Parental consent

[todobigo]

Hello Joe,
I believe you are talking about this story: Permission to Travel Letters and Why You Need Them.

Your fears may well be unfounded, I don’t know your personal situation. However, according to the law in the U.S., neither you nor your wife nor any other adult could take a child under 18 outside the U.S. by plane, land or ship (there are some exceptions for recreational cruises) without the consent of that child’s birth parents or legal guardians. In this country, that law is supposed to be enforced by the carrier — therefore the plane, ground transportation or ship company are supposed to collect a notarized Permission to Travel Letter from the adult(s) accompanying the child or else, not allow those passengers to board.

Please let us know if you have any other questions and safe travels!

[Joe]

I hate even asking this question and hopefully my fears are unfounded. I was reading the article on a child under 18 needing both parents consent to travel abroad. If my wife decided to leave me and take my child to the airport to travel to another country would she be prevented without my permission? My child and I are US citizens and we’ve all lived in the U.S., together for 6 years. My child was born in the UK and has both UK and US passports. My wife is a legal permanent resident in US. Does she need paperwork besides just normal travel docs to travel to show I gave permission for him to leave the US?

[Author]

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