USA entry requirements - travelling with DD - different surnames

[VillageFete]

Hi,

Going to Boston/Salem/New Hampshire with DD in October. She is 13. We have different surnames.

Do I need any additional documentation for her, such as birth certificate (Can't find it!)

I know we need to fill out ESTA's and will obviously need our passports. I'm fully vaxxed and boosted, she isn't but my understanding is that children under 17 can enter unvaxxed.

Do I just bring a copy of my vaxx records?

I dont know about travelling with different last names, but the covid regulations exempt DD from being vaccinated but if she isnt, she will have to self quarantine for 5 days and then self test. Here is the excerpt from the CDC web site. You should also have print outs of your vaccination cards etc as they can ask to see them on arrival and digital copies are not valid if they do.

1. You will be tested with a COVID-19 viral test 3–5 days after arrival in the United States, unless you have documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days;
2. You will self-quarantine for a full 5 days, even if the test result to the post-arrival viral test is negative, unless you have documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days; and
3. You will self-isolate if the result of the post-arrival test is positive or if you develop COVID-19 symptoms.

When I travelled to the US with ds who has a different surname, I went the whole hog and had a notarised letter of consent from DH to travel. This was partly motivated by wanting to be covered if the flight got diverted to Canada (we were flying to Alaska) where the rules are quite strict on children entering the country.

Anyway, we weren't diverted and no-one asked to see my notarised letter, but I would definitely travel with a copy of her birth certificate. I would order a replacement and then take a scan of that.