Drafting a Letter of Consent for Solo Parent Travel

A Child Traveling with One Parent Consent Form

I get similar questions about solo parent travel all the time: more or less “I’m traveling internationally with my child but without the child’s other parent. Do I need anything special?”, “Do I need permission to take my kids on vacation?”, and “Is a letter of consent/permission required to travel with one parent?”

The answer: yes! I travel without my wife and with some combination of my kids at least half a dozen times a year, including our annual one-on-one trips, and I always take a notarized letter from my wife stating that it’s fine for me to do so. At one point I was creating letters for each individual trip, but that started to feel excessive. So I switched to doing one letter of consent every year or so. My text is below. I also make sure I take immunization cards for my kids (for normal vaccinations and Covid). And a reader below recommends a birth certificate as well. Otherwise it’s packing as usual.

NOTE: This is not legal advice! As far as I can find there is no international guideline for what should be in a letter of consent to travel with one parent, so this is what I put together based on suggestions from other parents and what seemed to make sense. This has worked for me when asked by immigration officials if I have a letter – which is maybe 10% of the time. That is NOT a guarantee that it will work for you. But it should.

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___1______, 2022

I, _____2_______, of _______3________, United States DO SOLEMNLY DECLARE

1. I am the parent/guardian of:

• ____4______, born on ____5_____ at ______6______, a citizen of the United States, US passport number ____7________.
• ____4______, born on ____5_____ at ______6______, a citizen of the United States, US passport number ____7________.
• ____4______, born on ____5_____ at ______6______, a citizen of the United States, US passport number ____7________.

Collectively these individuals are referred to as “the children.”

1. The children are traveling internationally with their father (my husband) ____8_____, with my full knowledge and consent.
2. This document is intended to be a blanket authorization for _____8______ to travel to any destinations with the children individually or collectively for the remainder of 2022.
3. I appoint _____8_______ as the child’s guardian for the purposes of consenting to emergency medical procedures, during these trips.
4. If there are any questions regarding this document I, the undersigned, can be reached via telephone at: +1_____9_____ (mobile) or via email at ______10_____________.

AND I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing it to be true and knowing that it is of the same force and effect as if made under oath.

____________11______________________

____2________

Per _____12_________ law, notary information and signature are included on the attached Acknowledgement.

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If you can’t tell what I put in the blanks, the coding is:

1. Today’s date
2. The name of the kids’ parent who isn’t traveling
3. Where that parent lives
4. The name of each kid
5. The birthdate of each kid
6. The birth city of each kid
7. The passport number of each kid. Our kids have dual citizenship, so I list both of their passport numbers.
8. The name of the traveling parent
9. The non-traveling parent’s cell number
10. The non-traveling parent’s email
11. The non-traveling parent’s signature (in the presence of a notary)
12. Your state (if you’re in the US)

And obviously change father to mother and husband to wife when appropriate.

Have you been asked for a parental consent form for travel when entering another country? Was the immigration official particular? If so, please let me know what he/she was looking for! I’ll modify this accordingly.