Bringing a Minor that isn't our Child

[LasseKjus]

We're cruising at Christmas time and we are bringing a minor that isn't our child and I have some questions.

 

This isn't the first time we've done this, so I'm familiar with the paperwork and getting the parental consent.

 

The problem is, this time we won't have parental consent. The child we are taking has been placed with us as of this month in foster care (permanent placement until she ages out of the system ... she's 17). I'm not sure how to proceed.

 

On some cruises, they haven't batted an eye when we've brought my daughter's friends. One time, the agents did make a stink, but it was my own child who was actually sailing in their grandparents room and we were on the ship. They still needed all that paperwork they said and actually it took a while before we could board in proving that they were our kids (even though we all checked in together).

 

With this being a not so typical situation, I'm not sure what kind of responses I'll get, but I'm looking at this as a start. I'm sure I'll also call the cruise line and the state department to get an answer.

 

Thanks

[SadieN]

The Family board had had this topic come up

 

Hopefully this link to the search of 'foster' works

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=33483080

 

and a link to one thread in case it doesn't

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1332920&highlight=foster

[kitty9]

My travel agent has had numerous foster kids, and he's told me it can be a huge hassle to get permission to take a foster child out of the country. You first have to find out if the parents have any say whatsoever for the child. On one cruise, the biological parents would not allow my TA to take the child, so they had to cancel. Another time they had to go before the courts to get permission. This process took three months to get all the paperwork sorted out and to get the court order. The first thing you need to do is contact the case worker and discuss this. You will definitely need some kind of court order to do this. You will need her birth certificate, and if you don't get this, it will be a no go, even with a court order. Don't bother with the state department as they don't handle these issues. Like I said, the case worker is your first stop.

 

Good luck.

[1025cruise]

You will probably need a court order if you are unable to get parental permission.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Besides the parental cnsent, you may also need court documents to make it "official".

 

JMO -- I would attempt this.