If you’re not the parent or guardian of a child traveling with you, you’ll need to have written parental consent from each child’s parents/guardians before you leave.
Summer vacations are around the corner. It may come as a surprise, but written parental consent will be needed when traveling with a group of kids or your own if traveling without a spouse.
People are ready to travel again after holding back for two-plus years of the pandemic. On some family vacations, children of friends come along. Also traveling this summer will be groups of children on outings from camps and youth sports teams traveling to tournaments.
If you’re not the parent or legal guardian of a child in your care while traveling, you need to have permission from their parents/guardians. Their travel consent must be in writing and should be authenticated. Sometimes, even traveling with your child may require you to have documented proof of your parent/child relationship.
Without written parental consent to travel with a child, you may be jailed by authorities while they attempt to determine if you’re allowed to travel with the child.
Without documented written parental consent, whether traveling domestically or internationally, the consequences can be severe, including temporary incarceration while authorities determine you’re not a kidnapper.
Consent is necessary due to the increasing frequency of child abductions, including custodial kidnapping and illegal trafficking of children for child pornography and prostitution. According to SafeAtLast, approximately eight million children are reported missing worldwide every year. About 90 percent are custodial abductions.
Even grandparents need written consent and documentation to travel with their grandchildren.
Whether traveling domestically or internationally, adults traveling with children under 18 years of age, other than their own, will need a travel consent letter from each of the child’s parents/guardians. If a child is traveling with just one parent or guardian, grandparents, uncles, or aunts, they need a consent letter. If a divorce has occurred, a consent letter and parenthood explanation, with accompanying documentation, is necessary. The same is true for parents/guardians in same-sex marriages, especially for international travel and particularly if same-sex parents travel to any destination where same-sex marriages aren’t permitted by law.
Below, I’ve listed the primary documents for children traveling with adults who aren’t their parents/guardians and situations where documented proof of a parent/guardian-child relationship is essential.
Passports are the best photo identification for all international travel.
Passport and other photo identification:
Children of any age, like adults, need a passport to fly internationally. Neither children nor adults need a passport for some land and sea travel to and from the U.S. However, I strongly recommend that all international travelers use a passport. In an emergency, they are the only proof of identification and citizenship accepted for all international travel.
Starting on May 3, 2023, U.S. adults will need Real ID-compliant identification to fly domestically.
In the U.S., children don’t need to provide identification to fly domestically or use other forms of public transportation. Still, the adults traveling with the children need identification to fly and occasionally for other forms of public transportation. For now, air travelers who are 18 years of age and older can use any state-issued photo identification such as a driver’s license or non-driver identification. Starting on May 3, 2023, U.S. adults will need a Real ID-compliant identification to fly domestically in the U.S.
Child Travel Consent Form:
Adults who aren’t the parents or guardians of children with whom they’re traveling will need a Child Travel Consent Form (letter of permission to travel). The form provides proof that the child has the consent of their parents/legal guardians to travel without them and with the adult(s) listed on the form.
Child Travel Consent Forms must include travel date and destination information and contact information of everyone: parents/guardians, child, and adult travelers.
At a minimum, the form must include the child’s full name and contact information, the parent and guardian contact information, details of the child’s travel arrangement, including with whom the child is traveling, the child’s destination(s), and the dates of travel for which the consent applies.
In the case of multiple legal parents/guardians, each parent/guardian should be listed on the form and sign it. This is particularly important when parents are separated or divorced and have joint custody. If you’re taking someone else’s child with you on your family vacation, you don’t want to be caught in the middle of a custody dispute. If you can’t get written consent from each parent and guardian, don’t take the child with you.
Divorced or separated parents need consent to travel from the other parent/guardian, if any, unless they have full custody of their child.
Divorced or separated parents should have a Child Travel Consent Form when traveling with their child whenever the other parent has partial full custody. Being their biological parent will not be enough for authorities to determine if traveling with one’s child is legal.
The consent form should be witnessed and notarized to significantly decrease the chance that government authorities will question the consent’s validity and help ensure that in the case of divorced parents with a poor relationship, you won’t get caught in their animosity against each other.
Proof of identity and relationship:
If only one parent or guardian is traveling with their child, and in the case of adoptive and same-sex couple parents, all should travel with proof of their relationship with their child. This can be a birth certificate, a court order, an adoption decree, etc. Separated and divorced parents should always have copies of all relevant court orders, separation or divorce agreements, and legal custody documents to prove they may travel with their child.
A child’s passport can help prove your relationship with the children traveling with you.
Moreover, it’s always a good idea to be able to prove the child with you is the one listed in the documents. A copy of the child’s birth certificate should suffice, but if the child has a passport, that’s the top proof of the child’s identity, even for domestic travel. You, of course, should also be able to prove your identity. For international travel, your passport is perfect. For domestic travel for U.S. citizens, a Real ID-compliant ID is the best for you.
The US State Department’s country information lists each nation’s requirements for travel with a child for whom you are not a parent or guardian.
International travel national prerequisites:
In addition to these documents, if traveling internationally, many countries have specific prerequisites and forms that they require when children are traveling with adults other than their parents/guardians. Many countries also have requirements for notarization, supporting documents, and affidavits. U.S. citizens can use the U.S. Department of State’s website and country information pages to determine each nation’s requirements for documentation when children are traveling with adults who are not their parents/guardians.
Medical authorization:
In addition to obtaining written custodial consent, make sure you have each parent/guardian sign off on full medical treatment authorization for children whom you aren’t their parent or guardian. If anything happens to them medically or in an accident while you’re traveling together, you’ll need to prove you can authorize treatment and medication for the children.
Whenever traveling with a child under 18 who is not your child, there may be severe consequences for your vacation. To help prove your identity and the children’s, you must have the necessary legal documents. Plus, written consent from their parents/guardians to travel with their child is required. Even when traveling with your child, you may need relationship documentation according to your family situation. Please don’t take a chance to ruin your vacation before it starts because you’ve failed to obtain the proper documents.
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After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
