Taking Grandchildren to France in your van

laneside

laneside

Deceased RIP
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This surprised us when coming back through the English passport control on the French side of the tunnel. Our Granddaughter who is 18 flew out to Limoges to meet us and we headed back home, at the passport control she asked if we had a letter from her parents saying that 18 is still considered a minor and you must have a letter of consent from her parents.

Now I really do not know if this was BS or not but she appeared to know what she was on about.

It may save you some hassle, for what effort it takes, to carry such a document with you
 
We have 2 grandkids, now 7 and 9, who have always lived with us full time (single mom).
In the early years and mainly when flying we did carry a letter and in one case my daughter did have a phone call.
Luckily they have our surname and both the wife and I are young enough to cause doubt if we are the parents !!!!!
I have often been called "dad" and take it as a compliment when I correct them... :)

BUT 18 years old and saying they are a minor... Yes that does sound like BS...
However, if in any doubt take a letter..

STORY:
My Grandaughter decided to "kick off" big time at Orlando airport on the way home.. She was so bad that I had the biggest Amercian copper I have ever seen take us to one side with his hand on his gun. ! Demanding our passports etc.. I can see their point and once her mom came along from further back in the queue I was let off.. PHEW... The little bugger never did it again...
 
We took two of ours 3 years ago and weren't asked for anything (9 & 7yrs). DIL gave me a note of consent, I took it but was just being polite. I have read since though that you may need it. Don't know for sure.
 
Yes we always take letters with us when we take the grandkids
We've been asked for them a few times
 
Yes it was bs. Or possibly not knowing themselves.Which is even worse.

" In England and Wales and in Northern Ireland a minor is a person under the age of 18; in Scotland, under the age of 16. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_(law)

What always makes me laugh is a child under 14 cannot travel on an aircraft on their own but can accompanied by an adult , who has to be over 18.
So what is the bit between 14 & 18 called then ?:unsure:

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Yep, we had the same lecture from passport control in respect of our Niece and Nephew travelling with us.

I joked that having such a letter would mean we could switch off their life support if the need arose!

Well, we had been in a small box with them for over a week!:)
 
I appreciate that things change but I've taken my nephew (8yr old) abroad several times and never been asked for anything other than passport.
Also, didn't some young ladies recently fly out to Turkey en-route to Syria ? Pretty sure they didn't have letters from parents !

It might be 'good practice' to have the letter, I'm pretty sure it's not a 'requirement' yet...
 
I think it is a requirement but depends how thorough they are at checking !!
 
If she's 18 then she's LEGALLY an adult. The lady at passport control must have been having a bad day! We have taken Ron's granddaughter to France for years (not this year, I've put my foot down. 12, and Hormones have kicked in and she's morphed into hell child!) we were only ever asked once, and never had a letter but was advised to carry one in future, especially as she has a different surname to us. Academic now! Yay....free at last...:LOL:

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Never actually Thought about it. We have the "Americans" away with us regularly. they do have the same surname, But we never carry any "letter of Authority" Etc:?

Pete.
 
as foster parents. we take kids with us to france quite a bit. we have to carry a letter with us to bring them back. nothing to take them out. so I can take any kid out. but not in.???
 
cruiser said:
as foster parents. we take kids with us to france quite a bit. we have to carry a letter with us to bring them back. nothing to take them out. so I can take any kid out. but not in.???
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That's brilliant so could you take my two darling grandsons out please, don't worry about bringing them back either.....:notworthy2:
 
does a bottle of scotch each. seem to much.:smirk:

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When we fostered we took a wee boy to France with us and because he had a different name on passport they asked for letter which we had, they still did some checks and phoned the social work department who provided the letter. Things where made worse when the boy was asked who we were and he answered i don't know. He was a mischievous little shit but a great wee boy.
 
I think for teenagers in europe there is no problem at all. We took a son's friend with us at 15 and his parents are from Iraq so he was perhaps checked more thoroughly when he set all the alarms off. This was due to him having had his knee joint replaced the previous year for osteosarcoma. He had a special card with the joint number on it but of course being a teenage boy he thought it would be hilarious to pretend he had lost it, thank goodness we were not entering America.
 
We left Hull last Saturday, and we're stopped by the police, we had the our 4 year old Grandaughter with us. They were very polite, but wanted to see a letter from a parent, as we hadn't got one ( p and O said we didn't need one) so they phoned her mother tongue mc heck it was ok. I guess it didn't help that we all,have different surnames, but good on the police for checking.
Next time we shall,take a letter and a copy of mothers passport with her authorisation
 
thank you Popeye. but can we leave it till later in the year. we are still trying to get rid of a 17n year old boy.

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cruiser said:
thank you Popeye. but can we leave it till later in the year. we are still trying to get rid of a 17n year old boy.
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Some sort of buy 1 get 2 free deal ?:sneaky:

Here in Spain anyone travelling U-18 has to have parental permission. In some places the insist that it has to be the father .:eek:
I kid you not.
Acquaintance up in Valencia had her eldest going to Germany with the school. She would celebrate her 18th whilst away. They still insisted on a letter. Mum supplied one........no good ,has to be Dad !
Kicked off big time as Mum is a widow !!:(
She got nowhere even with school involved as well & eventually had to call in favours from local politicians whose kids she has taught.. Utterly ludicrous.
 
you would not believe it. just no common sense.
 

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