Daughter traveling alone with grandparents
Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me, or at least steer me in the right direction. My daughter will travel to Hawaii with my parents for two weeks in the summer. I will stay home and work, and my wife who is a Hungarian national will be in Europe. My question is this: What kind of permissions do we need, and how do we go about getting them? If anyone has experience in this realm, or has advice to give I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you, Ben Jarrett
Mar 20, 2017
Parent Replies
Give your parents a copy of your daughter's birth certificate and your own, along with a "to whom it might concern" letter (a) stating that your parents have permission to take your daughter to Hawaii and (b) providing phone numbers where you can be contacted. That may be overdoing it but it should handle any situation. You might also call the airline to find out if they have any procedures for this -- possibly even an on-line form.
When we sent our kids off with relatives, we sent along a copy of their birth certificate and a notarized letter, signed by both parents, stating that the relative had our permission to travel with them and that the relative was authorized to pursue emergency medical care for the child. Probably overkill (I don't think either document was ever needed), but it could prevent a lot of hassles to have it along. If you search online you can find examples of the wording for the letter. Also a good idea to send a copy of the front and back of the child's medical insurance card.
I would add to the answer above that the "to whom it may concern" letter should be notarized and signed by both parents. My husband and I carry a notarized letter whenever one of us travels alone with our child.
I don't have an official answer, but we did a similar thing. We took my husband's grandson with us to the East Coast last summer. We were never asked to provide ID nor how we were related - but his last name is the same as ours. I think we had his health insurance card with us, or at least a copy of it.
We have our aupairs fly with our kids often to visit grandparents. You should provide the grandparent with an original birth certificate and a notarized letter authorizing them to travel with your child from location A to Location B from date x to date y. You should also make them a medical proxy in case of an emergency.
Hi, Ben. Your daughter should be fine to travel with her grandparents without any kind of identification, but the world of travel is a rapidly changing thing these days. I'd check with places a little more formal than a parents' advice column. State Department website? US Embassy?
Thank you to everyone here. This was very informative and helpful.
I think probably nothing will happen that will even require papers at all, but this will help everyone to relax a bit more.
Cheers to a great ending of the school year and a great summer,
Ben