You have planned to spend a vacation abroad with a child, or the child is going outside Russia on an excursion or to participate in competitions ... In any of these cases, parents have many questions regarding the rules and laws that regulate border crossing by Russian minors.
In many cases, a document may be required that certifies the consent of the parents or guardians for the child to travel abroad. We will tell you about what it is, how to arrange it and who to present it to in this article.
The procedure for a child's departure abroad
When a child crosses state borders, you will need to comply with the laws of two countries at once - the one you are leaving and the one to which you are going. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself in advance with the basic requirements of border control, which you will have to go through twice, at the exit and at the entrance. Needless to say, all documents that can be requested for a child must be drawn up correctly and competently! After all, otherwise, the vacation may "break", the mood will be ruined, the family will incur significant waste.
In order to prevent the development of events according to the worst scenario, you should worry in advance that a child who goes on a trip with mom and dad, with other family members or as part of a group of children with an adult accompanying person has all the necessary and important papers in order.
And now the advice of a lawyer on the consent to the departure of the child abroad.
Required documents
So that the employees of the passport services and border guards do not have any questions for your child, he needs to collect documents according to the following list:
Own international passport (From the age of 14, such an identity card is considered a mandatory requirement. Children younger can be entered with a similar document of one of the parents. Questions will not arise if the child travels with this parent. Children are not included in the new biometric passports at all. All this can be issued in the FMS of your region or through the MFC).
Birth certificate.
Visa (if it is required for a particular trip. You can find out if the visa or visa-free regime is valid in the selected country, you can at the diplomatic mission of the state. The department's website usually contains a detailed sample of filling out documents for applying for a visa for a child, including in English).
Notarized parental consent for the child to travel abroad (in certain cases).
Medical insurance policy (issued specifically for travel abroad. While it is not mandatory, but only recommended, but soon, when the new rules come into force, the policy will become necessary. You can issue it at any insurance company.).
Other documents confirming the relationship, if the surnames of the child and his parents are different. In this case, we mean certificates of divorce, marriage, certificates of change of surname.
We will not go into detail about all the documents in this list, we will pay attention to the consent to leave. It is drawn up by a notary, the presence of both parents is mandatory, except for the cases that we will talk about below. Parents will need passports valid in Russia, as well as a child's birth certificate.
If one of the parents changed the surname after the birth of the baby (for example, the mother remarried after the divorce or decided to return the maiden name), you will additionally need to take documents confirming the grounds for changing the surname and through which you can easily trace family ties with the child.
Consent is drawn up on a special form, which are available to all notaries, an example of filling out an application for obtaining consent will be provided to you first. After the parents write it in the prescribed form, the notary will hold a short conversation with both, and decide on the issue of consent.
Remember that a notary has the right to refuse such a document if something seems suspicious to him, or if mom and dad do not provide all the necessary documents.
When is the second parent's consent required?
If entry into the state is visa-free, then the vast majority of such states usually do not require consent, however, it is better to be prepared for different developments. From my own experience, I know that once during a trip they did not ask for consent, but when we went to the same country for the second time, we asked for a document. Therefore, it is better to issue a consent just in case.
There are situations in which consent is required. Firstly, we are talking about a trip to countries united by Schengen law. To obtain a visa, you will need to submit such a document to the diplomatic mission, and then you may be asked for it again when passing through the control. So, it makes sense to make a consent in two copies. Please note that the photocopy is not valid.
Secondly, consent will be required if the child is traveling with one parent. In this case, you will need a document drawn up by a notary in the presence of both parents. If the baby is traveling with his mother, and she is divorced from dad, you will also have to draw up consent. It is desirable that a certified translation of the document into English be available for consent, in case additional questions arise from the representatives of the border control.
Consent from both parents is required in all cases when a child crosses borders with a relative or with an outside adult (coach, teacher, tour guide, family friend, etc.).
And now a short course on how to correctly draw up consent for a child to travel abroad.
The exception is children who are raised by only one parent, and there is a dash in the birth certificate in the section where data on the second parent is presented. In this case, there is no need to draw up a consent; it is enough to take with you a birth certificate and its translation into English.
Very often lately, single mothers do not agree to put a dash in the child's document and, on the advice of the registry office employees, write a fictional person as a dad. In this case, you will have to go to the registry office, where you received such a certificate, and ask to issue a certificate of a certain sample itself, which will indicate that a person recorded as a pope does not exist in nature. If it is received, consent to leave is also not required.
It is not necessary to draw up consent even if one of the parents has died. It is enough to present a death certificate.
A few more situations in which you do not need to contact a notary to obtain consent:
One of the parents is missing. This must be certified by a special certificate from employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
One of the parents is in custody. You will need a certificate from the management of the correctional colony or colony-settlement.
One of the parents was deprived of parental rights by the court. I'll have to take a copy of the court's decision.
If the child is adopted or fostered. The guardian will need to take with him a document on the basis of which the child was placed under guardianship. As a rule, this is an appropriate court decision and a certificate from the guardianship authorities.
Unaccompanied travel
Recently, this has happened quite often, because many gymnasiums and schools have become more willing to order excursion tours for their students, Russian children are increasingly becoming participants in international competitions, creative contests, and so on. In this case, the child will have to cross borders without mom and dad, however, without fail with one of the adults (accompanying).
Independent travel for children under 18 is prohibited by the laws of all foreign countries without exception.
In this case, consent for the child to travel abroad is required from both parents. And even if the child goes to travel with his own grandmother or grandfather, with older adult brothers, sisters, consent from the mother and father is a mandatory document, which will certainly be asked to present upon departure and entry.
Often on the Internet, you can find information that the consent of one of the parents is enough, in fact, this is not the case if one of the above situations has not developed in the family, when the consent of the second parent is not required in principle.
Consent from both parents does not have to be done on different forms. You can draw up one document in which both mother and father will be entered, their personalities and voluntary consent will be confirmed by a notary.
It is necessary to tell separately about the situation, when a child can still cross the border without parents, relatives and an accompanying person. This is possible if you are able to prove that a close relative will meet the child on the other side of the air bridge and first conclude an agreement with the airline to provide a special service. It provides that a company employee will meet your child at the airport of departure and accompany you during the flight. The powers of such an escort will end when, from hand to hand, he hands over the child to the greeter at the destination. In this way, you cannot send a child under 5 years old.
Period of validity of consent
If a child is sent to a country that is one of the states united by Schengen law, the consent to leave the minor will be issued exclusively for one trip, it will necessarily indicate the expected dates of entry and exit.
In other countries, consent can be issued for a longer period. This is usually three years. The majority of Russian notaries, by the way, do not agree to issue a consent for more than three months. But there may be different options.
Before going to a notary for such a document, you should find out the rules for entering a specific country, since not all states allow long periods of validity to be put in parental consent.
Sample power of attorney
Consent to leave is often mistakenly called a power of attorney; according to the rules for document execution, this does not change. It is necessary to indicate the passport details of the parents, the data of the birth certificate of a child or several children, the name of the country where the child is sent, the travel dates (start and end). If there is an accompanying person, then the passport details of this person. If an agreement has been concluded with an organization for support, then its name and, preferably, the personal data of a specific employee.
How much does registration cost
The cost of notary services is always indicated in his tariffs. Usually, this is a fixed amount, the amount of which you can ask in advance by phone. On average, in Russia, parental consent for a child to travel abroad costs from 800 to 1200 rubles, depending on the region.
The price can almost double if you do not draw up a document in the office of a notary, but invite him to come to you. You will have to pay for exit registration separately.
Disagreement of the second party
Unfortunately, often one of the parents is confronted with a misunderstanding on the part of the second spouse, most often the former, and cannot obtain from him voluntary consent to the child's departure abroad. This situation is twofold, let's consider it from different sides of the parties to the conflict.
And now a video about what to do if one of the parents does not give his consent for the child to travel abroad.
If the husband or wife does not consent to the child's departure out of very real fears that he will not be brought back or the baby may be in danger, he has the right to impose a ban on leaving. To do this, it is enough to apply to the Federal Migration Service of Russia (to your territorial office) with an application, and also write a corresponding application to the border control authorities. No one will have to explain the reasons, no one has the right to demand that a parent divulge family secrets and explain all the "pitfalls". It is enough to clearly indicate your categorical “no”. Both the mother and the father have this right.
If one of the parents cannot get the consent of the other for obscure reasons (“I won’t give it out of principle”), do not give up, because you can defend your rights and the child's right to freedom of movement in court. To do this, you will need to file a statement of claim, invite representatives of the guardianship authorities to participate in the process, who will be able to confirm that the stubborn spouse unreasonably interferes with the child's legal right to travel. In the practice of judges, there are positive decisions that oblige the defendant to give the necessary notarial consent.
How to remove the travel ban?
If, before the trip, you asked the FMS or on the website of the FSB Border Service, if there is a ban on your child's departure, and found that there is such a ban, you will have to file a statement of claim in court. The servants of Themis will invite all parties to the conflict, weigh the arguments of the parents, ask the child himself about the desire to go on a journey, if, of course, age allows him to adequately answer the questions of the judge. If necessary, both the plaintiff and the defendant will have to be invited to the court. The path is troublesome and not fast, however, today it is the only possible one.
And now let's hear a lawyer on how to impose and how the travel ban is lifted.
