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Travelling with my toddler - different surnames in passports


GottaGo

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Hi,

I'm flying out of the country on a short holiday with my baby boy. He has an Oz passport and I have my SA passport (permanent resident) in my maiden name still.

What documentation do I need to present at passport control. I'm assuming a certified copy of his birth certificate and maybe a declaration from my husband that it's ok for our son to leave the country and travel with me.

Phoned immigration dept and they said it's fine but need to check with consulate of country I'm visiting.

Just wondering if anyone done this and what was required. (Must get my passport in my married name but not enough time to do so for this trip.)

Ta,

SallyM

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I recently flew to 4 different countries with my sons (2 and 4) also different passports (I am on a Brit passport, they are SA). I only needed letter from dad for visas but I did carry one in case with all the relevant details plus the unabridged birth cert and a certified copy of my hubby's passport. Funnily enough, as we entered the UK, they took my 4 year old son aside and asked him oh so innocently, "Is this your mummy????" He said, "YYYYEEESSSS<" as though they were crazy but I was thinking what if he had said NO!!!! They did interrogate me a little about their dad and our plans etc, I was also really worried about it! Have a good holiday, it's better to just take all the paperwork that you can, rather be safe than sorry!

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Hi There

I have flown to a number of countries alone with my two children and have never been stopped or asked any questions. WE have the same passports(and surnames) and visas all round. Never had letter from Hubby or anything on me, phew... was I just lucky?

((What I do have is a copy of all of our passports (faces) and medical cards, including a children identifying kit (their fingerprints, photograph, lock of hair and some other distinguishing details completed on this kit) for in the (rare )case that I lose them (or they get taken). (I actually saw the horrifying experience at Dubai airport recently, where an Ozzie Mom lost her son. (She did find him later, but boy was that a wake up call for me) Another good idea is to take a cellphone photo of your children every day on holiday, before you go out for the day. I have also taught them to always return to where we last saw each other. Off the topic but maybe it can be of help to somebody.))

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Interesting topic. I will never have the same surname as my (future) kids, unless I give them mine as well. Will have to consider this, as I only have time till my D-date in Dec. International "abduction" by one parent is a mayor problem at the moment, so I would rather take as much evidence as possible. Maybe someone knows of a link to a government website that deals with this. My sister, a widow, went to Canada on holiday with her kids, and they were asked separately from her "where their Daddy was" etc. And that after having had to supply a death certificate for the families holiday visas. Luckily it was not a recent passing and everybody was fine with the questions.

I found this link:

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/tips/parents.html

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