Custody question--Traveling with child

[clinthi]

I have traveled with my son outside the US to the Bahamas without any problems. We flew into Vancouver for our Alaska cruise and customs gave me a hard time about my child. At the time my child was 8--he has since then turned 9.

 

My child's passport was obtained with a notarized signature from my ex(via my attorney) to verify my ex-husband's acknowledgement that we both agree our child can have a passport and travel. I have sole custody.

 

I rarely see my ex-- he is not a regular part of our lives and I certainly can't find or depend on him whenever I want to take a trip. I leave him an email of the dates when our son will be traveling, where and emergency contact numbers for EVERY trip-- but I can't track him down.

 

Customs said that I shouldn't be traveling with MY SON with only a passport. I asked if copies of the divorce paperwork showing I had sole custody would work and they said I should always have a notarized letter from the other parent acknowledging the dates of the trip and his approval.

 

On one hand-- I see where that is a good rule for parents that SHOULDN'T be taking a kid out of the country but I can't FIND the ex let alone get notarized acknowledgements. I have sole custody for a reason.

 

Does anyone have experience with this situation or have a link to website(s) with definitive rules for this matter?

 

TIA

[kitty9]

There are not definitive rules or laws about this, but you can be asked at any time, by an airport person, the cruise line check in person, by US Immigration for a notarized letter from the biological parent who's not present on this trip giving you permission to take the child out of the country. If you don't have this letter, you can be denied boarding of a plane or ship.

 

What you should do is get a permanent letter from a judge, giving you permission to take the boy out of the country on vacation, IF you can't get this from his father. With that court order, they won't stop you.

[clinthi]

Thanks Darcie-- I will get a letter for all future travel--from court or ex, whomever I can find! I appreciate your reply!

 

But I have to say that if there are NOT definitive rules/laws it is really unfair to enforce rules that deny a parent who has proof of sole custody :(

[JDinWA]

Each country sets its own laws and policies for allowing entry. I was unable to fly to Mexico City with my daughter when she was young because I only had her passport. We got out the following day with copies of the divorce decree granting sole custody.

 

For Canada: (from http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5082-eng.html#s1x2)

 

"Border services officers are on alert for children who need protection. Children under the age of 18 seeking to enter Canada are classified as minors and are subject to the entry requirements set out under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

 

A more detailed examination will be conducted for minors entering Canada without proper identification or those travelling in the company of adults other than their parents or legal guardian(s). This additional scrutiny helps ensure the safety of the children.

 

Minor children travelling alone must have proof of citizenship. We also strongly recommend that the children carry a letter from both parents (if applicable) that authorizes the person meeting them to take care of them while they are in Canada. The letter should include the length of the stay and the address and telephone numbers of the parents.

 

If you are travelling with minors, you must carry proper identification for each child such as a birth certificate, passport, citizenship card, permanent resident card or Certificate of Indian Status. If you are not the parent or guardian of the children, you should also have written permission from the parent/guardian authorizing the trip. The letter should include addresses and telephone numbers where the parents or guardian can be reached.

 

Divorced or separated parents should carry custody or legal separation documents and/or a letter of authorization to facilitate their entry into Canada."

[Bill S]

Actually, many nations are signatories to the Hague Convention dealing with prevention of parental kidnapping. However, from what I read, enforcement is spotty.

Are immigration personnel in nations which are parties to the Agreement supposed to verify that any minor child travelling internationally with only one parent or guardian is doing so with the permission of the other parent? In a perfect world, probably so. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way all the time. More often than not, I read that the parents are not asked to provide such proof. Sometimes airlines and cruise ship lines may ask for proof.

It is difficult to predict when a parent is going to be challenged, so it is probably best if he or she has written permission by the other parent (if at all possible) to take their child out of the country, and as stated above, with the specifics for the trip as well. Not all nations have signed on this particular Hague Convention.

Just because one parent has been given primary physical custody, doesn't mean that the other parent's parental rights have been terminated, so that is why a court order or decree merely addressing custody rights may not always work. Not an easy problem to resolve when the other parent won't cooperate.

[DonnaK]

Do you still have (or can you get from your lawyer) a copy of the letter you used to obtain the passport?

[6rugrats]

When the other parent gives you permission to obtain a passport, they are not giving you permission to travel with the child outside of the country. These are two separate issues. You are lucky you were able to enter Canada without your legal paperwork showing you have sole custody or a notarized permission to travel letter from the father. The US does not have any exit controls, but other countries certainly have entrance requirements.

 

There are indeed definitive rules for this, and you can usually look them up here:

http://www.travel.state.gov/

 

Go to "Country Information" on the left hand side, choose the country to which you want to travel from the drop down menu, and look up entry/exit requirements.

 

If you have sole legal and physical custody, you must bring this paperwork with you, so you can present it at immigration if asked. You do not need the permission to travel letter in that case.

 

If you don't have this, you will need the letter or a court order giving you permission. Canada and Mexico are two countries that have very strict requirements about these documents.

Edited June 1, 2010 by 6rugrats

[bbwex]

There should be lots of available Permission forms on cruise sites. I know we had one for our DGD on Disney last winter. You could get a form that is good for a year -- so you only go through the hassle once a year. You might try to make it good for longer, though I don't know if border and/or immigration people might not accept that. Find a simple form, modify it to reflect that he agrees that you have sole custody as a result of your divorce and that he therefore grants blanket approval for you two to travel at your sole discretion. To be even safer, it might even say something like "knowing that you too are an American citizen and have no ties to any foreign country, that he grants blanket approval to any and all trips that return to the U.S." Have him have it notarized, and you should be fine at just about any crossing point.

[clinthi]

Excellent! THANKS so much! This is exactly what I was looking for --Cruise Critic members are so helpful!!!

[kitty9]

Thanks Darcie-- I will get a letter for all future travel--from court or ex, whomever I can find! I appreciate your reply!

 

But I have to say that if there are NOT definitive rules/laws it is really unfair to enforce rules that deny a parent who has proof of sole custody :(

 

I suspect you'd feel differently if your ex took your son to another country, without your knowledge or permission, and never returned home. That's the reason for this, so that non-custodial parents cannot "kidnap" a child and take them to another country where the custodial parent can't bring them back.

[6rugrats]

Thanks Darcie-- I will get a letter for all future travel--from court or ex, whomever I can find! I appreciate your reply!

 

But I have to say that if there are NOT definitive rules/laws it is really unfair to enforce rules that deny a parent who has proof of sole custody :(

 

I suspect you'd feel differently if your ex took your son to another country, without your knowledge or permission, and never returned home. That's the reason for this, so that non-custodial parents cannot "kidnap" a child and take them to another country where the custodial parent can't bring them back.

 

There is some confusion about terms here. The law is to protect all parents, not just the custodial ones. Custodial, at least in the two states I've lived in, merely is a term to describe the parent with whom the child resides most of the time.

 

Custodial parents aren't supposed to kidnap their children either.

 

Custodial is different from having full legal or physical custody. My DH shares legal and physical custody with his ex, but she is the custodial parent. She must obtain his permission to take minor child out-of-the-country.

 

OP has sole custody of her child, and therefore, does not need permission from her ex, who apparently isn't even involved in the child's life anyway. It appears her frustration is merely from the difficulty she was having finding information about this issue. I don't think she advocates any parent kidnapping their child.

[boulders]

There is some confusion about terms here. The law is to protect all parents, not just the custodial ones. Custodial, at least in the two states I've lived in, merely is a term to describe the parent with whom the child resides most of the time.

 

Custodial parents aren't supposed to kidnap their children either.

 

Custodial is different from having full legal or physical custody. My DH shares legal and physical custody with his ex, but she is the custodial parent. She must obtain his permission to take minor child out-of-the-country.

 

OP has sole custody of her child, and therefore, does not need permission from her ex, who apparently isn't even involved in the child's life anyway. It appears her frustration is merely from the difficulty she was having finding information about this issue. I don't think she advocates any parent kidnapping their child.

 

 

It doesn't sound like she has sole legal custody. In that case, the father's parental rights would have been terminated. I cross the border between the U.S. and Canada frequently. I always carry proof that I have sole legal custody of my children and I am usually asked for it.

[6rugrats]

It doesn't sound like she has sole legal custody. In that case, the father's parental rights would have been terminated. I cross the border between the U.S. and Canada frequently. I always carry proof that I have sole legal custody of my children and I am usually asked for it.

 

She states she has sole custody in her first post, but sometimes people use these terms incorrectly. Can't tell unless she comes back to clarify.

[bbwex]

Generally speaking, being granted sole custody does not mean that the other parent's rights are terminated. Those are normally two different things. Of course, if someone's parental rights are terminated, he is -- legally -- no longer a parent, and has no say whatsoever. Sole custody does not normally mean that the other parent cannot see the child, cannot have the child visit, nor does it mean that the other parent necessarily doesn't have support obligations.

[Bill S]

ditto what bbwex said.

[SeaBlu]

:eek:

Each country sets its own laws and policies for allowing entry. I was unable to fly to Mexico City with my daughter when she was young because I only had her passport. We got out the following day with copies of the divorce decree granting sole custody.

 

For Canada: (from http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5082-eng.html#s1x2)

 

"Border services officers are on alert for children who need protection. Children under the age of 18 seeking to enter Canada are classified as minors and are subject to the entry requirements set out under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

 

A more detailed examination will be conducted for minors entering Canada without proper identification or those traveling in the company of adults other than their parents or legal guardian(s). This additional scrutiny helps ensure the safety of the children.

 

Minor children traveling alone must have proof of citizenship. We also strongly recommend that the children carry a letter from both parents (if applicable) that authorizes the person meeting them to take care of them while they are in Canada. The letter should include the length of the stay and the address and telephone numbers of the parents.

 

If you are traveling with minors, you must carry proper identification for each child such as a birth certificate, passport, citizenship card, permanent resident card or Certificate of Indian Status. If you are not the parent or guardian of the children, you should also have written permission from the parent/guardian authorizing the trip. The letter should include addresses and telephone numbers where the parents or guardian can be reached.

 

Divorced or separated parents should carry custody or legal separation documents and/or a letter of authorization to facilitate their entry into Canada."

 

 

We are taking our grandchildren (10 & 12) on a cruise and we not only have to have their passports (a no brainier) and a notarized letter giving up permission to have them treated if there is a medical emergency but we also need a notarized letter from BOTH parents that we have their permission to take their children, full names and dates of birth on the cruise, full details about the cruise, names of cruise line, name of ship, which cabin we are going to be in, dates of cruise, which islands we are going to stop at and for how long and when the cruise returns! The only thing they did not ask for was our blood type! :eek:

[Brighton Line]

Just to throw out another issue, my nepehw's father gave up all parential rights in the divorce we had to carry that document in lieu of a letter from the father listed on the birth ceritifcate allow travel as well as everything lese (BC/letter from Mother/list of where and when etc).

[6rugrats]

:eek:

 

 

We are taking our grandchildren (10 & 12) on a cruise and we not only have to have their passports (a no brainier) and a notarized letter giving up permission to have them treated if there is a medical emergency but we also need a notarized letter from BOTH parents that we have their permission to take their children, full names and dates of birth on the cruise, full details about the cruise, names of cruise line, name of ship, which cabin we are going to be in, dates of cruise, which islands we are going to stop at and for how long and when the cruise returns! The only thing they did not ask for was our blood type! :eek:

Yes, and since you are traveling in the Caribbean, you will probably never be asked for any of it! Of course, if you didn't have it, you know what would happen.

[SeaBlu]

Yes, and since you are traveling in the Caribbean, you will probably never be asked for any of it! Of course, if you didn't have it, you know what would happen.

 

 

That is what we were afraid of. . . SO we will take all of it. Fortunately our son-in-law is in the Navy and they have free access to a legal office. They went there and had a document done for them and notarized.

 

Until I read the one of the other posts I had forgotten about when our daughter was in college and went on a cruise, long before 9/11. We had sent her an 'original' copy of her birth certificate. But we gave no thought to the fact that since her birth my DH and 'really' her Dad had adopted her. When she got to the ship they wanted a copy of her adoption papers! She was 18. They called me and finally agreed to accept a faxed copy!

[CTnTN]

I will be traveling with my Grand daughter to the Caribbean in March. I understand I need a passport, birth certificate, letters of consent from both parents. Here is the issue, her father is incarcerated. Her mother has contacted him by mail on numerous occasions and sent forms to be signed without any response. What now?

[Flatbush Flyer]

I will be traveling with my Grand daughter to the Caribbean in March. I understand I need a passport, birth certificate, letters of consent from both parents. Here is the issue, her father is incarcerated. Her mother has contacted him by mail on numerous occasions and sent forms to be signed without any response. What now?

 

 

If your daughter has full custody, she should talk with the attorney she used regarding best way to handle this.

[Husky61]

Does anyone have experience with this situation or have a link to website(s) with definitive rules for this matter?

 

TIA

 

I think an attorney would be your best course of action to follow rather than cruisers on a travel forum.:)

[GUT2407]

I think an attorney would be your best course of action to follow rather than cruisers on a travel forum.:)

 

Yep, found it funny she says she has a lawyer, yet asked total strangers, anonymous strangers at that, or wants a web site.

 

Oh well I hear it from clients all the time, "But a mate at the oub told me that the law is ......"

[LHT28]

I think an attorney would be your best course of action to follow rather than cruisers on a travel forum.:)

This was posted 6 years ago I am sure she has her answer by now :eek:

[notentirelynormal]

I will be traveling with my Grand daughter to the Caribbean in March. I understand I need a passport, birth certificate, letters of consent from both parents. Here is the issue, her father is incarcerated. Her mother has contacted him by mail on numerous occasions and sent forms to be signed without any response. What now?

 

It is always best to start a new thread. Many things can happen in 7 years. In this case, go to the courts and get a letter from the Judge. Problem solved.

 

Bring the document from the Judge, notarized letter from mom and health insurance info and permission to treat.