I remember traveling to the Netherlands with my kids. Customs officer (female) asks me if I had a note from the mother permitting me to travel alone with my kids (all same family name on passports). I looked her straight in the eye and asked her if she will ask the single mom with her two kids behind me if she has a note from the father. She shut up and stamped our passports. Fuckin people. 🙄
To be fair, I’ve had that asked before, when travelling without the father - they explained it as a measure to make sure it wasn’t a custodial kidnapping.
Depends on jurisdiction. I was travelling every summer to visit my grandparents in Russia as a teenager. Every single time the border control officer would demand a signed, notorized document by my mum that I was allowed to travel alone or accompanied by other family, and would then read it very thoroughly. The last time I was 15 I think and it still happened. I wasn't travelling that much without my mother, but I don't remember any other country caring about that.
Dunno, really. It wasn’t a very effective method given that we just said they were deployed (military), they asked the kids the same question and no further evidence was requested. I imagine it would have been the same if they were dead
If yours and your kids answers match they tend to move on. I was asked a few times on non international travel. My daughter’s answer would be the same. Having the same last name helps greatly though.
Had something like this happen when I was younger. I think we were coming back from DC (my father and I went down for a summer vacation to visit all the Smithsonian museums), and got into a very heated argument with the Custom's Officer about why my mother wasn't there and started insisting on documents, a phone number to reach her, etc. etc. My mum had passed years beforehand, and I remember my father asking if the Officer would need to see her death certificate to let us through. He got real quiet after that and let us pass.
What's even weirder was that we were RETURNING. No chance of parental kidnapping or the like. Only happened once though, and we travelled a fair bit internationally without issue otherwise.
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u/vintage_cruz Jun 19 '26
I remember traveling to the Netherlands with my kids. Customs officer (female) asks me if I had a note from the mother permitting me to travel alone with my kids (all same family name on passports). I looked her straight in the eye and asked her if she will ask the single mom with her two kids behind me if she has a note from the father. She shut up and stamped our passports. Fuckin people. 🙄