17 March 2025

What to know about the child travel consent form

If you wish to take a child abroad and you are not their parent or legal guardian, or the other parent is not travelling with you, then you will need a child travel consent form. This document shows that the child’s parents or guardians have given permission for the trip. Find out about this document and why you may need to get it notarised in our informative blog.

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There can be many reasons for a child to travel abroad without all the people who hold parental responsibility, such as if another family member is taking them on holiday, or to visit family. In this situation, those travelling with the child will need a travel consent form, also known as a travel consent letter.

Even if a guardian or parent wants to take them abroad, they will still need to get a travel consent form written, as they will also need the permission of anyone else who holds parental responsibility. If you cannot get their permission, then you can get permission from a court instead.

Additionally, the child travel consent form may need to be notarised and then legalised for it to become a valid document. This is so that it can be used abroad in the country you want to go to. It is best to always check the rules for your destination country and the airline.

Keep reading to find out about parental responsibility, how a travel consent form should be written, and what the notarisation and legalisation processes involve.

Why Notarisation of a child travel consent form is beneficial?

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A notarised child travel consent form provides clear evidence to the airline and to border control that the absent parent(s) or guardian(s) have given consent for the child to travel.

It also helps you avoid complications and potential delays, especially if the child has a different surname from the accompanying adult(s).

Notarisation of a child travel consent form is also important when there are custody and divorce arrangements in place.

Ultimately, having a notarised travel consent letter provides peace of mind that the child’s travel is legal and permitted.

Writing a travel consent form

The travel consent form itself does not need to be a complex document, and it should be relatively straightforward to write one.

When the letter is written, it should include:

Contact details of other people with parental responsibility
Details of the trip
Evidence of your relationship to the child; for example, a birth or adoption certificate
Marriage or divorce certificate if your surname is different to the child’s
A statement from those with parental responsibility giving their consent
Signature of those giving their consent

As part of our services, we can help you by drafting the travel consent form for you.

Notarising a travel consent form

One of the most important steps you should take is to get your travel consent form notarised. If it is not notarised, then it may not be accepted as a legitimate document by the country you are travelling to.

To get your letter notarised, you will first need to book an appointment with a notary such as ourselves. Appointments can be in office, though some notaries like us offer mobile notary appointments where we come to you.

During your appointment, the notary will check the document to ensure it is worded correctly. Then, they will provide their stamp, seal and signature to show that the document is valid.

Once it has been notarised, your travel consent form will then need to be sent off for legalisation. Depending on the country you are going to, your letter will either need an apostille, or it will need to go through embassy legalisation.

Our Notary Public of England and Wales, Nathan Woodcock, can assist you with all of these steps as part of our services.

How we can help

Now that you know the key details of the travel consent form, you can feel comfortable in going ahead with getting it notarised by us.

We have already covered some of the ways we can help you, but we shall provide you with more information here.

Before anything else is done, we can draft your travel consent form for you. Whilst it is not too difficult to make yourself, it could be wise to use a legal professional like us to draft it for you. This ensures that you will avoid any potential issues from it being drafted incorrectly.

For your notary appointment, you can choose for it to take place at one of our offices in London, Manchester, or Sheffield. However, if you cannot make it to one of our offices, we offer a convenient and accessible mobile notary service where Nathan Woodcock travels to meet you at a place of your choice. This could be at your home, office, a café, or another suitable location.

Then, for legalisation, we offer a standard and fast-track apostille service. You can choose which to use based on your timeline.

Most countries accept apostilles, but those that do not will require you to put your documents through the embassy or consulate legalisation process. This is a longer and more complex process, but we can manage it for you so that you do not have to worry about doing it yourself.

Get in touch with us today to discuss your needs.

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