Permission to take child abroad

[Bobbobchampagne]

I will shortly be taking my child abroad for the first time on my own. I’ve read that you should carry written permission from the other parent, but I can’t seem to find any examples of what this should look like - would an email be ok? Or does it need to be a signed letter? How can you prove it’s authentic?

In my country, it has to be a signed and notarized paper (basically a power of attorney) and it has to include the traveling parent's ID info, child's ID, the destination and the period of the travel. Probably not much help to you, since i don't know your country's laws, but just saying, an email or a simple letter probably won't fly.

A letter of permission with contact details is likely to be sufficient.

I've taken my children abroad 5 times and have never been asked for a letter of permission from their dad. Didn't need his permission to get passports either.

I've been asked once on returning to the UK for birth certificates as they have a different surname to me but that was all.

It may depend on where you're travelling to so maybe look up your destination country's rules on it.

Me and my DS have different surnames so I took the birth certificate with me and my DP wrote a simple letter on a piece of paper that “Me ( this and this ), give my permission to take my son ( name, surname, DOB ), out of the country to visit family. Signature and phone nr at the end.

No one cared. No one checked, no one even asked anything. But I felt better that I had it with me just in case.

Thanks for the replies, that’s really helpful. I have the same surname as my child, but this is the first time my husband won’t be travelling with us, I just want to make sure we don’t have any delays.

I’d get a letter. Regularly travelled to Canada without DH when kids were little. Majority of customs staff were officious and would ask the kids questions about who I was, where was daddy, where were they going etc. i still carry a notarised letter with me when travelling abroad with kids but without DH. Not worth the hassle

Omg. Don’t use the word ‘permission’ it’s 2022!

This never occured to me that I would have trouble travelling without my other half... Thankfully I and no issues

Wtf?

I’ve never needed one. My DC have been asked to confirm who I was by border officials (different surname).

Only time I’ve ever heard it required is in the Netherlands and that was when the surname was the same anyway.

I take the birth certificate with me because I have a different name and a different nationality. The first time the lady looked v relieved, second time I offered she looked at me, then the baby, back at me and said nah youre alright 😀

It may be recent (Brexit gift?) I had to give ex permission in writing to renew dds passport last year .

The letter we made had DHs phone number and passport number on. Just typed on home computer.

When they travel with grandparents it has both both our phone numbers and passport numbers.

We were asked once in four years of multiple trips.

It depends if it’s somewhere that requires it or a nice to have. Requirement are in Italy, Portugal, Canada , South Africa and many others and may require a solicitor. Nice to have countries I’d take a printed out letter he has signed with a photocopy of his (dads) passport. An email is worthless, it could be from anyone.

I don’t need my husbands permission to travel abroad with our children. The letter is factual and states that I will be travelling on specific dates with his knowledge.

Apologies for those I’ve offended with the word permission, I was taking the wording from the government’s website.
For those who have helpfully responded with their experiences and what they included in the letter, thank you very much!