When travelling abroad with your child you may be asked to prove that you have the appropriate permissions to travel. Border control is alive to the issue of abduction and trafficking, so it is important to be wary of this when planning your holidays.
You don’t want to be in a position where, for example your child has a different surname to yours, and this leads to frustration and upset at the airport with permission not being granted for you to travel, if you cannot prove that you have the necessary authority and/or consent to do so.
Consent to travel – come fly with me
Unless you fit in one of the following exemptions, in order to leave the jurisdiction you are required to have the consent of everybody who holds parental responsibility for the children.
This would include usually both parents, including mother automatically and father if named on the birth certificate or currently/previously married to the mother, and any other person who has been granted parental responsibility by Court order.
Without evidence of that consent or authority the border control may refuse permission for the child to be removed.
Technically, to remove a child from the jurisdiction all that is required is consent – there is no particular format or form that needs to be completed for that consent to be provided which could therefore be simply oral. If this is challenged, however, unless there is some documentation to confirm that consent the permission to leave the UK may be refused unless the other parent and/or holders of parental responsibility can be contacted, and border control is satisfied that they have provided this.
The exemptions to requiring that consent include the following:
- The Court makes a Lives With Child Arrangements Order which confirms that a child will live with the named parent. In those circumstances the holder of that Child Arrangements Lives With Order can remove the child from the jurisdiction for a holiday for up to one month.
- The Court makes a Special Guardianship Order in which case the Special Guardians can remove a child from the jurisdiction for the purposes of holiday for up to 3 months.
- The Court makes a Specific Issue Order which permits travel abroad usually to a named location and for a specified period.
Whilst travelling abroad can be a stressful process in itself with children, to avoid problems arising at the airport and potentially being stranded within the UK it is advisable to ensure you have the appropriate consent or documentation in advance.
Those documents should be, if possible:
- Copy of birth certificate if you are a parent with a different surname to the child confirming you as the parent.
- A copy of any Court Order that has been made which incorporates and includes confirmation that the Court has made a Child Arrangement Lives With Order to you; Special Guardianship Order; or Specific Issue Order permitting the trip.
- A consent letter from the non-accompanying parent/parents or other holders of parental responsibility that they are in agreement with the child being removed from the jurisdiction with you for the purposes of your trip. In the event that you do not have such a direct letter then such other evidence as you are able to secure incorporating and including copies of any emails confirming that agreement or text messages to that effect.
- If your name is different to that of the child by reason of your name having changed by reason of marriage, not only a copy of your original birth certificate but copy of marriage certificate to confirm the same or if your name has changed following divorce so that the name in your passport is different to that of the child confirmation of the divorce by way of Decree Absolute.
Top tips if you are intending to travel abroad with your child
If you are intending to travel abroad with your child, communication with the other parent is key. You should give advanced notice at the earliest possible opportunity and seek appropriate agreement, preferably in writing. If that consent is subsequently withheld you do not have permission to remove the child from the UK, and you would require a Court Order of some kind in order to do so. The application process for such permission can be time consuming and therefore if you are in any doubt that permission will be granted, early confirmation of this and an application to the Court will be essential to avoid the dates that you wish to travel being missed.
You should also carefully check any requirements that might exist in the country to which you intend to travel. Some countries require additional documentation permitting children entry – an example being entry to South Africa where documents produced from there need to be completed and available before you will be permitted to enter the country with your child. Failure to do so may mean that the border control in South Africa would refuse entry and require immediate return to the UK. It is really important to check the destination for up to date specific entry requirements that may apply.
In order to avoid the possibility of being stood at the airport and your child not being permitted to travel, early and careful consideration should be undertaken in these situations so to avoid disappointment and upset.
If you would like to discuss travelling abroad with your child, ensuring they can fly, please get in touch with our Family Law team and we’d be happy to assist you.