Sole Custody

[familyaffair]

I have sole custody of my children and the father has no vistation will i still need a letter from the father :confused:

[Luvsdaislands]

You would just have to show the court order.

http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Writing/Documentation/index.htm

[SLH]

I have sole custody of my children and the father has no vistation will i still need a letter from the father :confused:

I would check to be sure that your court papers are enough. They should be but, I wouldn't assume anything without checking with some govt. office like Customs and Immigration.

[2Cruise4Ever]

They are starting to really crack down on those letters. If you have any contact with the father and he is willing, get the letter. If not, be sure to bring a "Certified" copy of the court order showing custody and no visitation.

[miami]

If you get a letter from the father as 2cruise4ever suggests, I would make sure he has it notarized.

[shayelle]

I have primary physical custody and we have joint legal custody (he has visitation and is an active part of their lives). They said I do not need any kind of letter at all. Maybe it depends on the itinerary or something.

 

Shannon

NOS 8/19/06

[2Cruise4Ever]

Itinerary does matter: are you doing a Hawaii cruise? Or, are you leaving the country? If you're leaving the country, it's not so much the cruise line, it's the Department of Immigration that requires it. Sometimes they ask for it, sometimes they don't. I would get one just in case. The reason for it is to try and crack down on international parental abductions.

[Sheils65]

I am going through the same thing right now. I have to bring court papers with me that CLEARLY states that I have sole custody along with passport on the cruise. Also, depending on age and if you need passports or not If under 14 years of age you MUST send the original court papers stating sole custody as well. If the missing parent is on birth certificate, he must sign permission saying ok to take the children with you (if under 14). If you are the only parent on birth certificate then no worries.....:) Hope I was of some help..........

[christineann]

I have sole custody of my children and have taken them on two cruises. I took a copy of my divorce decree with an original date stamp on it by the court, and even though I have a different last name (my maiden name) than my kids, I was never asked for any documentation.

[browniegirl]

Hi, we were on a Norwegian cruise 2 years ago within the United States and Canada (we live in Canada). I have shared joint custody of my 3 kids and we were told we had to have a signed letter from the kids' father (we didn't bother having it notarized) stating that he allowed the children to be taken out of the country. We had passports and these letters and even though my last name was different than my childrens (new marriage), we were questioned by customs about this, but were never asked to show the letters. I will, however, do the same thing on our next cruise next January on the Norw. Jewel, as I do not want to take any chances of problems getting the kids out of Canada, etc. It is just peace of mind. Sole custody would be different, court documents should suffice.

 

Browniegirl - cruising with 5 kids!!!! 13, 12, 10, 7 and 10 months!

[Darcy03231]

I've found recently that they are starting to crack down on it more. My ex and I get along so I never have a problem with getting a letter. Recently, he traveled to Canada with the kids. He's been doing this for years and there has never been an issue. This year he was stopped and the border patrol actually called me to get my permission to let him through with the children. I had to describe him, the children and the car they were in. He was told in the future, if he didn't have a notarized letter they wouldn't let him in with the kids.

[Ed's_Irish_Girl]

I little bit of a different situation but on the same track. My husband is deceased so sadly I will be carrying his death certificate with us when we cruise in 2 weeks. I began doing this soon after he passed away and we traveled just to the Bahamas, and they did ask about it. When we went for my son's passport that was the first thing they asked for - before they even looked at one piece of documentation or the application.

 

"Where's his father?"

"Deceased":(

"Can you prove it"

 

So I take no chances.

 

S.