adult companion/parent. It may involve the older child sitting next to a stranger, but really most strangers on planes aren't dangerous and many of them would probably prefer to not be seated next to any young children. If the five year old is clingy too, it's probably better off having them all in the same row as you.

Bjorniskogen

Thank you! We will try it this way. My 5 year old isn't excited about the idea, but wants to see family enough that hopefully he can cope for a couple hours.

fredandgingermad

I'm taking by notorized that it's means signed in the presence of and then signed by a solicitor? I'm hopefully going to Canada in July with my little boy and from what I understand I'll need a letter as his dad's not coming