Permission letter for child to travel

[babyadventuring]

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to write about child travel documents (exciting, right?) for my blog, www.babyadventuring.com, and was hoping to pick your brains about permission letters.

While the mother automatically has the right to travel with her child, technically she needs a letter of permission from anyone else with parental responsibility. And anyone who isn’t the mother needs a letter. So what I’m wondering is, how often do people come up against problems with this? Would be interested to hear your experiences so I can shape the blog post accordingly.

Have you needed a letter and not had one? If you had one, did you get it officially notarized or just witnessed in the normal way? If you got a letter notarized, how much faff did that entail?

Thanks all!

Jo

Daughter has my surname. Moved to Australia on one way ticket in 2008, her dad had flown ahead months previously so was on our own. Took no letter and was never questioned it asked for one.
Parents lived in Dubai and so me and dad on our own often flew oz to Dubai with no letter and never asked for one.
Parents when in oz would take daughter on internal flights to other parts of oz, again no letter and they were never asked for one.
Me and ex split up and me and daughter returned to uk. Since then her dad has flown back and taken her Paris, he has different surname and took no letter and wasn’t asked.
Parents have taken her to Dubai and Majorca every year ( multiple times a year) for years now and same applies, never taken one and never been asked.

Typos
was never questioned OR asked for one

parents lived in Dubai so me and DD ( not dad) used to fly alone without her father and never asked for one

Thanks Kelly, I get the feeling that that’s most people’s experience. I suppose the trouble is that you never know and it would be a massive pain if you got stopped at the border and didn’t have a letter. But getting something notarised is a pretty big faff. Hmmm.

I have 3 kids. They all have their father's surname and we have often travelled internationally without him. I have never carried, or needed, a letter, but I always carry copies of their birth certificates as that proves that I am their mother. When entering the UK, border officials nearly always ask to see the birth certificates, nowhere else ever has.

Ah, that's interesting Crocodarl. My post about travel documents went live yesterday, but I'm going to edit to reflect your comment because that seems very sensible.

If you're interested, you can read the post here: babyadventuring.com/2017/11/13/documents-for-travelling-with-children/

The last 3 times dd and I have traveled to Spain we have been asked about her parentage, thankfully I’ve had her bc and letter with me. We have the same surname despite no longer being with her father.