Single mother traveling with a minor

I wish to take my daughter on a cruise to Mexico her father is out of the picture but he's on her birth certificate we have joint custody but I am the custodial parent with primary physical custody and she is to live and be with me at all times I spoke with carnival and twice and they told me I only need her birth certificate and the only issue we may face would be Mexico wanted a notarized letter is this true? AAA travel told me she needs a passport I will make a attempt to obtain one but I'm unsure of how that will go since its joint. Any one have experience with this I would hate to spend money and let down my daughter getting a letter is impossible from her father since he is not a legal citizen and had moved to another state his exact location is unknown despite my attempts to question his family

If you and your daughter share the same last name, a birth certificate is fine for boarding a cruise. If you are doing a port in Mexico, a passport or notarized letter from a non custodial or absent parent should not be an issue with reboarding the ship after an excursion.

If you plan any land travel in Mexico or elsewhere internationally, in the future, it would be wise to get her a passport. The focus on preventing human trafficking, parental abductions and minor abuse makes leaving an international airport and returning through US Customs potentially difficult without a passport, especially so when surnames are different.

I have heard of cases where divorced/separated parents traveling with a minor child have been required to show a notarized letter from the non-custodial parent. If OP cannot contact the father, she should seek an order from whatever court gave her primary custody confirming her status.

Sometimes the cruise line is more stringent than governmental requirements. For example, this is from Princess' website:

I would look carefully at Carnival's requirements on their website. For Princess, the above information is found in their Frequently Asked Questions: Travel Document Requirements.

If her father is out of the picture, petition the court for full legal custody (or whatever your state calls it). Then you can get her a passport. If not, both parents have to accompany a child or you have to have a notarized letter from the absent parent to obtain a passport for the child. Even if the cruise line didn’t require her to have a passport, she could not board an international flight without one.

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In order to take a minor out of the country you need permission from both parents whether they have full custody or not. The only exception is if the parental rights have been terminated. They way to do that is to have a letter from the parent who is not traveling. It should be signed and notarized. Having a passport does not alleviate the need for the letter. This should be caught on boarding, if it isn't then it won't be later on. You do not need the letter for any port stop in Mexico unless you are clearing Mexican immigration yourself (I have never known that to happen).

In order to take a minor out of the country you need permission from both parents whether they have full custody or not. The only exception is if the parental rights have been terminated. They way to do that is to have a letter from the parent who is not traveling. It should be signed and notarized. Having a passport does not alleviate the need for the letter. This should be caught on boarding, if it isn't then it won't be later on. You do not need the letter for any port stop in Mexico unless you are clearing Mexican immigration yourself (I have never known that to happen).

Ah, yes...I thought about this after I posted and am glad you posted! :)

If you and your daughter share the same last name, a birth certificate is fine for boarding a cruise. If you are doing a port in Mexico, a passport or notarized letter from a non custodial or absent parent should not be an issue with reboarding the ship after an excursion.

 

If you plan any land travel in Mexico or elsewhere internationally, in the future, it would be wise to get her a passport. The focus on preventing human trafficking, parental abductions and minor abuse makes leaving an international airport and returning through US Customs potentially difficult without a passport, especially so when surnames are different.

we do not share the same last name we live in California so the port is in driving distance I just don't want to be denied on the day we embark

I think you should take the advice of all the other posters who have responded - all of whom either recommend that you get documentation authorizing you to take your daughter out of the country - or at least get confirmation from the cruise line that it s not needed.

I'm worried the cruise line is just telling me what I want to hear I do plan on fixing he paper work regardless so this won't be a problem in the future but I know the turn around time will be slow. Hope some one that has run in to this before could let me know

A few years ago, MSNBC did a documentary about cruising and one part of it talked about having proper documents. They showed a blended family where one child did not have the notorized letter from the biological father. They were not going to allow the child to board the ship, saying that they don't want to get into custodial issues with the parent who wasn't on the cruise. I guess some people try and take kids illegally out of the country to avoid joint custody. The family was able to get the father to fax the permission letter to the cruise ship, and the child was able to cruise.

My daughter has been asked on every cruise she has taken with our grandson. And yes there were times when attorneys had to be involved to get paperwork. Paperwork needs to be renewed and specific with dates of cruise each time. Even after all that, my grandsons father reported his son’s passport stolen so when they arrived back in Miami after cruise my grandson was pulled out of line by immigration and he and his mom were questioned extensively in a private room. Better to have all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed than take chances that you might get by without it.

I'm worried the cruise line is just telling me what I want to hear I do plan on fixing he paper work regardless so this won't be a problem in the future but I know the turn around time will be slow. Hope some one that has run in to this before could let me know

My experience when I took my minor nephew who had a different surname on a few Caribbean cruises and international land vacations was that boarding a plane/ship was easy, few questions were asked.

It was returning to the US and going through US Customs that I needed to have and was required to show proper documents authorizing the minor nephew to travel with me. This was several years ago and I'll assume the emphasis on preventing parental abductions, sex trafficking and minor exploitation has only increased since then, adding extra scrutiny on both sides (exiting and re-entering the US) of one's intended travels..

You’ve received some odd “advice.” You don’t need full legal custody to get your minor child a passport; it’s possible to do even without the permission of the other parent. Same last names and having a passport is irrelevant to the issue of permission to leave the country. Don’t rely on cruise line employees to give you accurate information about immigration issues.

You will be required to present a notarized “Permission to Travel” letter, signed by the other parent. I have been asked for such a letter for my children when traveling alone with them, to Mexico, Canada, the UK and Spain. After my husband died, I had to present his death certificate.

If you are unable to obtain this, you’ll need a court order.

Mexico Immigration is especially strict with this.

You can be denied boarding without it. If you are denied boarding, you’ll lose all your money you paid for this cruise.

For anyone inteested here' what I have been told. Only one guadian is required for a closed loop cruise regardless if I have a letter from the other parent as long as we don't miss the ship there should be no complications this informatio is only for carnival I'm not sure about other liners

You’ve received some odd “advice.” You don’t need full legal custody to get your minor child a passport; it’s possible to do even without the permission of the other parent. Same last names and having a passport is irrelevant to the issue of permission to leave the country. Don’t rely on cruise line employees to give you accurate information about immigration issues.

You will be required to present a notarized “Permission to Travel” letter, signed by the other parent. I have been asked for such a letter for my children when traveling alone with them, to Mexico, Canada, the UK and Spain. After my husband died, I had to present his death certificate.

If you are unable to obtain this, you’ll need a court order.

Mexico Immigration is especially strict with this.

You can be denied boarding without it. If you are denied boarding, you’ll lose all your money you paid for this cruise.

Hmm this makes me think I should just put it off another year I do fear they are just saying whatever they need to take my money.... however when I looked up closed loop trips requirements it does seem to go along with what carnival is saying I'll be getting passports in order this week I spoke with some one over the phone about getting my daughter' passport he seemed assuring that the custody I have of her was enough to get it on my own.

For anyone inteested here' what I have been told. Only one guadian is required for a closed loop cruise regardless if I have a letter from the other parent as long as we don't miss the ship there should be no complications this informatio is only for carnival I'm not sure about other liners

If you have it in writing, on Carnival letterhead, that would be one thing. If someone on the phone said "no problem", I would not be so sure. It is the government authorities who do not want to risk getting involved in child abduction situations - much more than the (probably) anonymous voice on the phone who tells you "no problem".

Hmm this makes me think I should just put it off another year I do fear they are just saying whatever they need to take my money.... however when I looked up closed loop trips requirements it does seem to go along with what carnival is saying I'll be getting passports in order this week I spoke with some one over the phone about getting my daughter' passport he seemed assuring that the custody I have of her was enough to get it on my own.

ID requirements for a closed-loop cruise have nothing to do with parental permission to take a minor child out-of-the country.

Minimum wage phone agents for Carnival are not immigration officials. And, Carnival or any other cruise line does not decide entry or exit requirements for other countries.

You stated you have shared custody. If you don't have full legal custody, and the court order to prove it, you'll have to complete Form DS-5525 to get her a passport without the other parent's signature.

However, you still need a notarized and signed Permission to Travel Letter or a court order.

Go to the source. Many times we’ve gone to or called the CBP office in LAX (Tom Bradley Terminal) and gotten answers.

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I took my niece and nephew on separate cruises. Both times the cruise line had no issues but customs or immigration agents in Canada asked about the letter. I realize you aren't going to Canada but the point being it wasn't the cruise line that I had to prove it to but customs or immigration. Glad I had the letter signed by both parents.