Headtothesun

Hi! We are scheduled to go on a RT cruise out of Sydney around New Zealand. We bought a RT ticket non-stop from LAX to Sydney with some extra padding both before and after the cruise (we are american). DH's passport expires in May and we travel in November. I know that neither New Zealand or Australia has the rule of needing to have 6 months left on your passport to travel to or from those countries, but I find Qantas' website isn't giving us good information. They say to check with the country to which you are travelling, and the Australian consulate website says to check with the airline. Has anyone traveled on a non-stop from the US to Australia on Qantas with less than 6 months on their passport?

To gum this up - why don't we just renew his passport, right!? We need it for another cruise out of Canada in October - and we live in Alaska. There's no "just running to the passport office," it would require a plane ticket and a hotel room. We will have just over 3 weeks when we return from Canada to get the passport renewed, so do we trust that they will get it returned to us in time if we expedite it?

As foster parents we have been assured by the child's case manager and social worker that all the permissions for traveling with a foster child will come through and to go ahead and plan a cruise.

 

Has anyone traveled with foster children? What types of additional paperwork and permissions did you find you needed? Any advice?

 

I know each state has different foster care rules.

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Forums mobile app

Hi There, we are foster parents in Alaska and have cruised with our foster children before. We have never been asked for proof that we can travel with any foster children from airlines or cruiselines, but I always have it with me. I carry the letter stating that we have permission from the state to travel on such and such dates to such and such place. And, I always have the document giving me permission to give them medical care. I take photos of all documents so that I have them in my phone, and email them to myself just in case. In Alaska, as long as the case manager gives you permission to go, you can go. If the parents fight it, it can go to court, but I have never experienced that.

Our biggest issue was hounding the case manager for the passport. I'd say start the process as early as you can. Ours got hung up on some expired paperwork that our Case Manager overlooked. Start early and bug your CM often! :)

Have fun - for some of these kids, it could be a once in a lifetime family vacation!