Taking nephew to Orlando

[Guest]

No, she don't live with her father and has a different surname (her mothers) mother has sole custody, so just have her signature. To complicate matters the mother does not have a passport or driving licence either. She is 13 so if questioned she will be able to explain to them herself. I would suggest getting both parents though if possible.

[katizim]

Hi Gummybears! Hope you're having a wonderful time. How did it go with your friend's daughter at immigration please?

[Thorpy]

Originally Posted by katizim

Hello all,

I'm hoping for some help and your experiences please.

I have just booked to take my nephew to Orlando next month, last minute. It's a surprise for him and obviously I have permission of his mother (my sister). She and his father are no longer together.

I've had a look online and seen some posts on various forums describing people's experiences of taking their nephew/niece/friend's child without their parent(s), but these are all quite old. Has anyone recently done this, and if so, can you advise what you experienced upon arrival at US Immigration please? What did you take with you when you went? I must admit that it wouldn't have even dawned on me until someone said I might need a letter from my sister confirming that I would have permission to approve any medical treatments needed for my nephew, so any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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We did this in 2009, we took our respective sisters sons (12 &14), who each have their respective fathers surnames. We've never married, and our Daughter has my surname. Our party had 5 people, 4 surnames, and lived at 3 addresses.
We went up together as a group and the officer established through questioning who they were, and then questioned them to make sure they were comfortable with our explaination, which of course they were. The questioning was very gentle, and almost conversational, but clearly if the boys had looked uncomfortable they'd have probed deeper. The one thing you don't say is the age of your nephew, and I think ours being old enough to verify our story helped. We had made our own letters as above, but didn't need to show them.

The one thing we'd forgot to include was the medical aspect. One of the boys was taken by surprise in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon and was dragged across the bottom, sandpapering his back. We took him to first aid for treatment and he was seen without issues. We did fill in some permission type forms, but they didn't ask if we had permission to give them permission to apply a spray on his graze. It was good stuff whatever they used... he was on the slides after it went on.

[eeyoremad]

You will need anyone who has Parental Responsibility for the child to sign the letter and provide their details e.g. passport no.
you may not need it but without it would be a very sticky situation.
Even if mother has residency order/child arrangement order unless the father has had his PR revoked then his permission is needed too

[katizim]

Originally Posted by Thorpy

We did this in 2009, we took our respective sisters sons (12 &14), who each have their respective fathers surnames. We've never married, and our Daughter has my surname. Our party had 5 people, 4 surnames, and lived at 3 addresses.
We went up together as a group and the officer established through questioning who they were, and then questioned them to make sure they were comfortable with our explaination, which of course they were. The questioning was very gentle, and almost conversational, but clearly if the boys had looked uncomfortable they'd have probed deeper. The one thing you don't say is the age of your nephew, and I think ours being old enough to verify our story helped. We had made our own letters as above, but didn't need to show them.

The one thing we'd forgot to include was the medical aspect. One of the boys was taken by surprise in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon and was dragged across the bottom, sandpapering his back. We took him to first aid for treatment and he was seen without issues. We did fill in some permission type forms, but they didn't ask if we had permission to give them permission to apply a spray on his graze. It was good stuff whatever they used... he was on the slides after it went on.

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Hi Thorpy,

Thank you for your reply. Your poor nephew - that sounds painful!

My nephew is 7, but we're also travelling with my other nephew - his half-brother - who is 22. They live at the same address but have different surnames. My 22 year-old nephew and I have different surnames too. However, we do all live on the same road.

I think (hope!), like your nephews, that he would be confident enough to say that we're his brother and auntie and confirm our story! We fly on Sunday and I'm just typing up the letters now. I'm doing one for my sister (his mother) and one for his father. I won't be able to get a copy of his father's passport - I'm not even sure he has one - but I will definitely take a copy of my sister's and note on the letter about any medical treatment, just in case.

[Thorpy]

Our letter only really had passport numbers, names and signatures. We could have provided our sisters phone numbers for them to ring and check, but I wanted to provide them with stuff they could cross check with the UK authorities.
The passport names and numbers and signatures were all things on our letter that they could check with UK passport office if they wanted to.
I had no idea of what the legal requirement was or is. I was just making it easy for the authorities to check our story checked out if they wanted to... they didn't !

[Daisychick]

We took our nephew a few years ago now.

We had all the aforementioned letters / permissions with us.

Our nephew has the same last name as most of the rest of the people with him and the immigration officer didn't request any of the letters.

He was 6 at the time and the immigration officer spoke directly to my nephew. Specifically, he asked him "Where is your Mom?"

To which my nephew said "She's at home".

Interview over - passport stamped, off you go.

[myaquarium]

We took our nephew one year and did not have a permission letter. We thought he was going to send us all back. In the end after a stern telling off and a question and answer session he let us in.

[myaquarium]

And don't forget his esta.

[katizim]

Thank you everyone. The letters are written up and ready to be signed. I have copied my sister's passport and will take a copy of my nephew's birth certificate for good measure.

myaquarium, his ESTA and insurance are all sorted - thank you for the reminder though!