This happened to a relation recently. His family was going out of the US on vacation. He and his daughters were leaving on one day, and his wife would be joining them a few days later.
He found out, fortunately just in time, that he had to have a notarized document from his wife giving approval to take the children out of the US. Presumably this is to discourage kidnapping in divorce or other cases.
My question is; Exactly how does his work? There are lots of one-parent families; do they all run into this? Who is responsible to check on this and how do they know to check? Is it TSA? Immigration? Customs? The airlines?
When my relation checked in at the ticket counter he was told that if he didn’t have the letter he would not have been able to board the plane. But if you check-in online you would presumably never have to deal with a ticket agent, just a gate agent, and all they appear to do is verify you have a boarding pass.(I’m not sure if a curbside baggage handler would have the same checking ability as a ticket agent, but presumably you could travel without baggage).
I think there are several points where you could presumably be asked, starting at check-in and possibly at the checkpoint between the non-security and security areas (as you get into the lines for the security check). Every time I’ve ever travelled with someone (usually my husband, with whom I don’t share a surname), the Customs officers in the next country has asked how I was related to him and I assume at this point they’d verify that a single parent was allowed to travel with the child. Other countries have an interest in not letting kidnapped children and their kidnappers into the country, because they don’t want to become known as a ‘safe’ place to go.
I have never heard of this and I’ve travelled a lot internationally with my family. Kids have flown with my wife (and not with me). By names, it’s not 100% clear that the kids are related to my wife. Not sure if this is “real” or just a “potential issue.”
IME, I needed to have the birth certificate showing only me on it in addition to our passports, and customs checked when we crossed the border (either at the airport or the crossing depending how we travelled).
I found out beforehand and made sure to have it with me so no one has ever asked questions, but we don’t cross the border that often.
So how does the airline know that the wife is really the mother of the child? If he was really trying to flee the country with the kids to get around a custody agreement, couldn’t his new girlfriend, or his sister, or anyone that wanted to help sign a letter saying that she was the mother? Did the airline record the mother’s name in a database for future follow up?
I recently took my daughter across the Canadian border. My wife was with me, but what does that prove? She could have been a daughter from a previous marriage that the wife and I were smuggling out of the country.
I’ve never run into this. I’ve taken my nieces on day trips up into Canada on several occasions. I’ll bring a note from their mother (my sister) saying I have permission to take them out of the country but I’ve rarely been asked for that. But I’ve never had a note from my ex-brother-in-law.
It is not consistent and has been a problem for a few people I know. Strange arcane system in which ‘notes’ are acceptable documentation. It seems to be agents make up rules on the spot, and when you’re on the spot trying to simply travel complying with whatever rules they make up, makes a lot more sense then trying to argue with the person who could hold you up indefinitely.
My best friend had a child with a man who was completely absent as of the middle of the pregnancy. She made the mistake of putting his name on the birth certificate. When it came time for her to travel internationally with said child she was given a very hard time at Canadian customs. She had no documentation from the father saying it was OK for her to take the child out of the country. After explaining for two hours the situation, they eventually let her through but ‘informed’ her they wouldn’t do so in the future(guess you can abduct one child per lifetime if your story is believable.)
She then spent much time tracking down and locating the deadbeat dad and managed to get a note from him consenting to allow her to take the child out of the country as needed. The next TSA agent explained a new note would have to be acquired for each instance, one note could not cover all travels.
She had a few other issues but was never stopped, just time wasted and phone calls made. Around the time the kid could talk TSA just questions the kid and waves them on.
She also had one instance at Niagara Falls. She was traveling with a friend’s 17 y/o son, without that teenagers parents. They decided to walk across and check out the Canadian side. Canada let them in no problem. On the way back however American Customs stopped them and would not allow her to take him back into the US. They wouldn’t allow him back into the US without a parent. After a phone call with her crying, trying to explain the situation to the mother saying she had ‘lost her son in Canada’ The mother faxed a note with a copy of her passport giving permission for her son to reenter the US.
The rules for taking minor children across borders when they are not accompanied by both parents are complicated, and the papers are not always checked by the border agents anyways. However, to be safe, here are the rules in general:
If only one custodial parent accompanies the child, he/she must take a notarized paper from the other parent showing that the child is allowed to travel.
If there is only one custodial parent due to divorce, death, or whatever, then he/she must take a notarized paper from some authority noting that fact.
Yikes! I’ve never tried to travel outside of the US with my son but this is good to know, as it’s likely we’ll make a trip to Canada while we’re living here near Boston, since it’s so close. I’ll be sure to get a note from his dad before we attempt such a trip!
I worried about this the first time I had my son on a national flight. I’m ‘supposed’ to have a ‘letter’ or documentation. I’m also ‘supposed’ to have it for a passport. But I’m the only one on his birth certificate, so it’s never come up. Actually, it never came up anyway, but if it had, all I needed was that to show I was the sole custodial parent.
If I can piggy-back on the OP, when did this process begin? In the 1970s and 1980s, I don’t recall anyone ever asking on either side of the US / Canada border.
What did those eagle-eyed customs officials think that your friend was up to? Returning a kid she had just kidnapped? If they had any suspicion, wouldn’t they want the kid back in the country as quickly as possible so as to reunite him with his parents?
I’ve never traveled outside the US with my kids, but my ex-wife did.
She had to have a notarized letter from me in order to travel. Since I wasn’t there I don’t know who required it, and where she had to present it. But clearly she needed it.
So what happens if your child is the product of a one night stand sperm donor? What if you never even got his name. What if you have no earthly idea where he is, even if you do know his name?
What if the father (or mother) doesn’t care a whit about the kid and can’t even be bothered to get a notarized note to you?
I’ve dealt with this a lot, just did it again recently when ex-wife took kids to Mexico. I’ve also had to provide this same letter when my kids travel on sports teams to other countries (Canada) - they (the team) won’t let them get on the bus/plane without it.
Not sure why some think this is a stupid law - there are people that take their kids to another country and don’t come back - seems like a reasonable check.
You don’t get his name on the birth certificate or other applicable documents, making it clear that you’re the only and custodial parent. Ta-daa, no note needed.
It was passport control that questioned me and my (12-year-old) daughter when we travelled to the US, so checking in online makes no difference. They were OK with our answers to the questions, but it took a while. I’d thought I had her birth certificate at home, but could’t find it, and couldn’t get a replacement in time (her birth father has never had any contact with her).
Doesn’t the father have to be involved in some way to get his name on the birth certificate (if he’s not married to the mother)? In the UK at least, the father has to be physically present when the birth is registered in order to be on the birth certificate. Surely other countries have something similar - you can’t just write down ‘Bill Gates’ and hope for the best.