non-parent traveling with infant internationally

May 23, 2011 8:35 AM

How to fly internationally with an infant that is not your own? My nanny and infant will travel from Paris to Italy and meet us there. Does anyone have experience with this? I don't want to put her in a difficult position with customs.

We are spending our summer in Europe, with a nanny for our children. We are planning one weekend trip without the baby, and we need the nanny to meet us with the baby later on in the trip. If she has a notarized consent letter, birth certificate, copies of both parents' passports, the parent's travel itinerary, contact info, and where we're staying in Italy, will this be sufficient? She and the baby are US citizens if it matters.

posted by Snower to law & government (12 answers total)

I don't think anyone is really going to touch this with a ten foot pole. You absolutely need to contact the Italian embassy and verify, in writing, what they will require for your minor child.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:01 AM on May 23, 2011

I have absolutely no clue about this but i doubt a woman travelling with a kid between paris and italy will raise any suspicion or need papers that are not their passports. The notarized note sounds like overkill.
posted by 3mendo at 9:01 AM on May 23, 2011

Not very helpful sorry, but I recommend you check with the Italian embassy in Paris.
posted by londonmark at 9:03 AM on May 23, 2011

Previously.
posted by misterbrandt at 9:05 AM on May 23, 2011

by the way, if the kid was actually italian you could get by with filling this form and having it stamped at the police station.

http://img.poliziadistato.it/docs/modello_unificato_di_accompagno14.pdf

At the end it boils down to an assent form signed by the parents who authorizes a third person to travel with their infant.
posted by 3mendo at 9:07 AM on May 23, 2011

I took my grand-daughter to Rome from the U.S. when she was about 13 (different last names). I had a letter from her parents granting permission to travel with her, it stated our destination, the dates of expected travel, their contact information (including phone numbers) and both their signatures were notarized. We had no problem, never had to show the letter until we returned to the U.S. The immigration officer questioned us closely about our relationship, apparently concerned about a male old geezer traveling with a young girl (decked out in her most wonderful Italian fashions). Our answers to his questions and the letter satisfied him. We had a similarly prepared medical power of attorney also, just in case.
posted by txmon at 9:22 AM on May 23, 2011

You certainly need this info in case of emergency and for most international travel it would definitely be required. However, realize that since France and Italy are within the Schengen area, which has no internal border controls, there *is* no customs.
posted by acidic at 9:29 AM on May 23, 2011

Travelling from France to Italy there won't be a border control as you are travelling from one Schengen country to another. Clearly should make sure you understand the rules for minors travelling with third parties in both France and Italy though. But the only people who will want to see any ID is the airline.
posted by koahiatamadl at 9:29 AM on May 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yes, please check with individual country requirements.

I was traveling from London to Bangkok a few months ago, and the Heathrow police were notified by a British Airways ticket agent that a woman checking in for the flight with her baby did not have any paperwork on her. Apparently she was Thai, but the husband was British living in Bangkok. She had brought the baby to London so his grandparents could meet him. I watched her go through hell for an hour while the police called her husband on the phone and grilled him, and she had to wait for him to fax over a bunch of things before they finally allowed British Airways to check both in. Poor woman was a mess. I must say that the police were very kind with her
posted by HeyAllie at 10:50 AM on May 23, 2011

UK Border control is very different and as has been mentioned, Paris to Italy may not even require anything more than a passport check at the boarding gate.

[having just returned from UK using an Indian passport with Schengen residency]

US passports should have less trouble but I'll step out of the PC line here to ask if nanny and baby (even if both same country citizens) are of obvious different ethnicity?

Above baby incident may have happened if half Brit baby still had blond hair or was significantly lighter than mom
posted by infini at 11:32 AM on May 23, 2011

You DEFINITELY need to check with french officials as well.

In the US, they will not be nice to you if only one parent is taking a flight with a child. Its fucked up. The easiest is to have both parents there...barring that, the best is one parent and a letter by the other parent giving permission.

Its europe, so YMMV. They are less anal about stuff like that there, than they are in the states.

Also, I'd insist on letters from both parents not just 1.
posted by hal_c_on at 1:27 PM on May 23, 2011

Yes, baby and nanny have similar coloring.

I'll check with the authorities in each country, I'm just afraid that the true answer might be hidden in a non-english page so I won't know what to search for.

Thank you misterbrandt for the previous question. I had not found that one.

Funny thing is, we never bring a letter from her mom with us when we travel with our stepdaughter. I guess they assume I'm the mother....
posted by Snower at 3:01 PM on May 23, 2011