Notorized letter with Sole Custody?

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI for US parents, in a joint custody situation giving permission (in person or via durable power of attorney) for the child's passport application does NOT constitute permission for that child to travel, it just prevents one parent from getting a passport without the other's knowledge. For example, you could always have a custody battle come into play 3 yrs after you got the passport, and on that occasion it is likely that the other parent would not give the child permission to travel.

Any time I take the kids overseas to visit family without my spouse I carry a current letter, because Immigration Control at my destination country wants to see it to know that I'm not trying to get the kids beyond his reach (I am a dual citizen, but DH is not.) If I didn't have the letter the kids would not be admitted to the country.

However, I'm still married to their father. I don't have legal papers spelling out my custody situation. My sister had sole legal and physical custody of her daughter and never needed any kind of letter from DN's dad -- the custody papers gave her the authority to make the decision to travel without either his input or his knowledge, and the custody papers were accepted at Immigration everywhere they went.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Just FYI for US parents, in a joint custody situation giving permission (in person or via durable power of attorney) for the child's passport application does NOT constitute permission for that child to travel, it just prevents one parent from getting a passport without the other's knowledge. For example, you could always have a custody battle come into play 3 yrs after you got the passport, and on that occasion it is likely that the other parent would not give the child permission to travel.

Any time I take the kids overseas to visit family without my spouse I carry a current letter, because Immigration Control at my destination country wants to see it to know that I'm not trying to get the kids beyond his reach (I am a dual citizen, but DH is not.) If I didn't have the letter the kids would not be admitted to the country.

However, I'm still married to their father. I don't have legal papers spelling out my custody situation. My sister had sole legal and physical custody of her daughter and never needed any kind of letter from DN's dad -- the custody papers gave her the authority to make the decision to travel without either his input or his knowledge, and the custody papers were accepted at Immigration everywhere they went.

Good point. Every time we fly without my husband (often) we take a new notarized letter too. We have only been asked for it a few times but it is better to be safe than sorry ( an we did see someone else denied boarding once because of it. They had already made a flight within the US and then were not allowed to get on the connecting flight. I felt terrible for them.).

 

[bumbershoot]

Glad the OP got the answer! Though just to make sure, you might contact your lawyer to get a full explanation of whether "reasonable access" makes a loophole for you that's not what you want.

I know in the US if minor children get a passport both parents need to be present to apply for the passport and then this issue is avoided in the future. Check with your passport office if this is the case in Canada too and then maybe go this route???

Not true.

The other parent can be present and of course that's the easiest, paperwork-wise.

Or the one that won't be present has to send a notarized form giving permission.

Or you bring in your divorce paperwork that shows you have SOLE custody or the other parent is dead or you have a judge's permission to travel etc, and therefore are allowed to do whatever you want with travel.

Or if you don't have that, you can fill out a form explaining the situation (haven't seen father for umpteen years, for example) and they go from there.


This is all written out on the state department's page... click on "7. Provide Parental Consent" and it takes you here where it works you through all the different ways to do it. Including:

NOTE: If none of the above documentation is available, the applying parent must submit Form DS-3053 stating why the non-applying parent/guardian's consent cannot be obtained

But just *getting* a passport, when another parent has rights to the child, doesn't give official permission to travel alone with the child. Think of a nasty divorce case where one parent takes the other child out of the country before anyone has a chance to get a court order preventing that from happening. You *want* to have that permission from the other parent in writing, so that you're not stopped while they figure out if you're leaving the country permanently because of such a situation.

 

[snykymom]

If you also have sole physical custody, then I don't think you would even need a letter from him at all. The purpose of the letter is to protect the non-custodial parent's visitation rights (so that the primary custody parent doesn't skip country leaving non-custodial parent with no way to visit with the children).

Actually, in the US, I believe it's the other way around - so that the non-custodial parent (usually the father) doesn't take the kids to a country that won't return them to the custodial parent (usually the mother, and the countries generally believe in paternal custody no matter what our courts say).

 

[NotUrsula]

Actually, in the US, I believe it's the other way around - so that the non-custodial parent (usually the father) doesn't take the kids to a country that won't return them to the custodial parent (usually the mother, and the countries generally believe in paternal custody no matter what our courts say).

Yep, this. When it is an entry issue it is normally because those countries just don't want to have to deal with extradition issues if one of their citizens is accused of running with his/her children, so they just won't let the kids in at all if there is no witnessed permission from the other parent, unless the parent who is traveling with the kids can show legal proof of sole custody.