Question about taking a kid

[jamessa]

My in-laws are taking their 9 yo grandson on a cruise with us oct. 2007. I am going to incouage then to get him a passport. Will they need a letter or something from his mother allowing them to take him on the ship?

[CaptData]

Actually the letter needs to be from BOTH parents. It should also cover medical situations too. There are a couple of clauses that will allow only one parent to sign the letter. One is if one parent is dead, then the death certificate along with the one parent letter is all that will be needed with the passport. The other case is were the parent has full custody of the child then you will need the legal paper showing this along with the letter and passport.

 

Passports for children follow these rules too. Both parents must sign or else one with fully proven reasons for only one signing.

[jamessa]

His mother has full custody of him. His parents are divorced. What papers would he need? So I guess he HAS to also have a passport too.

[kenf333]

His mother has full custody of him. His parents are divorced. What papers would he need? So I guess he HAS to also have a passport too.

 

From what I understand if you are sailing in and out of a US port you do not need a passport until 1/08, although you would need the other two forms [as stated above] signed by his mother.

[FitzLA]

His mother has full custody of him. His parents are divorced. What papers would he need? So I guess he HAS to also have a passport too.

 

It is my understanding that even if the mother has full custody, if the father is in the picture at all, you still need a letter from the father as well. Does the father have visitation rights? Then he still needs to give permission to the mother to allow her to take the child out of the country.

[andnickali]

If the mother has full legal custody of the minor child then she will need a copy of the court ordered custody arrangement with a raised seal from the court house. If there is joint legal custody the father may need to sign a document stating his approval for the child to leave the country.

[kathyemma]

i showed her birth cert - which only lists my name, no name of father and the lady at the post office said i need a letter from the father and i told there isn't a father - and pointed out the birth cert didn't list a father. she told me that was impossible. i had to list off her a half a dozen ways that my daughter could have a mother and no father. i never used to, but now whenever i travel i bring the birth cert to show the lack of father incase someone at the airlines questions me. noone has yet. not even when we leave the country.

 

but in the situation posted by the op, i would get a passport (always a good idea to have one), a letter from the mom and a copy of the court papers (notorized) and all should be fine. if she has full custody she does not need the father to sign anything.

 

kathy

[irishnyc]

My in-laws are taking their 9 yo grandson on a cruise with us oct. 2007. I am going to incouage then to get him a passport. Will they need a letter or something from his mother allowing them to take him on the ship?

 

I'd do more than encourage them to get a passport -- it'll be required.

[seamour]

I would suggest notarized letters from both parents including contact phone numbers, I had problems once taking my DD into Canada from the US even though we had been in and out dozens of times. It all really depends on what INS agent you get and what kind of a day they are having. I had a letter from her father, but they insisted on trying to call him (I honestly had no clue where he was living/working at that point). Missed our flight, it was really a pain.

[jamessa]

Well the father used to have visitation rights, but since he does not pay child support and owes $30,0000 I hope they are not going to have an issue. I don't know what papers she has. I will have to check.

[forpaws]

To the OP: And keep in mind the delayed passport rules regarding sailing in and out of a US port don't apply to flights...if something happened and your inlaws had to fly back early from one of the foreign ports, say perhaps they or the child got ill or injured or there was a death in the family, having a passport is going to aid them tremendously in their return home.

 

In my opinion, you are correct in encouraging them to get that passport - you never know what will happen.

[cruiseknots]

First let me say that I would go and get a passport. You're going to need one anyway come 2008. Why wait? Secondly, you may not need a letter at all. It depends on where you are going as to whether or not you will need the letter. I have a step son and have taken him on many cruises and have never needed a letter. It's up to the country you are visiting and usually those requirments are only enforced when traveling by air. You can visit this website for the most up to date information.

 

http://www.state.gov/

 

I would call your cruise line to see if they have their own rules regarding this.