5 Requirements For Travelling Internationally With Children You Should Know

Travelling internationally with children can be a lot. A lot of families have been relocating and moving overseas with their children. Relocating with children can be a lot of work especially if you have got more than one. There is so much that you need to do that it might start to feel and get overwhelming. Apart from the packing up, there is also the extra luggage, the hours you spend waiting at the airport, making sure you have all the documents that you need, getting through security and if peradventure you are travelling without the other parent. 

Travelling internationally with your children is a lot more stressful of course than travelling locally. You need to ensure that you have all the necessary documents so that you do not get held back at the airport with your children. Doing all of these things will make travelling with your children easier. You’re able to pass through airport security without too much stress if you have all of the necessary documents that are demanded of you. One of the reasons why there are stringent rules guiding travelling internationally with children is to prevent kidnapping and child trafficking. All these requirements will prove that you are either the parent or the guardian of the children that you have in your care.

Things To Do Before You Travelling Internationally With Children 

Make Sure They Are Up To Date On Necessary Vaccines

For every country that you’re travelling to, there are different necessary vaccines that your child needs to be up to date on before the travel. Depending on the country that you are travelling internationally with children to, will determine what kind of vaccines they will be getting. Some of the recommended vaccines include hepatitis a, hepatitis b, tetanus, Haemophilus influenza type b (hib), diphtheria, pertussis, polio rotavirus, streptococcus pneumonia, human papillomavirus, meningococcal vaccine, MMR or MMRV vaccine, rabies vaccine, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, yellow fever, measles, chicken pox, shingles, cholera, malaria, and tuberculosis. More on vaccines here 

Get A Basic Checkup For The Child 

Before you embark on a journey with your children outside the country, it is imperative that you get a basic checkup done for your children to ensure that they are healthy and physically strong enough to embark on the journey.

If your child takes certain medications, it will do you good to confirm that the country you are going to, you have to confirm the drug is legal in the country. A perfect example is the drugs used to treat ADHD. This drug might actually be restricted in certain countries.

Requirements

Getting Their International Passports 

If you are travelling internationally with children then you will need to get international travel passports for your children. Depending on the country that you are coming from, you will need to find out the requirement for the application of an international travel passport as different countries have different steps to apply for the passport of your children.

Consent Form 

If you are making the journey without the other parents, then you will need them to sign a consent form. It is advised that even when you are travelling together you should each carry copies of the signed consent form Just in case you get separated you always have the form with you. A travel consent form should contain both parent’s contact information, and the child’s basic information like name, gender, place of birth and birthday, the travelling arrangement and the destination.

If you are separated or divorced from the other parent, you will need a copy of your divorce, separation or custody decree that proves beyond any other doubt that you have custody of the child and there is no foul play like kidnapping, child trafficking or trying to abscond with the child or children against the other parent’s wishes.

If the children are adopted, you also need to have the document for the adoption, all the adoption papers are a necessary requirement for travelling internationally with children.

If you are separated from the other parent or you are just a guardian, you will need proof of the court order that granted you guardianship of the child or children.

A Copy Of The Child’s Birth Certificate 

One of the requirements needed to be able to travel internationally with your children is a birth certificate for each of the children.

Copy Of Death Certificate

If one of the parents is widowed, they will need to travel with a copy of the death certificate to show.

Travel And Health Insurance 

Depending on the country that you are travelling to, you will need to take out health insurance for the children. This is to protect both you and the children in the case of any health issues and challenges that they might have while you’re travelling. 

It is important for the safety and protection of your children that you do all that is required of you as you travel with them.