Has anyone travelled internationally as a family, and then returnedwith only one parent?

[Anonymous]

Thinking about how much of a headache this will cause.

We are doing a family trip to Europe this summer. We will all leave the U.S. together (thus negating any need for documentation of kids travelling abroad with only one parent).

But my husband may come back with our youngest early, leaving me with our older son for a few more days.

Has anyone done this? Anyone know what kind of documentation the airport/customs people will need for a parent to come back solo with only one kid?

[Anonymous]

I've traveled with just one of my kids before, although same in both directions. It was fine. I don't think you will have trouble since its on the return trip. The problems seem to be when a parent is taking a child out of the country. How old are the kids? I have noticed that often in immigration the agents will ask the kids questions.

[Anonymous]

You'd be fine with one kid. Particularly if its the older one. I suspect your DH will be the one suffering!

[Anonymous]

I've done it without problem and don't envision a problem. But you can avoid and potential problems by simply carrying a notarized letter from the other parent that the traveler parent has permission to travel internationally with the child.

[Anonymous]

I've done every possible combination with the added bonus of my last name being different from my kids and that we don't share the same nationality (they are American, I am not). Though I always have passports, birth certificates and a notarized letter from dad with a copy of his passport or his license (or he has one from me) we have NEVER been asked for any documentation. We travel a lot. I actually think this is scary...
Getting a notarized letter takes 5 minutes at any UPS store. I keep getting one for every trip because the one time I won't have it all hell will break loose

[Anonymous]

We've done it every year. Just make sure you have that notarized letter. We didn't have it one year and it was a headache.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the advice.

What information should go in the notarized letter? Should it cover the specific travel plans? Or simply: I, Dad, authorize Mom to travel from France back to the United States with Child 1 at any time during the month of July, 2013?

Would something like that work? Or are there more details that need to go in there?

[Anonymous]

That should work ... he should have one from you, too. WE include passport numbers (parents and child).

[Anonymous]

I've traveled internationally with my son without my husband. I never had a notarized letter from my husband until we were coming back from Canada. The Canadian officials did not want to let us back into the US without a letter. We all have American passports. They really weren't going to let us go. Finally, I cried (I was pathetic) and the guy let us go.

At first, I wondered why is Canada being such a pain about this. If a parent is fleeing with a child, the closest country is Canada (or Mexico, but I've never been there). Duh. I'm glad the Canadians officials were on top of the issue in retrospect, but now I always travel with our passports, DS's birth certificate, a copy of DH's passport and a notarized letter even when we travel in the US.

[Anonymous]

We usually took a notarized letter just to be safe. I'd have a copy of your spouse's passport too.