Taking child relative overseas

[Klobluchar]

I’m planning to take my cousin’s child to the USA with me in the Summer for a short holiday (a few weeks max). I am a Permanent Resident there.

What documentation will I need so we don’t have any problems at either end? We obviously have the full permission of both the child’s parents (child has father’s surname)

I’ve heard a few stories about people having problems leaving/ getting back into the UK when travelling with a child with a different surname to them (eg relative, friend of family etc) so we want to be forearmed with all the documentation we might need.

I’ll be coming to the UK pick her up and will travel back to the UK with her at the end of the stay.

Permission to travel from parents letter with address and phone numbers and how long your staying in the states for, the dates you are travelling also.

maybe take birth certificate if her child is young. If older I wouldn’t bother as they’ll just ask her themselves.

Obviously passport. But other than those there’s not much else you can take to prove relation.

The US are very stringent on this. You'll probably need a notarised permission letter rather than just a permission letter.

Thanks both. I might contact the immigration lawyer who sorted my Green Card out and make sure we have all bases covered for the US end. UK I will have to look into further too

I stand corrected. Google says just a letter giving permission from both parents. I'd check with the US authorities though.

I’ve done this before. Get a letter from both parents. The letter I’ve used grants me permission to travel with the child(ren) and also provides contact numbers/email addresses for the parents.
I’ve been asked for the letter a couple of times. The children were asked who I was, how I was related to them and for their address at home (and I think their parents names). It wasn’t at all stressful either time and the people at the border were not in anyway scary or threatening. I reckon that I’d their answers were inconsistent or incorrect they would have called one or both parents.