taking my half thai son out of thailand on holiday.

[williamgeorgeallen]

situation is that i have a one year old daughter and a 5 year old son. i want to do a a trip in october to cambodia and then a longer trip to new zealand over xmas. kids mum does not like to travel so wants to stay in thailand at her sisters with our daughter. i want to travel with out son. what documents do i need to travel with my son. i am assuming i need some sort of permission from his mum. is it a letter signed by a lawyer or something else?

[hanuman2543]

Go with your wife to your Amphoe and ask for a permission letter. This letter you have to show the Immigration. I did the same with my son in February and even I had the letter and a K.R.11 (Official document proving my parental rights) it took me 30 minutes to clear immigration. Maybe it was more difficult for me because I am not married to his mother and my son has a different family name than mine. But it is definitely worth to have this letter in my experience.

Only a statement of the mother is definitely not enough, even Bangkok Air wanted to see the letter before boarding the plane to Bkk.

Edited July 19, 2016 by hanuman2543

[stevenl]

Go with your wife to your Amphoe and ask for a permission letter. This letter you have to show the Immigration. I did the same with my son in February and even I had the letter and a K.R.11 (Official document proving my parental rights) it took me 30 minutes to clear immigration. Maybe it was more difficult for me because I am not married to his mother and my son has a different family name than mine. But it is definitely worth to have this letter in my experience.

Only a statement of the mother is definitely not enough, even Bangkok Air wanted to see the letter before boarding the plane to Bkk.

Signed statement of the mother was OK for me in bangkok and Amsterdam.

[Happy Grumpy]

Don't people usually just go to the airport with their child's two passports - Their Thai one and their Western one, and that is it?

[luudee]

I took my kids several times out of the country. Their mom and I are divorced, but on good terms.

The Kids have dual citizenship and dual passports.

I have never been stopped or asked for "permission". They look more Thai than farang as well,

but are a bit older (12 and 14 now). But even 5 years ago, we did not have any issues ...

They also went on several international school trips, by just bringing their passports. All teachers

on the trip where farang. I do not know if the school had some sort of papers ...

luudee

PS: My kids have my last name in both passports ...

Edited July 19, 2016 by luudee

[williamgeorgeallen]

i am not married with my kids mum. actually we are both married to other people. long story. i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission. dont mind risking it on the cambodia trip but i am not taking any chances on the nz trip.. thanks, would be interesting to hear any other experiences. thanks.

[daveAustin]

Usually you won't be asked, but they have every right to and that your kids has dual nationality wouldn't make a difference. It's all about the potential of the parent doing a runner with the kid(s). If they suspect you are and you don't have appropriate consent to travel forms (signed letter from wife with copy of ID card at a minimum), then you could be denied travel.

[blackcab]

i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission.

The Amphur.

[williamgeorgeallen]

i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission.

The Amphur.

think in my small town it is all in the same building.

[thesetat2013]

Go with your wife to your Amphoe and ask for a permission letter. This letter you have to show the Immigration. I did the same with my son in February and even I had the letter and a K.R.11 (Official document proving my parental rights) it took me 30 minutes to clear immigration. Maybe it was more difficult for me because I am not married to his mother and my son has a different family name than mine. But it is definitely worth to have this letter in my experience.

Only a statement of the mother is definitely not enough, even Bangkok Air wanted to see the letter before boarding the plane to Bkk.

I have been given this same information. Theyou said they are cracking down and demanding this because of those surrogatesites. I was also informed it may speed things a along if the wife accompanies you to the airport. But for sure you need that letter from the amphor.

[BlindMagician]

i am not married with my kids mum. actually we are both married to other people. long story. i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission. dont mind risking it on the cambodia trip but i am not taking any chances on the nz trip.. thanks, would be interesting to hear any other experiences. thanks.

What a tangled web you weave.

If your sprog does not have your surname in his passports, and your not listed in his passports as next of kin, then yes, lawyer up, do your forms.

[sakaew]

A year or two ago, MOL ( My Old Lady) and I took her daughter to The Wonderful Land of Oz. She was about 7. Some Thai Inter ground staff woman who was lurking around the Check In counter, decided we did not have the "correct" paperwork to take the kid out of the country. She was adamant....so MOL asked to speak with the Immigration guys. In the event, the Immig LADY took one look at aforesaid kid's Thai passport and birth certificate...and said "No problem". In our case, because she was not married to the kid's father...she automatically has sole custody. Immig lady knew...Thai lady did not. No documentation relating to MOLs marital status all those years ago...was necessary. Anyway we went! Only in Thailand

[kiwikeith]

Don't people usually just go to the airport with their child's two passports - Their Thai one and their Western one, and that is it?

Exactly! thats what I do, my son has 2 passports and a NZ and Thai birth cert, I have never had any delay or problem, in fact the girls at immigration want to fuss over him and have sometimes put us forward in the que.

[williamgeorgeallen]

i am not married with my kids mum. actually we are both married to other people. long story. i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission. dont mind risking it on the cambodia trip but i am not taking any chances on the nz trip.. thanks, would be interesting to hear any other experiences. thanks.

What a tangled web you weave.

If your sprog does not have your surname in his passports, and your not listed in his passports as next of kin, then yes, lawyer up, do your forms.

tangled web of lies?

both my kids have my last name in their thai and nz passports.

[williamgeorgeallen]

Go with your wife to your Amphoe and ask for a permission letter. This letter you have to show the Immigration. I did the same with my son in February and even I had the letter and a K.R.11 (Official document proving my parental rights) it took me 30 minutes to clear immigration. Maybe it was more difficult for me because I am not married to his mother and my son has a different family name than mine. But it is definitely worth to have this letter in my experience.

Only a statement of the mother is definitely not enough, even Bangkok Air wanted to see the letter before boarding the plane to Bkk.

I have been given this same information. Theyou said they are cracking down and demanding this because of those surrogatesites. I was also informed it may speed things a along if the wife accompanies you to the airport. But for sure you need that letter from the amphor.

i thought about taking my sons mum to the airport but once we check in we pass through security so she would not be with us at immigration so i dont think it would help.

[wlcart]

for what it is worth,

i have traveled to the US with my 2 young daughters and just myself. They have my last name, a US passport and a Thai passport. Last time at the airport we were questioned a bit suspiciously by passport control. Seemed the authorities were concerned I was doing a runner. But after my 5 year old explained that their Thai mother was already in the US and we were going go see her, they let us pass.

Based on that experience, if your son does not have your last name, I would prepare some sort of documentation to be on the safe side.

I was actually glad to see the immigration concerned about the children. It seemed to me they were just trying to make sure everything was on the up and up, as they should.

[affen02]

If you have the birth certificate of your son stating you as a father, that could get you through. A letter signed by your wife giving you permission will get you through. I have tried both, last time going to Hanoi only with birth certificate my son was eight there came a female immigration lady and talked to him asking why is mum at home bla bla and it was ok. My son has same family name as me. To Williamgeorgeallen, i guess the more paperwork you can produse the better. Now my case having full custody of the child i wonder has anybody tried traveling with this kind of docments, do they still ask for mothers approval or not.

[williamgeorgeallen]

for what it is worth,

i have traveled to the US with my 2 young daughters and just myself. They have my last name, a US passport and a Thai passport. Last time at the airport we were questioned a bit suspiciously by passport control. Seemed the authorities were concerned I was doing a runner. But after my 5 year old explained that their Thai mother was already in the US and we were going go see her, they let us pass.

Based on that experience, if your son does not have your last name, I would prepare some sort of documentation to be on the safe side.

I was actually glad to see the immigration concerned about the children. It seemed to me they were just trying to make sure everything was on the up and up, as they should.

i am certainly not complaining about them being strict. everything needs to be done to stop kids being moved around without the correct permission.

both my kids have my last name on both passports.

[SteveB2]

Go with your wife to your Amphoe and ask for a permission letter. This letter you have to show the Immigration. I did the same with my son in February and even I had the letter and a K.R.11 (Official document proving my parental rights) it took me 30 minutes to clear immigration. Maybe it was more difficult for me because I am not married to his mother and my son has a different family name than mine. But it is definitely worth to have this letter in my experience.

Only a statement of the mother is definitely not enough, even Bangkok Air wanted to see the letter before boarding the plane to Bkk.

I took my daughter back to the UK in May last year - the above paragraph kicks off the process, but is not complete.

Carry out the following process for a hassle free departure and international arrival world wide that is not dependent on your wife being at the airport or available on a mobile phone for verification when you try to leave with your child.

Step #1 is indeed for you both to visit the Amphur to request the permission to take your child overseas letter.

Step #2 is to have the permission letter officially translated into English (Since you will likely need to show this at other international airports to override the women’s assumed right of custody when travelling with children - Heathrow Airport (UK) demanded it)

Step #3 is for your wife to visit the Thai foreign ministry in Bangkok to have the permission letter registered on the immigration computer, and to have the English translation stamped with their seal. They may request that you and the child goes with the mother for this process.

The pre-registration process in Thailand for taking your child out of the Kingdom is now completed.

You then have 30 days to leave the country - if your travel request is registered on the immigration computer in this manner, it is not necessary for your wife to accompany you to the airport, to be available for a cell phone chat, or worry about her suddenly changing her mind at the last minute.

At the airport passport control desk - mention that you are both travelling together. Show all passports and the child's Thai travel permission letter to the desk officer (I am assuming your child has dual citizenship) you will then both be taken out of the que to a side desk for verification purposes by a high ranking immigration officer who knows the system.

At the side desk, all passports and the Thai permission letter will be inspected.

The Thai child's permission to travel letter will further be checked on the immigration computer (entered during your wife's trip at the Thai foreign ministry in Bangkok)

If all is well, your documents will be handed back, and you are waved on your way. This verification process took us approx. 5 minutes.

On arrival at London's Heathrow airport passport control...

Present all passports and the Thai foreign ministry officiated permission to travel letters to the UK immigration officer. State that your child has dual citizenship and that the letters you have handed to her confirm your permission to travel with her as a lone parent.

You may be questioned quite aggressively by the UK immigration officer (strangely either a Pakistani or Indian National, but don't kick me off here...) why your wife is not accompanying you - I was. Understand that in the UK, the women has default custody of all children, thus if a lone male is the apparent custodian of a child, especially a girl, then this is immediately suspicious. The official will need to be satisfied that all is above board before you are allowed into the UK, even though you may both hold UK passports. Stay cool while you are berated by the peaked hat scum during this process...

If the official is satisfied that all is OK, and... the UK Immigration officer is not at the funny time of the month, then you should be on your way. Ask to speak to a supervisor if things get out of control and you are refused entry.

Do not expect to meet anyone English working at Heathrow airport until you are well clear of Heathrow and into the countryside.

Closing remarks at risk of going off-topic slightly…

Parental kidnapping, human trafficking and commercial surrogacy are very big issues world wide right now. Thailand has tightened up on it’s own regulations considerably in recent years with strict border controls at all international airports. It is especially important that you are up to date with all documentation requirements to permit your overseas travel as a lone parent.

Needless to say, sometimes Thai airport officials are too lazy to implement the current regulations and both you will just get waved through without checking your carefully prepared permission documentation as others have during recent times. I wouldn’t bank the THB100,000 cost of your air tickets on this though…

I hope this information helps. Flame fire suppression systems are switched 'on' and set to 'Auto' .

Edited July 20, 2016 by SteveB2

[BlindMagician]

i am not married with my kids mum. actually we are both married to other people. long story. i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission. dont mind risking it on the cambodia trip but i am not taking any chances on the nz trip.. thanks, would be interesting to hear any other experiences. thanks.

What a tangled web you weave.

If your sprog does not have your surname in his passports, and your not listed in his passports as next of kin, then yes, lawyer up, do your forms.

tangled web of lies?

both my kids have my last name in their thai and nz passports.

Tangled web...you said you're both married to other people? Must confuse the authorities when presenting marriage certificates and such, as part of required documents. Maybe simplify your lives a bit, then it might be easier to convince the authorities that your children are yours.

If your surname in your passport matches your children's, in English, in their, then you surely need nothing else than that.

Me and mine have never had any trouble, having all the same surname in English in all passports. Not the slightest hint of a question. And we've been popping around several countries on holidays for several years.

But if you have already had a problem, then lawyer up and get a ton of documents.

[williamgeorgeallen]

i am not married with my kids mum. actually we are both married to other people. long story. i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission. dont mind risking it on the cambodia trip but i am not taking any chances on the nz trip.. thanks, would be interesting to hear any other experiences. thanks.

What a tangled web you weave.

If your sprog does not have your surname in his passports, and your not listed in his passports as next of kin, then yes, lawyer up, do your forms.

tangled web of lies?

both my kids have my last name in their thai and nz passports.

Tangled web...you said you're both married to other people? Must confuse the authorities when presenting marriage certificates and such, as part of required documents. Maybe simplify your lives a bit, then it might be easier to convince the authorities that your children are yours.

If your surname in your passport matches your children's, in English, in their, then you surely need nothing else than that.

Me and mine have never had any trouble, having all the same surname in English in all passports. Not the slightest hint of a question. And we've been popping around several countries on holidays for several years.

But if you have already had a problem, then lawyer up and get a ton of documents.

never had to show any marriage certificates for anything. no problems travelling overseas yet as we all normally travel together. my 5 year old and like visiting my parents farm so we are going to go just the 2 of us this time. seems some people have had troubles traveling as a single parent with kids and some havent.

[khunPer]

Did a trip to Singapore two month ago with my 10-year old half-Thai daughter, her mum and I are not married, the daughter has Thai passport but she has my family name. My girlfriend, the mom, drove us to the airport and waited outside Immigration, just in case her approval would be needed, so we could call for her; but no questions asked.

[goatfarmer]

My son, 6, same surname, and I have travelled together without mother 4 times in the last six months. One time we were taken aside and an immgration official called the wife. After a brief chat we were on our way. Last time, a week ago, the immigration officer, waved us on without asking to see the letter from the wife. "I can see you travel frequently together," she said. I wouldn't go to the ampur.

[7by7]

All these posts from people saying they've never had permission from the other parent and never had a problem are all vey well; but.............

Child abduction and child trafficking are both serious problems and being treated as such much more by the auithorities all over the world.

My wife has (had? she's over 18 now) sole custody of her daughter, and while said daughter was under 18 we always carried the sole custody documents with us, just in case. We weren't asked for them every time, but were some times.

Do you really want to get to the airport and find that you are not allowed to take your child out of the country, any country, because you took the word of some people on the internet and didn't get permission from the other parent?

[7by7]

<snip>

You may be questioned quite aggressively by the UK immigration officer (strangely either a Pakistani or Indian National, but don't kick me off here...)

To work as a UK immigration officer you need to be either a British citizen or a British subject with no time restriction on your stay in the UK (simple to check if you don't believe me).

Obviously you do not consider anyone with a brown skin should be considered such!

Do not expect to meet anyone English working at Heathrow airport until you are well clear of Heathrow and into the countryside

I was at Heathrow yesterday waving the wife off; and the only person we spoke to who didn't have an English accent was the girl who served us in Café Nero.

Obviously, as I wasn't travelling I could not pass through security, so cannot say whether or not there were any Northern Irish, Scots or Welsh after the check point.

[Waterloo]

Out of curiosity when ever this subject is discussed it is always in relation to travel out of Thailand.

My wife has taken our 2 children a number of times without me to spend time with there Yai and to immerse them in the language and it has never been an issue.

They are currently out there now having waved them of only last Saturday, have we just been lucky or is this just an issue when flying out of some country's?

The children are 3&5 have dual nationality and we are legally married living in the UK.

[salavan]

i will go to the land office and see if they have some letter of permission.

The Amphur.

yes i had to go to the amphur with the mother and she agreed in writing to allow me to take our child of the country, the letter was signed and stamped by the amphur official when i arrive at the exit immigration to board the flight i deliberately did not present the letter just to see what happened i was politly asked to step aside and asked by the immigration officer if the mother knew i was taking my child out of the country, i produced the letter he then smiled and allowed us both through

[stevenl]

Go with your wife to your Amphoe and ask for a permission letter. This letter you have to show the Immigration. I did the same with my son in February and even I had the letter and a K.R.11 (Official document proving my parental rights) it took me 30 minutes to clear immigration. Maybe it was more difficult for me because I am not married to his mother and my son has a different family name than mine. But it is definitely worth to have this letter in my experience.

Only a statement of the mother is definitely not enough, even Bangkok Air wanted to see the letter before boarding the plane to Bkk.

I took my daughter back to the UK in May last year - the above paragraph kicks off the process, but is not complete.

Carry out the following process for a hassle free departure and international arrival world wide that is not dependent on your wife being at the airport or available on a mobile phone for verification when you try to leave with your child.

Step #1 is indeed for you both to visit the Amphur to request the permission to take your child overseas letter.

Step #2 is to have the permission letter officially translated into English (Since you will likely need to show this at other international airports to override the women’s assumed right of custody when travelling with children - Heathrow Airport (UK) demanded it)

Step #3 is for your wife to visit the Thai foreign ministry in Bangkok to have the permission letter registered on the immigration computer, and to have the English translation stamped with their seal. They may request that you and the child goes with the mother for this process.

The pre-registration process in Thailand for taking your child out of the Kingdom is now completed.

You then have 30 days to leave the country - if your travel request is registered on the immigration computer in this manner, it is not necessary for your wife to accompany you to the airport, to be available for a cell phone chat, or worry about her suddenly changing her mind at the last minute.

At the airport passport control desk - mention that you are both travelling together. Show all passports and the child's Thai travel permission letter to the desk officer (I am assuming your child has dual citizenship) you will then both be taken out of the que to a side desk for verification purposes by a high ranking immigration officer who knows the system.

At the side desk, all passports and the Thai permission letter will be inspected.

The Thai child's permission to travel letter will further be checked on the immigration computer (entered during your wife's trip at the Thai foreign ministry in Bangkok)

If all is well, your documents will be handed back, and you are waved on your way. This verification process took us approx. 5 minutes.

On arrival at London's Heathrow airport passport control...

Present all passports and the Thai foreign ministry officiated permission to travel letters to the UK immigration officer. State that your child has dual citizenship and that the letters you have handed to her confirm your permission to travel with her as a lone parent.

You may be questioned quite aggressively by the UK immigration officer (strangely either a Pakistani or Indian National, but don't kick me off here...) why your wife is not accompanying you - I was. Understand that in the UK, the women has default custody of all children, thus if a lone male is the apparent custodian of a child, especially a girl, then this is immediately suspicious. The official will need to be satisfied that all is above board before you are allowed into the UK, even though you may both hold UK passports. Stay cool while you are berated by the peaked hat scum during this process...

If the official is satisfied that all is OK, and... the UK Immigration officer is not at the funny time of the month, then you should be on your way. Ask to speak to a supervisor if things get out of control and you are refused entry.

Do not expect to meet anyone English working at Heathrow airport until you are well clear of Heathrow and into the countryside.

Closing remarks at risk of going off-topic slightly…

Parental kidnapping, human trafficking and commercial surrogacy are very big issues world wide right now. Thailand has tightened up on it’s own regulations considerably in recent years with strict border controls at all international airports. It is especially important that you are up to date with all documentation requirements to permit your overseas travel as a lone parent.

Needless to say, sometimes Thai airport officials are too lazy to implement the current regulations and both you will just get waved through without checking your carefully prepared permission documentation as others have during recent times. I wouldn’t bank the THB100,000 cost of your air tickets on this though…

I hope this information helps. Flame fire suppression systems are switched 'on' and set to 'Auto' .

In my experience this is way, way overkill.

[7by7]

Out of curiosity when ever this subject is discussed it is always in relation to travel out of Thailand.

My wife has taken our 2 children a number of times without me to spend time with there Yai and to immerse them in the language and it has never been an issue.

They are currently out there now having waved them of only last Saturday, have we just been lucky or is this just an issue when flying out of some country's?

The children are 3&5 have dual nationality and we are legally married living in the UK.

Get permission to take a child abroad

You must get the permission of someone with parental responsibility for a child or from a court before taking the child abroad.........You automatically have parental responsibility if you’re the child’s mother, but you still need the permission of anyone else with parental responsibility before you take the child abroad.

Fathers also usually have parental responsibility for their children if they are married to the child's mother and/or named on the child's birth certificate.

So legally she should have your written permission when she takes your children out of the UK without you.

In practice, as there are no routine exit checks when leaving the UK the only way your wife would need such a document was if she were stopped for a random check.

[MikeyIdea]

I took my kids several times out of the country. Their mom and I are divorced, but on good terms.

The Kids have dual citizenship and dual passports.

I have never been stopped or asked for "permission". They look more Thai than farang as well,

but are a bit older (12 and 14 now). But even 5 years ago, we did not have any issues ...

They also went on several international school trips, by just bringing their passports. All teachers

on the trip where farang. I do not know if the school had some sort of papers ...

luudee

PS: My kids have my last name in both passports ...

My Thai friends' 12 year old Thai kid went abroad with a private Thai school and they asked for a letter signed by both Thai parents giving them permission to bring the Thai child abroad - and useless signed copy of id cards of course

I think it is very good that Thailand is getting good at enforcing this

Edited July 23, 2016 by MikeyIdea