Letter of Consent for minors and Passport

[lmmphilly]

Can anyone tell me if both are needed when traveling with children of divorced parents. I know passports are now required (and they alone have restrictions for minors, but my sister has full custody of both of her children and has court documentation of that. Is a Letter of Consent to travel required or will court documentation be enough stating she has custody be enough. Has anyone ever had this issue before? Your thoughts would be appreciated, we want to make sure we have what we need before we go.
Thanks,
Leslie

Star Princess (Spring Bread 4/9/06)

[Luanne Russo]

Leslie, I would play it safe if I was you. To have full custody doesn't mean you have permission to take the children out of the country. This is a safe guard to protect the other parent. If you have both passports, and letter of permission, then you will have what you need, and not have to worry about it. They might not ask for it, but if they do, you have it, with no problems. Hope this helps.


Luanne

[Jim Bragg]

You need the letter of consent from both parents. Custody does not mean permission to remove them from the jurisdiction of the USA. You will also want to have a letter giving you permission to make all medical decisions on their behalf as well.
Jim

[DeeDee]

My niece has a child that has no father listed on the birth certificate. The child is a minor. How do they handle this? We will be leaving before the end of the year so passports aren't necessary. What does a parent do when the other parent basically doesn't exist??

[Dorothy]

I would bring the birth certificate (which if you don't have a passport you have to anyway).

dorothy

[Jewels37]

I am divorced and have full custody of my daughter. I live in California and assuming the laws aren't any different in the other states, as long as she has full custody of her children she does NOT need a letter of consent. All I needed to get my daughter's passport (by the way, she is 8) was her birth certificate and the court order (it must be fully executed and certified that it is a copy of the original). They do keep both papers as they need to verify all the information is true and correct. When they mail the passports they send back all the paperwork that was turned in. I was never asked for a letter and I am glad since my ex and I do not get along at all. Your sister should not have any problems.

[Dorothy]

>>I live in California and assuming the laws aren't any different in the other states, as long as she has full custody of her children she does NOT need a letter of consent.>>

It's not the *state* laws you are concerned with, it's what Mexico or Belize, or whatever country you are entering requires. You aren't bringing a passport, or other documentation to get OUT of the country, but to get into another and then back out.

And as far assuming laws aren't different from state to state - they are often VERY different.

Bring the birth certificate.

dorothy