One parent travelling with child

My wife (non-EU) will be travelling with our daughter (Irish passport) to the UK soon.

Does a mother require consent from an infant's father to travel abroad on her own with the infant ? I heard something before about some laws put in place to prevent child abduction.

Would it be sufficient to bring the baby's birth cert to prove that she is the mother in case she is asked ?

Are you sure it wasn't just the relatively new rule on children having their own passport?

The child needs their own passport, to get the passport both of you signed the application form. So there should be no problems. If their surnames are not the same on the two Passports she should bring Marriage and/or Birth Cert. No harm in bringing them just to be sure.

Yes, the baby has her own passport. However, this doesn't list her parents' names, hence it could be anybody bringing her on a plane.

I will advise my wife to bring the birth and marriage certs with her to be on the safe side.

jrewing said:

Yes, the baby has her own passport. However, this doesn't list her parents' names, hence it could be anybody bringing her on a plane.

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I presume the security lies in the assumption that responsible parents/guardians will keep the child's passport safe? However no harm in bringing copies of the relevant certificates as mentioned above just in case?

If the parents of a child are not married, the mother does not need consent from the father to travel abroad. It doesn't matter if his name is on the birth cert.

Permission from the father is only required only if the father is a legal guardian.

If he is legal guradian, then his permission also has to be sought to obtain a passport for the said child and also has to be signed by both solicitors.

If hes not legal guardian, then mum can do go where ever she wants with her child and not have to seek 'permission' from the father.

All children under the age of 16 now require their own passport - they cannot be put on a parents one any more. It's a bit daft really as my 3 year old boy definitly does not look like his passport photo taken when he was 6 months old!

evenstar said:

If the parents of a child are not married, the mother does not need consent from the father to travel abroad.

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Where the parents are married, is there any explicit permission needed when one parent is travelling within the EU with a child?

I'd agree with Clubman & you should probably bring any supporting documentation.

I recently travelled through the UK and they are generally quite strict there - the kids were asked their birthdays, names of their siblings, my name etc - I was told not to say anything. They are still on my passport. Will probably get their own ones next year as my OH wouldn't be able to travel alone with the kids.

Just to be clear, she has her own passport. At 4 years old, she isn't going to be interrogated by anybody, that's for sure.