It’s almost summer and you just realized that you will need a travel consent to cross the border with your child…what do you do?
Don’t worry, I got you.
A travel consent letter should be used for all cross-border travel when a child is travelling alone, with only 1 parent or guardian, or with a group. It is not a legal requirement, but would you want to risk being stopped at the border by immigration authorities?
The reason why the authorities may question a sole parent trying to cross the border with a child is because they want to prevent the risk of child abduction.
A travel consent letter should include the name of the child, the name and contact information of the child’s parents or guardians, the name and relationship of the accompanying adult, and information about where and when the child will be travelling. A sample consent letter can be found here.
When parties are separated, they may have a separation agreement or court order that states that one of the parents does not require the consent of the other to travel with the child. Often times they should still provide the other parent travel particulars, such as the departure and return dates, flight carrier numbers, address of accommodations and emergency contact number.
If you need assistance in obtaining an agreement or court order regarding travel, please contact me. You may also need to get your consent letter notarized, which I can assist you with as well.
