Border Crossing with Kids Question

[Mortlives]

Hi, Everyone.

I noticed on another thread that someone's child was asked where his mommy was. Is this sort of thing common? We're trying to teach DS12 the importance of not lying, but we also don't want our vacation coming to an abrupt end. Here's the deal:

For the first time, we're going to be crossing the border by car with DS, who is actually my stepson. While his mother doesn't mind us taking him away, she can't be bothered to get a notarized letter stating so. So, at what age do border guards assume kids will know whether or not they're being kidnapped? Do a lot of kids get questioned? Should we expect a problem?

If we should, does anyone know if one letter stating that we can take the child out of the country whenever we want be alright? We have his passport and all his other id and he lives with us.


TIA,
Mort.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Mort - we have never been questioned coming into Canada, but about a year ago the US Customs kept asking us our relationship to the children in the back. Then he asked to roll down the window and quizzed (very nicely) our kids (4 & 7) by asking a few questions like, "Are these people your Mommy and Daddy?"
I suspect they were just looking for someone who recently abducted a child.
I don't think you should have a problem because out of all the times we have crossed back and forth with the kids (many, many times) we were only asked once.
As long as you have the proper paperwork, his passport, custody information, etc. you should be fine.

 

[Cruisin]

Mort
It was my daughter that they asked that question to and she was like 15 years old at the time, so we thought it was a pretty silly way to phrase a question to a child of that age.
That said, we have only ever been questioned that one time, in May we took my daughter and niece across the border and were not questioned, they did not even look at our ID.
Does your son have the same last name as the rest of the family? If you have his passport etc they probably won't even question it at all.
We went over at Christmas and we were asked if everyone in the car was from the same family, you could honestly answer yes to a question like that.
Don't worry about it, you probably won't have any trouble at all.

 

[Mortlives]

Thanks for your replies. I feel reassured. I don't know why I was more apprehensive about going by car, we've never had any problem at the airport. It sounds like it's probably about the same. Maybe I just figured if you're going by car they'll think you're moving.

Mind you, probably not with the puny amount of stuff we travel with.

Thanks again.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

 

[maryliz]

Mort, we took our 9 yo niece with us last Feb. We handed customs all 5 pieces of ID and they never once questioned why one of the kids had a different last name. My sister did up a letter on her computer giving us legal/medical authority, included her home address, phone numbers, etc and she and her dh both signed it. She also attached a wallet-sized school photo. Although not notarized, I think it would certainly be sufficient. I would do the letter up myself and just get the mom to sign it. Given that you'll have all of his ID, I see no problems whatsoever.

Mary Liz

 

[Sandyrella]

When my DH took DS3 (at the time) to Florida a few years ago, he was asked for a notarized travel letter signed by me authorizing him to take DS out of the country, and we are not even divorced or separated. This took place at the airport. Luckily. the travel agent had given us a heads up so we prepared an open letter that either of us can use and had it notarized.

I also have two children from a previous marriage, have crossed to border with them by car numerous times and never been asked for any ID or letters. It may help that my two older children do resemble their step-father in the fact that we are all very fair. I share joint custody of them although they physically live with me.

Also, if your DS lives with you, do you have full custody? And if you do, is it documented in a court order? If you have full custody, you do not need a travel letter, but your ex would if she was to take the children over the border.

I think it all comes down to chance. You may never be asked for anything at the border but if you are, you need to be prepared. I also believe that if you prepare a travel letter and have your ex sign it, it should be sufficient with all of the other ID you have but you just never know. Be sure to carry your custody papers with you as well if it offers more proof.

For a sample of the travel letter, I found this website a while ago. You just enter all of your pertinent info and it tailors the letter to your specifics. http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/consent/?

Good luck!

 

[abbyndrewmom]

Just a word of warning, when I lived in the US and travelled back in forth with my daughter both by car and by plane the Canadians guards always asked for a letter from my husband. Now it might have been because I was travelling alone with my daughter. I would probably type up a letter an have his mother sign it. My letter was notarized but I can't remember if it had to be notarized or not. I do remember that I had a hard time one time because the letter was more then 6 months old so after that we updated it every couple of months.

Have a great trip!!!!

 

[Mortlives]

Originally posted by Sandyrella
For a sample of the travel letter, I found this website a while ago. You just enter all of your pertinent info and it tailors the letter to your specifics. http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/consent/?

Thanks for the reference, it does make the wording simple. A word of warning about that site, though, it asks for sufficient information for someone else to be able to forge a similar letter, and the connection is insecure. If you're going to use it, please put in bogus info, and alter it later. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I'd rather be overcautious where DS is concerned. It's probably moot anyway, though. The last time we gave her $60 to get a letter notarized, she gave us a handwritten note and kept the cash.

It's possible I'm just paranoid in general about internet safety, I refused to book into a totally amazing B&B for this trip because they were asking for a CC over an insecure site, or we would have to phone them on our dime to give it to them. Since they weren't warning anyone that it was insecure, I wasn't impressed with their notion of traveller safety.

One thing I've noticed in these responses (and thank you all for them), is that it seems to be much more difficult to bring children from the US into Canada and back, than vice versa.

Ciao,
Mort.

 

[FatCow]

While his mother doesn't mind us taking him away, she can't be bothered to get a notarized letter stating so.

1. A statement like that makes me cringe.


2. Having a notarized statement doesn't mean she needs a lawyer to do so. According to an aquaintance of mine (he is an immigration officer), the statement SHOULD be prepared just in case. The statement doesn't have to be notarized by a lawyer. By a CPA or Family Doctor should be sufficient

In the worst case scenario, write a letter, with the full name and contact phone number of the parent(s) of the kid will be somewhat sufficient.

 

[WCMouse]

Dear Mort... We travel quite frequently across the border over here in BC and have had experiences like many of the others. On a couple of occassions the US Immigration officer has asked my 8 year old son "without looking at the two people next to you, what do you call them", my son with a confused look, calmly said mommy and daddy and we were on our way.

From friends we hae heard and agree that the more documents, letters, papers, etc. you have and can present the better. The US officials do not want to stop you from entering they just want to feel comfortable about doing so.

 

[Vivig]

Here is a twist to all your past experiences...when we had taken our son to WDW the first time in May 2001, the guards at the border asked him are these your parents? He..being 31/2 years old looked at the guard's face seriously and replied "No"!!!....you cannot begin to imagine the reactions my husband and I were feeling at that exact time. The guard looked at us and said ...that because he looked sooo much like us that he did not have a problem with it..( Besides the fact that he was identified on my passport.) He gave our son a lecture and off we went....Let me tell you that made an interesting beginning to our trip...it started off us on a panicky start :happy1: but we spoke to hhim and he understood the seriousness of it all...he is quite a kidder until this date

 

[DSNY FN]

When we took my little brother in 99 we had his mom sign a letter we wrote stating we had custody of him for the vacation then when we got to the border we handed over his BC and they never even asked another question after that so I would reccomend like many of the others just do up a letter and have his mother sign it.

 

[Mortlives]

Thanks again, everyone.

I found the space on the government website that outlines travel suggestions for kids on the GC website . They say the letter has to be certified, not notarized. I have no idea what that means, but the sample letter they provide has a space for a witness signature. That should make things easier, and save us from being ripped off for another $60.

Ciao,
Mort.

 

[DisneyJules]

When I was about 6 years of age and my brother was 8 we had gone just over the border for a weekend trip. I remember stopping at the border and the man asking us if these were our parents. We were all shy and just sat there as my parents began to look nervous because none of us were saying anything . I think my brother uttered a quiet "yes" eventually. eek! I'm sure they must ask every so many people.