letter from amphur

[machans88]

I would like to take my 4yo son who has a thai passport and an australian passport for a holiday to australia.

Do i need a letter from the amphur stating that my thai wife gives us permission to travel.

Will i be stopped at immigration and asked.

[Apiwan2]

I believe you do need this from other posters before.

I'm leaving to Malaysia on Friday first time leaving with kids.

I'm divorced but have divorce cert with attachments saying kids in my care , also a letter from kaet stating the kids are in my care which I got myself after divorce.

Will post after Friday what happens at immigration

[Apiwan2]

Just to let you know, when I arrived at the airport and was in the immigration Q

One immigration lady officer cane straight over to us and told me that if I was leaving with the kids the family name has to be the same.

Mime is the same has my kids but not the same as their stepmother.

In addition to this I would also need to take a pic of myself and each child using that funny camera on the sticknwith the red light.

I was not asked to show any custody papers or any letter from their mother.

They said they've been doing this for a while now.

Never asked where we were going or for how long although he could see on the boarding pass it was penang.

Last thing she told me we have to do this due to child trafficking .


Hope this helps

[machans88]

Thanks for response, so they made you take a photo of yourself with the kids, and they kept it for records? They provided the camera?

[Donutz]

Doesn't this apply to most countries anyway? Atleast any that take child abduction seriously which would ofcourse include Thailand and western nations. Both immigration in Thailand and the west could ask those traveling with minors -especially if there is just one adult but two adults isn't foolproof evidence of legal and mutual custody and approval either- to show that the child is leaving the country with knowledge and permission of the parent(s) or guardian(s).

 

So for minors living in TH it would be the relevant letter from the Amphur and for those kids living in Europe, Oz etc.  a letter/form from the townhall (or other relevant authority). Without such papers that remove any reasonable doubt of child obduction you could get into trouble with any immigration officer in the world. Single parents traveling with kids ofcourse being more likely to be asked questions than an apparant couple traveling with kids. 

 

This question might be more suited for the family forum, see topics such as these:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/948816-daughter-travelling-with-mewill-i-have-difficulty-leaving-thailand-with-her/#comment-11261783

 

Edit:

Quote

One immigration lady officer cane straight over to us and told me that if I was leaving with the kids the family name has to be the same.
 

  Lol. That is not exactly watertide now is it?

- Parent traveling with kid that shares the same name could still be a nephew or other family.

- Parent traveling with kid that has the same name doesn't mean that the other parent gave permission or who has parental rights.

- A couple traveling together with both sharing the same family name plus kids may not be the parents. One or both adults could share the family name with the kids via some other relation. Mr. SurnameX and Mrs. surname X could me brother and sister abducting a child (of one of these adults or an entirely other minor from distant family).

- Couple traveling together with different names plus kids... parents might not be married, parents may have decided not to adopt the same surname (some countries such NL don't even allow one spouse to change the family name to that of the other spouse).

- Etc. etc. Only way to be reasonably certain is if one carried a birthcertificate of the child mentioning the name of the kid and parents/guardians and if only one adult is traveling some sort of official and stamped form plus copy of the ID/passport of the other parent mentioned on the birthcertificate. And any people traveling with kids should be asked to hand over such evidence though that might make queues a bit too long so in the real world officers may simply focus on children traveling with just one adult and have extra attention if the family name is different. Though that last bit still will allow Mr(s). SurnameX to make a runner with his/her child against the wishes of the other parent (which I guess is the most common scenario of child abduction). 

Edited October 23, 2016 by Donutz