Travelling with kids without the dad

[keely21]

I will be travelling alone with my children on our next visit. My youngest 2 children have their fathers surname and his name is on their birth certificates. Will this cause a problem when at the airport both here and at orlando Sanford when we arrive? Has anyone encountered problems due to this? Is there anything I need to take with me etc.

[Helenr]

I’ve travelled several times with my daughter, they’ve been no problems.

We have the same surname - not sure if you do?

[keely21]

No I have a different surname

[magickate]

Just take a letter signed by him if possible with you, there's templates online. Or carry birth certificates, we travel as a family of 4 with 3 different surnames and don't have an issue.

[Trusty ian]

Deffo carry birth certs. We had problems coming back from MCO . Took ages to sort out as there were 3 different surnames. My 2 had my surname but my partner her maiden name ,her adopted daughter had her adopted father's surname. It flagged up on deltas system so we had a grilling over who she was and related to who. Never a question over the father's permission or not as we were returning home . Adopted daughter was 14 at the time so could explain herself to Delta staff.
We were asked if we had birth cert or adoption paperwork.
After that we carry copies of both but never asked again. Also never asked on the previous 2 trips to and from MCO.

[DonkeyCentreArf]

I would take some form of ID and / or authorisation. Some friends of ours had kids but hadn't married. They got so fed up of the trouble when traveling (she is Swedish so sometimes took the kids to see their grandparents during school holidays without her partner) that they ended up getting married and changing names to save the admin!

[JaguarSkills]

My OH did this when my son was 1, we have different surnames.

She took copies of the birth certificates which we are both on and a letter signed by myself.

[daytonababe]

Surnames are irrelevant and so is the fact you are married or not.

To take a child out of the country without the other parent / parents / guardian


You need either a letter of permission signed by anyone with parental responsibility ( so if the father is on the birth certificate he will have parental responsibility)
Or a child arrangement order that basically gives permission for you to travel with the child for upto 28 days usually

If you have neither then you have to file a C100 with the court which costs about £215

Carrying birth certificates alone is not enough legally

People will say they’ve not been stopped and been fine and that’s the case for many but people are stopped and questioned , can be at check in , security here or border control when you land

But travelling without either the above is illegal and worse case you can be charged with child abduction or stopped from travelling ( extreme maybe but that’s what can happen )

gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad

[Thorpy]

In 2009 we took our respective nephews, they are each sons of our sisters bearing their respective fathers surnames. We also had our daughter, oh and we've never married.
5 people, 4 surnames, from 3 addresses, for 2 weeks, and 1 amazing holiday (yes I've typed that before).

We basically wrote our own letter with a view to making it as easy as possible for anybody to contact their parents and check the story out. We included their parents names and passport numbers, and mobile phone numbers. The boys were 12 & 14 at the time, so when asked by immigration, they were perfectly able to corroborate our story, and we went through with no further questions.

You are perfectly entitled to take your own kids, and you aren't up to no good. Officers are trained to detect the difference between this and somebody who is up to no good. I therefore anticipate you having no problems.

[Midges17]

Hi,

I've travelled several times with my son without his dad son has a different surname to me, first time the immigration officer asked my son who i was he shrugged his shoulders & said she's just my mum! never had any issues at all, when we arrive back in Glasgow we get asked more questions than in America, i carry copy of birth certificate & have never been asked to see it, my ex carry's a signed letter from me saying he can take DS out of the country for the duration of the holiday