When travelling abroad with a child due to border controls being alert to the risk of child abduction and child trafficking, you may be asked to prove that you have the appropriate permissions to travel abroad with your child.
This can cause particular problems if your child has a different surname to you and you might be refused permission to take your child on holiday with you if you cannot prove that you have the necessary authority and/or consent to do so.
Consent to travel
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, nowadays, usually both parents, including mother automatically and father if named on the birth certificate or previously married to the mother, and any other person who has been granted parental responsibility by a Court.
Without evidence of that consent 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. However, if challenged 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 the border control are satisfied that they have indeed given consent.
The exemptions to requiring that consent include the following:
- The Court under the Children Act makes a Child Arrangement Order which confirms that a child will live with the named parent. In those circumstances the holder of that Child Arrangements Live With Order can remove the child from the jurisdiction for a period or periods of holiday within any 12 month period for up to 28 days.
- Child has been made to 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 within any 12 month period.
- There is a Specific Issue Order which has been made by the Family Court specifying and directing travel abroad usually to a named location and for a specified period.
Whilst obviously travelling abroad can be a stressful process itself with children to avoid problems arising at the airport and potentially being stranded within the UK I would strongly advise that if travelling as a single parent with a child (particularly if that child has a different surname, or you are not the parent of the child) that appropriate documents should be gathered and taken with you to the airport should this issue arise.
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 Live With Order to you or the Specific Issue Order.
- By preference a consent letter from the non-accompanying parent or 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 persons 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 I would strongly advise that communication is entered into with the other parent and/or holders of parental responsibility at the earliest possible opportunity with appropriate agreement preferably in writing and being secured. As if that consent is subsequently withheld you do not have permission to remove the child from the United Kingdom and will 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 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.
Finally, you should also carefully check any requirements that might exist in the Country to which you intend to travel. For example, I am aware that if you are a sole parent taking a child to South Africa you will have to have documents which are produced from South Africa 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 United Kingdom.
In order to avoid therefore the horrendous possibility of being stood at the airport and your child not being permitted to travel, early and careful consideration should be undertaken, and the necessary papers and documents gathered and taken with you to the airport.
If you are therefore looking to travel abroad this Christmas please ensure that you have considered the above and secured the necessary documents to take with you.
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.