Can a parent take their child out of the US without the other parent's consent?

[Maggie the Ocelot]

What it says.

If the parents are married, can one of them take/send their underaged children out of the US without consent of the coparent?

If they are not living together or are legally separated, does that affect things?

The children are US-born, but the parent who wants to take them out of the US still has his citizenship elsewhere. I don't *believe* that the kids have dual citizenship, but I'm not positive.

They would still need a passport regardless of age, right?

[Giles]

I don't know how it works in the US, but back when my youngest child (aged 13) got his Australian passport, he and his mother were living in Australia and I was living in the U.S.: I was rung up by an Australian Consulate to check on whether I was happy with him getting a passport. (I was, since he was going to use it to get a U.S. visa and travel to the U.S. to live with me.)

Given that the U.S. has no exit controls, the issue of passports to minor children is one of the few ways that their leaving the U.S. can be controlled.

[charizard]

From a legal point of view, there's nothing to stop a parent from taking their child out of the country unilaterally, unless there's a specific court order forbidding it.

From a practical point of view, there is no "master list of parents who are subject to court orders forbidding them to take their kids out of the country", so the only thing really preventing it is the threat of legal consequences later. If the destination country isn't big into doling out consequences, there's not much to prevent it at all (see some recent cases of Japanese mothers taking their kids to Japan, where they are pretty much automatically assumed to have sole custody regardless of the law where they came from.)

[Duckster]

The Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP) is one of the Department’s most important tools for preventing international parental child abduction. The program allows parents to register their U.S. citizen children under the age of 18 in the Department’s Passport Lookout System. If a passport application is submitted for a child who is registered in CPIAP, the Department contacts and alerts the parent or parents. The passport lookout system gives all U.S. passport agencies as well as U.S. embassies and consulates abroad an alert on a child’s name if a parent or guardian registers an objection to passport issuance for his or her child. This procedure provides parents advance warning of possible plans for international travel with the child.

http://www.travel.state.gov/abductio...uance_554.html

[BrotherCadfael]

Actually, there is no check done when you leave the country, so it's not like anyone is going to stop you. The checks are done when you come back into the country.

[flodnak]

Originally Posted by Maggie the Ocelot

I don't *believe* that the kids have dual citizenship, but I'm not positive.

If the kids do, it's possible the other parent may be able to get them a passport from the other country without the US citizen parent's consent. It depends entirely on the law of the country in question. However, it's bound to raise some questions at airport check-in if they fly, which basically means if the other country involved is any nation other than Canada or Mexico. There's no stamp showing when the child entered the US. Ah, that's because the child lives in the US. Where then is his visa? He doesn't need a visa, he's a US citizen. So... where's his US passport? US citizens are supposed to show their American passport when entering and leaving the country. Ummm.....

The airline clerk may just shrug it off. Or she may call a supervisor, who may decide that the airline is not going to take the risk of being involved in a potential kidnapping, and who is the child's other parent, please? It's a gamble.

[El Nene]

My wife has taken our son out of the country on numerous occasions without any difficulties. The boy has a US passport, my wife does not. They also do not share their last name. It seems kidnapping is not hard.

[Maggie the Ocelot]

That'll help...

My friend has been wanting to leave her (abusive) husband and every time she tries, he threatens to take their 3 kids to Nicaragua where she'd never see them again. (Apparently his family is pretty high up in the Nicaraguan military/government, so once they enter the country there wouldn't be a lot she could do to get them back.)

She's pretty frantic, knowing that she should leave but not wanting to risk losing her kinder to the jerk.

[villa]

A cruise company required me to write a letter so my ex-wife could take my son on a cruise with her.

And I have written that letter other times - I don't know if she thoguth she needed it or if it just covering the bases.

[robby]

The only control is with respect to the issuance of a U.S. passport in the first place. Note that passports for minors are only valid for 5 years.

You must either get the consent of both parents for a minor to get a U.S. passport, or a single parent must prove that they have sole legal custody. In the latter case, the single parent must submit: a birth certificate listing only the applying parent; a court order granting sole custody to the applying parent (unless child's travel is restricted by that order); an adoption decree (if applying parent is the sole adopting parent); a court order specifically permitting applying parent's or guardian's travel with the child; a judicial declaration of incompetence of non-applying parent; or a death certificate of the non-applying parent.

If both parents are giving their consent, they must both appear in person with the minor at the time of application, or one parent may appear with the second parents' notarized Statement of Consent to issue a passport to the minor.

More information here:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get...tml#step7minor

[md2000]

Most of the stories I have heard about this issue deal with *entering* a country, as not many have exit controls at their borders. Specifically, taking a child into the USA or Canada (i.e. trip to Disneyland) the border control may ask for proof the parent has consent from the other parent.

[Omar Little]

The requirement for both parents to be present when a child is applying for a US passport only applies to minors under the age of 16.

Sounds like your friend picked a "winner" for a spouse and father of her children.

[Omar Little]

Also, most airlines do check that passengers have appropriate travel docs (passports) when leaving on international flights.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by Wilbo523

Also, most airlines do check that passengers have appropriate travel docs (passports) when leaving on international flights.

However, their main concern is that you have the right passport and visa to enter the destination country. They are not very concerned about whether you were legally present in the U.S., or if you have the right to leave the U.S.

[Maggie the Ocelot]

Originally Posted by Wilbo523

The requirement for both parents to be present when a child is applying for a US passport only applies to minors under the age of 16.

Sounds like your friend picked a "winner" for a spouse and father of her children.

The kids are 5, 3, and 2, so that's OK there.

Yeah, he's a real ace. She was young and stupid at the time - and her family situation growing up was less than stable, which didn't exactly equip her with the best decision-making tools.

Now she's 24 with three under six, and realizing that no, it's NOT actually normal and OK for your husband to put you in an armlock and step on your back when you disagree with him... go fig.

Her friends are doing our best to get her away ASAP, but it's going to be hard for her. Having the littles so young, she's never actually had a job, so she's got no skills to be able to support them when she leaves.

Jesus christ, that's a young age to have your life so thoroughly screwed up.

[Disheavel]

I have simply written a letter stating my approval of my wife and children's destination as well as extensive contact information for myself. I have been called only once by a border agent (on my wife's cell phone), but she has been required to show the letter 3 out of probably 7 times while leaving the country.

But only the once was it actually ever read, it seems to just be a "judge the edginess of the response". My children have different last names from each other and this has created some laughs from agents upon asking them their names when they were younger.
Agent: Steven, what is your other name? Like your last name?
Steven (who was ~3 at the time): Uhh, I don't know that yet, but sometimes my dad calls me Lil' Nipper!
Agent: Do you have any other names?
Steven: Oh, you want my whole name. Steven <middle name> <my wife's last name> <my last name>. But it is a different order than my sister's name.

[Kyla]

This was a long time ago and I have no idea if anything like this would still happen today, but my parents still tell the story of how, when I was a kid, the gate agent refused to let my mom take me on a plane to Mexico without my dad's permission. Fortunately, my dad - who had dropped us off at the airport, and was planning on joining us in Mexico a few days later - was still there and could give permission.

The way they tell it, it had less to do with one parent taking a child out of the country without the other's permission, and more to do with Mexican ideas of machismo. As the head of the family, only he could decide whether or not his child could travel without him.

[FatBaldGuy]

A couple of months ago when we visited my daughter in Washington state, we decided to take a day trip to Vancouver BC. with her and our grandkids (ages 6 and 3). Since my son-in-law had to work, he couldn't come with us, and had to sign a paper authorizing her to take the children into Canada. We had to show the paper at the border both entering Canada and re-entering the US.

[Hari Seldon]

The main problem is likely to be entering another country. On the train from NYC to Montreal, I witnessed the following scene. A family (father, mother, two kids) got on in Albany where the train stops for 20 minutes to change locomotives (from dual mode to straight diesel). Before the train departed, the father got off wishing the rest of the family a good trip. Obviously, he was only helping them board. Come the border and the Canadian immigration guy talked to the woman for about 10 minutes because she had no permission signed by the father. Not only should you get permission, you should get it notarized. My aunt once visited s bringing with her her two granddaughters and she had gotten, at my suggestion, permissions signed and notarized by all four parents involved.

[alphaboi867]

When my French class went on our big field trip to Quebec our parents just had to sign the standard overnight field trip permission form. It didn't have to be notarized and I didn't run into any problems with only Mom signing it. The Canadian customs agent didn't even look at the copies Mme X brought along; he just came onto the bus and glanced at eveyone's passports or birth certificates. This was in 2002.

[Polycarp]

Maggie, I'd recommend that you or other friends shop around for a jurisdiction within reasonable traveling distance that has both a strong CPS program willing to go the extra mile and a judge(s) that will back them up. Be prepared to move them into a place within that jurisdiction and get emergency/temporary custody placed in her alone -- with sworn statements from her (and what the five-year-old can say about "Daddy being mean" that will corroborate it) justifying why. Ensure the judge includes in the decree the children are not to leave the U.S. without her consent and get that in the hands of CPIAP ASAP.

[The Hamster King]

The danger of one parent taking a child out of the country contrary to the wishes of the other is a real one. This site may of be helpful to you.

[Sunspace]

Originally Posted by alphaboi867

When my French class went on our big field trip to Quebec our parents just had to sign the standard overnight field trip permission form. It didn't have to be notarized and I didn't run into any problems with only Mom signing it. The Canadian customs agent didn't even look at the copies Mme X brought along...

You had a French teacher named Mme. X? :: jealous :: Mine was only named Miss Philip. (Very good teacher though...)

[Tom Tildrum]

Originally Posted by Sunspace

You had a French teacher named Mme. X?

Remember, in French it would be "Madame Eeks," which somehow doesn't sound quite so alluring.

[Fubaya]

Once she leaves with the kids, he has to take her to court to get visitation and she doesn't have to let him see the kids until ordered to by a judge. This doesn't really look good to a judge as many mothers do that out of revenge and it's quite common for women to claim abuse for the same reason, so it would look better if she left and filed first instead of having to explain why she kept the kids from him later.

Originally Posted by Polycarp

Maggie, I'd recommend that you or other friends shop around for a jurisdiction within reasonable traveling distance that has both a strong CPS program willing to go the extra mile and a judge(s) that will back them up. Be prepared to move them into a place within that jurisdiction and get emergency/temporary custody placed in her alone -- with sworn statements from her (and what the five-year-old can say about "Daddy being mean" that will corroborate it) justifying why. Ensure the judge includes in the decree the children are not to leave the U.S. without her consent and get that in the hands of CPIAP ASAP.

You can't shop for jurisdictions. Wherever the kids lived for the past six months has jurisdiction of the first custody decision. If they spend 5 months in one place, then 5 in another, etc, the last place they spent 6 months has jurisdiction.

If necessary, have a child psychologist or guardian ad litum get involved but don't drag the kid into saying things against dad.

[Duckster]

She needs to register the kids with the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program (CPIAP) as soon as possible.