Give written consent for a child to travel, whether with one parent, another adult, a group or unaccompanied. Covers travel details, medical consent and emergency contacts, in a form immigration and airline staff expect to see.
The steps you'll complete in the guided questionnaire.
A child travel consent form is a signed letter in which everyone with parental responsibility for a child confirms that they agree to the child travelling, and records who the child is travelling with, where they are going, and when they are due back. It is used when a child travels with one parent, with a grandparent or family friend, with a school or sports group, or alone as an unaccompanied minor.
Under section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984, taking or sending a child under 16 out of the United Kingdom without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, or without the permission of a court, can be a criminal offence carrying up to seven years' imprisonment. No statute requires a written consent letter for every trip, but border officers, airlines and ferry operators routinely ask to see one, and a signed letter is the simplest way to show that consent was given.
Other names: child travel consent letter, parental consent letter for travel, letter of consent for a child to travel, travel permission letter for a minor, child travel authorisation letter, permission to travel letter, minor travel consent form, holiday consent letter.
Use this child travel consent form when:
Consent is needed from every person who holds parental responsibility for the child. Parental responsibility is defined in section 3 of the Children Act 1989.
| Who | Parental responsibility |
|---|---|
| Mother | Automatically, from the child's birth |
| Father married to the mother | Automatically |
| Unmarried father | Only if named on the birth certificate for a birth registered on or after 1 December 2003 in England and Wales, or under a parental responsibility agreement or court order |
| Second female parent | Same rules as an unmarried father, under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 |
| Adoptive parents | From the date of the adoption order |
| Guardian or special guardian | From the appointment or the special guardianship order |
| Local authority under a care order | Shares parental responsibility with the parents |
A step-parent does not have parental responsibility automatically. They acquire it only through a parental responsibility agreement, a court order, or adoption.
There are three narrow exceptions. Outside them, consent from everyone with parental responsibility, or permission from a court, is required.
| Situation | What you can do | Legal source |
|---|---|---|
| You are named in a child arrangements order as the person the child lives with | Take the child out of the United Kingdom for less than one month, commonly described as 28 days, unless the order itself forbids it | s.1(4)(a) Child Abduction Act 1984; s.13(2) Children Act 1989 |
| You are the child's special guardian | Take the child out of the United Kingdom for less than three months | s.1(4)(b) Child Abduction Act 1984; s.14C(4) Children Act 1989 |
| You are the only person with parental responsibility | Travel without anyone else's consent, though carrying evidence is sensible | s.1 Child Abduction Act 1984 |
| Consent has been refused and a court has granted permission | Travel on the terms set out in the specific issue order | s.8 Children Act 1989 |
Even where an exception applies, a written consent form is still worth carrying. Border staff have no way of knowing which exception applies to you unless you can show them.
Answer the questionnaire and the document is built around your answers. Have the following ready:
About the child
About the people giving consent
About the trip
Medical and practical
Get every holder of parental responsibility to sign. A form signed by one parent when two hold parental responsibility does not give the consent the law requires. If you are unsure who holds parental responsibility, check the child's birth certificate and any court orders before you travel.
Carry supporting documents. If your surname differs from the child's, carry the child's full birth certificate and, where relevant, your marriage certificate, decree absolute or deed poll. Border officers ask about surname differences more often than about anything else.
Check the destination country's own rules. South Africa, Portugal, Spain, Canada and several other countries apply their own documentary requirements for children entering or leaving with one parent or a non-parent, and some expect a notarised or certified letter. Check the destination's entry rules before you fly.
Give the form to the travelling adult, not the child. Keep a signed copy yourself, and take a photograph of it so that a replacement can be produced quickly if the original is lost.
Do not use this form to move a child abroad permanently. Relocating a child out of England and Wales is a different matter and needs either the written agreement of everyone with parental responsibility or an order from the court.
No single law requires a consent letter for every trip. The legal requirement is the consent itself: under section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984, taking a child under 16 out of the United Kingdom without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, or without a court's permission, can be a criminal offence. A written form is the practical proof of that consent, and it is what border officers and airline staff ask to see.
Every person who holds parental responsibility for the child. That is usually the mother and the father, but it can also include a guardian, a special guardian, adoptive parents, or a local authority holding a care order. A step-parent only needs to sign if they have acquired parental responsibility by agreement, court order or adoption.
Only in limited circumstances. If a child arrangements order names you as the person the child lives with, you may take the child out of the United Kingdom for less than one month without the other parent's consent, unless the order forbids it. A special guardian may do so for less than three months. If you are the sole holder of parental responsibility, no other consent is needed. In every other case you need the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, or an order from the court.
The 28 day rule is the shorthand for section 1(4)(a) of the Child Abduction Act 1984, read with section 13(2) of the Children Act 1989. A person named in a child arrangements order as the person the child lives with may take the child out of the United Kingdom for a period of less than one month without separate consent. It does not apply to longer trips, it does not apply to a parent who is not named in that way, and it does not apply if the order expressly prohibits removal.
You cannot travel on the strength of a refusal. You can apply to the family court for a specific issue order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 giving you permission to take the child abroad. The court decides on the basis of the child's welfare and will want to see concrete details of the trip. Mediation is usually faster and cheaper than a court application, which matters when a holiday is already booked.
Not as a matter of law in England and Wales. A signed and dated letter is valid without a witness. This template lets you include a witness block if you want one, and a witnessed signature can be reassuring to border officials. Some destination countries do expect a notarised or certified letter, so check the entry requirements for your destination before you travel.
This form is written for a specific trip, with named dates. That is what airlines and border officers expect, because an open ended letter proves very little. If a child makes the same journey regularly, for example to visit a parent living abroad, create a new form for each trip or use a date range that matches the arrangement.
Yes. The form covers unaccompanied minors, including the airline's own supervision service. Airlines apply their own age limits and booking rules for unaccompanied minors, so book the service with the airline as well as completing this form.
Yes. The form names the accompanying adult, whoever they are, and records that the parents consent to the child travelling with that person. It also lets the parents authorise that adult to consent to emergency medical treatment, which is the point that most often causes difficulty abroad.
Carry the child's full birth certificate showing the parents' names, and any document that explains the difference, such as a marriage certificate, decree absolute or deed poll. A consent form on its own does not explain a surname difference, so pair it with the underlying paperwork.
The criminal offence in the Child Abduction Act 1984 applies to children under 16. Parental responsibility itself continues until the child turns 18. For a 16 or 17 year old, a consent letter is not required by the 1984 Act, but airlines, insurers and destination countries often still ask for written parental authority, and the medical consent wording remains useful.
The child's passport and any visa required, the child's full birth certificate, this signed consent form, travel insurance details, and a copy of any relevant court order. Keep digital copies as well as paper ones.
This page and the child travel consent form were drafted and reviewed by the lawyers who build Hello Legal's document library.
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