Can my children be taken out of the country without a passport

[greenshutters]

Just that.

My husband is an EU citizen. He is having the children alone for the first time. I have their passports bt I suddenly thought that he has recently gone to his consulate to have his ID card and passport renewed so I am having kittens that there is some way he could have got some kind of ID for them. As far as I know, he doesn't know where their birth certificates are.

That's a good point kirsty. And kind of weird when you think of it, given that birth certificates are actually accepted as ID in an awful lot of situations!

BUt how old do you have to be to get an ID card? Surely under-16s don't need them, as tey aren't responsible enough?

Here in Sweden an under-16 would be required to show ID if they don't want to pay full price on public transport. My daughter had to get one for going to school as I didn't want her carrying her passport every day.

Also when you buy train tickets you have to put the name of the traveller on it. The ticket inspector will want to see ID to confirm it's your ticket.

You can get ID cards from Birth. We considered getting DD one when she was born as DH is Dutch and it was a lot cheaper than a Passport.

We decided against it in the end as £15 a year, wasn't that much different over the 5 years of a child passports life span, plus if we decided to go further afield we'd need a passport anyway.

OP, where is DH from? What is it that is making you panic? Can you call just to make sure that they've settled ok, as its his first time alone with them?

I'm think the ID for children thing is a bit of a red herring as it's presumably possible to apply for (say) a Swedish passport for a Swedish child without the fact they already have a British passport being an issue. I'm pretty sure I've obtained passports for mine without having to show that the father consents.

OP, what is your reason for thinking he might take them away ?

Op, if you think he is taking the children out of the country without your consent, please be pro-active about it and don't rely on mumsnet for a quick answer.
Are you separated? Divorced? Any custody agreement? Please contact your sollicitor if you have any reason to disagree or worry about their well-being.