Travelling with different surname to children

[Anonymousposter17]

Is this an issue? In the past I recall reading stories of mums with different surnames to their children having difficulties at airports. Is this still a thing?

i currently have the same surname as my kids but am divorced from their father and will soon be marrying a new partner. I’d like his name ideally and the issue of travelling with my kids is the only thing holding me back.

Mine was in Europe.

Depends on the official I think. My kids have been questioned about who I am, where we've been and /or going to a few times over the years.
I recently travelled alone with my baby grandchild who has different surname and we weren't questioned at any point in or out of the UK. I had correct documentation with me as I thought it'd raise concerns with a baby but nope nothing 🤷‍♀️

I’m always asked so I carry the adoption certificates with me. I have a different nationality, surname and ethnicity than my DC. DH has the same surname and apparent ethnicity and hardly ever gets asked for proof that he’s their parent.

I just wonder how they can know though? Like I said my kids dads name is not on the birthcert and he quite frankly doesnt care if I emigrated with them but if I dont take the birthcert to the airport with me what can they do? We have the same surname but sure if even he was on the cert surely any old person could write a letter pretending to be the father? How can they possibly know for sure?

I take my niece abroad every year. She has a different surname to me and no one has ever batted an eyelid, asked how we're connected or asked if I have permission to travel with her.

Never had this issue. Have travelled a lot with my DC, my DD have different surname to me.

As someone said, a letter is meaningless. Anyone could write it so how do they know it's genuine.

The issue here is child abduction by another parent - which chances can be reduced by having passport details on records if a parent is taking a child abroad so it should be flagged on the system.

However - if you have a different surname to your child, then a birth certificate can help show that the child is yours. Although you would have thought that somewhere on a passport - or on the system, it would show the relationship to a parent and their passport.

I travel abroad once / twice a year from London with my kids (I never changed my surname after marriage, so we have different surnames). Never had a problem and never been asked for any documents.

You just need to carry relevant documentation (full birth certificate and marriage certificate(s)) plus a letter from their dad saying it's fine or a court order

Having the same name doesn’t mean you have the right to travel though- grandparents, stepparents, aunts, uncles, parents who have had responsibilities revoked-the most common abduction scenario is a parent.

which is why whether you have the same name or not, you can be stopped and asked for a birth cert and other documentation to prove relationship.

I often get asked for birth certificates

To those who say nobody checks - my dd was checked at 17 entering Canada with just me! Thankfully they accepted her dad was on an earlier flight

Think you are more liked to be ask travelling alone that as a 2 parent family, even if the man is a stepdad

It’s not surnames. All parents need permission from the other parent if they have PR
I'm always mystified by this comment on MN, I have always travelled with my DC and never once been asked this or had the surname questioned and do not know of anyone who has.

True - and that's why a child's passport should be on the system so a parent can flag it as a flight risk.

International parental child abduction - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

9 times out of 10 I get questioned at the Border Force checkpoints when returning to the UK with my son (who has different surname to me). But it rarely happens abroad (I think only once, in France).
When he was younger the UK agents would ask me where he was born. I always carry his birth certificate so would offer to show them it, at which point they would wave me through (so never had to get it out of the bag). Sometimes they would also say his name and watch to see if he would look up and recognise it.
Now he is older they ask him questions instead. Are you okay? Who is this person?
I've explained to him why they do this and he gets it (but also jokingly threatens that next time he will deny I'm his mother!)
I always travel through Manchester airport so maybe they are a bit more on it there than at other locations.

I'm divorced and have a different name from my children. We travelled a lot and I never had any issues. Only one time a passport control guy asked them who this lady I was and they said 'she's my mummy'.

Legally, yes. Legally, child surnameA, but mum surnameB with PR should be allowed to travel, but child surnameA with auntie surnameA should not be allowed to travel without legal permission from mum surnameB.

However, border control are stupid, and will ask no questions if adult and child share a surname, even when that relationship doesn't give PR, and child is travelling illegally, and yet will question when child is travelling legally with a parent with a different surname. It's ridiculous.

I've never had a problem.
One of my children looks totally different to me and when they were younger a couple of times they were asked who I was to them which I guess was an informal check.

What would solve this would be a bit on child passports listing those with the legal right to take a child out of the country. Dead easy. One extra section on the form for either both parents to sign to say the other has permission, or to submit a residence order (which gives permission for 4 weeks). Then all border force need to do is check both passports.

But for some reason they prefer their arbitrary scrutiny based on surname, rather than any legal metric.

I have a different surname to my children . Travel frequently with them and have never had an issue or any questions.

I've had trouble twice taking the DC abroad without exH. The first time was literally one week after he walked out. I'd barely gotten my head around it, let alone looked into international child kidnap rules. I took the DC on our pre-booked family holiday. No bother taking them out of the UK, but I was stopped at border control leaving the Netherlands and given a telling-off for not having a letter of permission.

The second time (also on a trip to the Netherlands!) I had a signed letter from exH but the border guard also wanted to see a copy of his passport to verify the signature. I really thought they were going to make us turn around and get back on the ferry. In the end, they interviewed the DC, who confirmed that I was their mum, DH was their stepdad and exH knew they were going on holiday with us, and they let us through with another telling-off.

I now travel with a signed letter of permission from exH, a photocopy of his passport, the DC's birth certificates and my marriage certificate. That's been fine so far! I understand some countries are particularly strict and will turn you round if you don't have everything: South Africa is one of them. The advice from my solicitor has been if exH is ever in one of his spiteful moods and refuses to give permission then to apply to court for them to grant permission instead. This would work if the DC's father is estranged too.

I have travelled quite a lot with children who are not mine, so have different surnames, and have never been asked for a letter or anything.

I took my neices (different surname) across multiple borders and was only asked once "are they with you?" I said yes and they waved us through.

how do you know? How do you conclude border force are so stupid they only stop those with different surnames?

like I said, my last trip two mums and children with the same surname were stopped and refused travel until they could show the relevant documents.

i travelled through with a different surname, no issues.

i strongly suspect it’s not a name thing, and there are other indicators they watch for. Or else every family travelling from the uk from somewhere like Iceland or some Middle Eastern countries where mums and kids don’t automatically have the same name would be stopped.

My surname is different to DS and we've never had a problem traveling abroad.