What to include in letter when adult travels with differently surnamed child?

814man

I suspect that it does very much depend on where you are travelling. Back in 90's I lived in central america with partner and our child and if she took him across a border she would often be questioned so we had a legal letter drafted to cover it, Mexico was most stringent I seem to recall although Guatemala were also very keen on correct matching paperwork.

wondercollie

I've run into this problem in the past even when travelling with my husband. My children have their father's name. I have my father's name.

Travelling from Canada to Mexico. Had to have a notary stamped letter.

My friends when they travel with their grandchildren have a notarized letter permitting them to travel with the children.

It's all got to do with child abduction and non-custodial parents travelling with children.

Better safe than refused entry.

Blue264

deva wrote: »

Thank you just wanted to err on side of caution as has been highlighted here there doesn't seem to be hard and fast rule. (Differ erect skin colours also we usually all get questioned anyway. Very sad)

I'm shocked and sorry that you have experienced this treatment.

I regularly book travel for families from countries where, traditionally, the wife keeps her maiden name and the children take their father's name, and have never been made aware of any issues regarding this.

Definitely take copies of birth and marriage certificates. They're the most easily checkable forms of documentation.

AlexMac

Returning to the original question; no big deal. keep it simple. We travelled with two teenagers, only on the ferry to/from france, and we simply took a simple handwritten note - with a contact tel -from the grand-daughter's half-sister's dad (if that makes sense) to explain the different surnames if challenged.

I was really impressed that the immigration official checked as to why the names differed/who the kids were. After all, the two teenagers looked very different, with completely dissimilar hair colouring! In fact, the immigration officials probably learned more from our reaction, our replies and body language than the bit of paper- I bet they could have sussed if we had been trafficking.

So don't worry- it won't happen - and assume that if it does, and as long as you are legit, any old letter will do.

If, on the other hand this post is from a people smuggler, I've probably already said too much...?!