Vancouver immigration with another child

[747forever]

We are taking my son's friend along(15yrs old) on an Alaskan cruise and flying into Vancouver first and spending one night. I will have a notarized letter from the parents stating that he has been allowed to travel with us and a medical auth. letter from them. He has a passport and will bring a copy of his birth cert. Is there anything else we could possibly need? I want to be prepared for everything. Thanks.

[c-to-sea]

To be on the safe side, you should send an e-mail to the Canadian Border Service Agency

at contact@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca . Thier website is http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/menu-e.html and

their FAQ's might have more info. This way what you get will be official and a copy

of any reply can be carried with you. While Cruise Critic is a great place to get information, I

would not rely on it solely for something like this. The only phone number I see is this and

it appears to be an automated service.

 

Get general border services information by calling 1-800-461-9999 toll-free from anywhere in Canada. If you're calling from outside Canada, call (204) 983-3500 or (506) 636-5064 (long-distance charges apply).

 

Hope this helps.

[747forever]

Thank you so much and I have written them. I also had checked the Canadian govt website which is where I saw that a letter was needed from the parents.

[Sharby]

It's good advice that you got here. As a Canadian single (never married) parent who frequently travelled with my son, I can tell you that in for years when we were leaving the country, the customs/border people were very careful.

 

Because my son and I have the same last name on our birth certificates (my son's father and I were never married) Canadian border officials would careful pick up my son's birth certificate and enter information from it in a computer. After a few moments, we were allowed to proceed. We were allowed to proceed after a computer check ONLY because the names on our birth certificates were the same AND there were never any warrants, advisorys, etc. from another parent to say that I was not allowed to remove him from the country (and there couldn't have been as legally, I am the only parent and I have sole custody.)

 

If our last names had NOT been the same on our birth certificates, I would have had to produce a notarized letter from the other parent stating that I was allowed to remove my son from the country. As obviously your last name(s) are NOT the same as the child's, you will have to produce a notarized letter.

 

You should double check (as the previous poster suggested), but I'm quite sure that you have the correct information. :) Enjoy your trip.