Travelling with child with diff surname

[goforit99]

I’m travelling with my 4 year old with a diff surname to Egypt for a week and wanted to know if I need anything else as a “precaution” other than a birth certificate and a court order stating I have full-custody? Her dad is aware and happy for her to go etc. I read online that as I have the lives with order, that I don’t need “his permission” unless I go for over 28 days, not that this will be an issue if I ask him just wanted to cover all bases as it’s our first holiday together and her first trip so I didn’t want to spoil it .

thabk you

To add, her father and I are not together as a couple.

I'd get a signed letter from him with a contact telephone number on there too and take your documentation.

I travel with my DC and strangely enough got asked when returning to the UK. That was the only time.

https://www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad

Presume you've read this?

Custody as in living with you full-time isn't necessarily the same as sole parental responsibility, though it might be.

As you say the child's father has no issue with you going abroad, you'd be better off getting a consent letter from him just in case.

You won't be stopped on the way out because there's no border control on exit, only on entry. But you may be stopped and questioned in the other country. Most countries these days have some form of check on lone adults travelling abroad with minors- it's nothing really to do with surnames, but children being taken out of the country possibly without the permission of the non travelling parent.

@goforit99

Do not worry - you will be absolutely fine going to Egypt with your child.
I travel with my kids regularly on my own - to different countries and continents. Our last names differ, and sometimes we don't even use the same country passports (say to enter EU)

The only place where I have ever been stopped and questioned - was the UK immigration upon return. I was even asked why I didn't change my name - or why I don't have a joint bank account with H.

Nothing changed since I got divorced. No one has asked anything.

Similarly the ex travels with them without me. Never needed any formal permissions for either one of us to travel.

Have a great trip!

We have 3 different surnames, me my dd and my dh all have different surnames. I always take all the paperwork with me when travelling abroad, birth certac marriage certs, deed poll docs and even a letter from dd's Dad, but in all the years we've been going abroad I've never once been questioned about it or needed the documents

Please don't take pp's advice about not having a consent letter. As the Govt link above shows, you DO need consent. You should also check the requirements of the other country.

Not everybody is stopped. A sample of lone parents with children will be. It's the luck of the draw. You need to think of it like customs checks- not everybody has to open their bags and have their stuff checked but some will.

That it's never happened to you, doesn't mean it won't in the future, or doesn't to other people.

It was the first question I was asked at an interview for a border control job. Why are lone adults with children stopped and checked more often than 2 adults with children would be.

I get questioned with regard my children when I returned to the uk. I took kids birth certificates, my decree absolute, current marriage certificate, plus I got my ex to email giving consent for me to take them on holiday. Passed it all over and the border control man complimented me on my thoroughness and said they have so much trouble with people that don't provide what is needed.

OP - if you are worried - check Egypt entry rules. They do NOT mention any special permissions that single parents need to have.

UK - does not have passport control on departure. It boggles mind why they give 2nd degree to returning solo citizens with children - mostly women btw. That does nothing to prevent child abductions.

But even Gov.UK clearly states you don’t need any permission to travel for under 28 days as you have court order child arrangement at 100% with you.
Enjoy your trip!

I was questioned on return to the uk recently. I had birth certificate with me (which boarder control asked for) along with a letter from dad giving consent. Better to be prepared

And if you didn’t have any of the paperwork with you - they’d still let you in. They’ll take a min and stare into their computer; tell you to bring birth certificates next time and let you in.
There is no cause for them to do anything other than ‘tell you off’.
This is why checking on arrival is pointless.

IF they actually wanted to stop child abduction - they’d be checking people leaving the country…

I have a different surname to my kids and when I have travelled with him, I always carry a birth certificate and also a written letter from the dad with his full name and passport number to say he is aware and happy for me to travel with him. Only ever been asked twice to see evidence.

My mum sometimes takes my son on holiday abroad and I always provide a letter of consent attached to a photocopy of my passport and his birth certificate. That covers all possible bases and means you have peace of mind. She's only been stopped once, and when she was they let her straight through and said they were impressed with how organised she was!

So to cover all bases I would ask her dad for a letter of consent and a photocopy of his passport, and then also take a copy of her birth certificate. There's a good chance you won't need it, but you'll have complete peace of mind that if you do get stopped, you have everything they could possibly ask for.

Men are far more likely to be questioned when travelling alone with minors.

That's what API is for on check in.
Just because you don't hand over your ppt on exit doesn't mean you've not been checked.

I have a foster DC and my son has my exh name. So me and DH have 2 DC with us with different surnames and on one occasion 3 as I took my niece on holiday with us as company for my DS of the same age. I've been asked to provide letters with signatures on twice. I always get a letter from LA with a signature and stamp on.

The different names thing is irrelevant.

anyone travelling alone with a child needs permission from all those with PR, and should have a letter to that effect.

last time DD’s dance troupe travelled abroad two mums were stopped, both had the same name as their children. Both thought as they had the same names they didn’t need documentation. They nearly missed the flight as they weren’t allowed to board until their husbands had been spoken to.

My eldest has a different surname so I took his birth certificate when we last went to France. They looked at it, asked him who his mum was and waved us on.

API checks for some things. But it doesn't get into - it she child traveling with Parent X traveling without permission of Parent Y...
This is why plenty of moms on MN are advised to hide kids passports as there is no other way to prevent a foreign born other parent from taking them to some other country.
This is why being asked ridiculous questions upon return home with my British passport has always felt pointless.

I have never heard about any regular airlines asking for the other parent's permission. Airlines only do what is required by the arrival country of the particular flight. So - several years ago South Africa used to ask for a letter from another parent. All airlines in the UK flying to SA used to ask for that letter. That requirement is no longer there - so airlines stopped asking for them.

OP - by all means - to give you a peace of mind, and if you are amicable with Ex - get him to email you something confirming he is OK with you traveling.

Obviously. Like a parent who has asked the passport authorities to put a block on the child's passport to stop the child being taken out of the country. Or if a status check shows there's no relationship between the child and the adult.

The hiding passports thing is very poor advice and I've always said so. If a parent is set on cross border abduction, they'll simply say the first one is lost and get another. Or one from their own country maybe. Far safer to have the original one blocked for travel without consent.

I only know about UK requirements for consent to travel and the UK authorities wouldn't advise a traveller about any other country's requirements so the OP should also check these.

@Runningbird43 it's so frustrating that so many people think it's only if the child has a different surname.

Ironically, I was once travelling with my own daughter, and her friend. The friend isn't British and her own country allows minors to travel abroad from the age of 14 with no parental consent (under 14 the consent letter has to be formally authorised by the local police) I didn't have to show I had permission to take this child out of the country, but I did for my own. This was leaving the other child's country. Entering the other child's country I wasn't asked about either of them.

@goforit99 anyway, take a letter with your child's father's details, just in case your court order only covers residence/custody and doesn't specify he has no parental responsibility. (The 28 day thing is also not very clear-technically yes, you can, but if you scroll down, it does explain that you should still have consent)

And have a lovely holiday!

@ASighMadeOfStone thank you so much for the information. I wanted to let you know and others if they see this post that by law you do not need a consent letter or permission if there is a child’s arrangement order which states the child lives with you. This is applicable for any trip under 28 days. A consent letter wouldn’t do any harm but just as an FYI.

thanks again all

@ASighMadeOfStone thank you very much for this information. I will definitely take a letter with me. Just out of curiosity, if the law states that the parent doesn’t need a consent letter, why would airport control not adhere to that too if for example you have a birth certificate as well as a return date for your travels?

@Sanch1 thank you, it definitely is better to have all corners covered.

Different surnames here. Not stopped or asked. Had a letter packed occasionally but not always. We look pretty similar.

@jsku i often wonder why these preventative steps, if they are so crucial, are not done at time of passport application whereby you have to provide certain documentation. Additionally, even when I called the airline to triple check, they said they never had any issues before with people being stopped (BA airline).

If you have a “lives with” court order, that’s all you need to take your child abroad for up to 28days. People without such an order require the consent of anyone else with parental responsibility.

The names don’t matter as they will be written in full on the court order.