Consent for a child to travel abroad and its translation

A minor travelling abroad with one parent, with grandparents, with a sports team or without any accompanying adult at all is the situation where one missing sheet of paper stops the whole trip: the airline does not let the child on board, and the border service asks for an additional document at exactly the moment it cannot be produced. A parent's notarized consent for the child to travel abroad and its translation into the language of the destination country remove precisely this risk. Our bureau in Tbilisi, on Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, draws up the consent together with the notary, translates it the same day and certifies the translation; in most cases one visit is enough.

When the consent is needed

The requirements differ by country and airline, so there is no single universal rule. In practice the consent is required or strongly recommended in the following cases:

• The child travels with one parent. Many countries, including some Schengen states, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada and Turkey, require or ask for the other parent's consent at border control, especially when the parent's and the child's surnames differ.
• The child is with a relative or another adult. Grandmother, grandfather, aunt, a friend's family: both parents' consent is mandatory almost everywhere.
• Group travel. A school trip, a sports competition, a summer camp, a contest: the consent is drawn up in the name of the teacher or coach.
• The child travels alone. The airlines' unaccompanied minor service requires the parents' consent without exception.
• A long-term departure. Studying or living with one parent abroad: here, alongside the consent, a court judgment on the place of residence or the birth certificate is often needed.

If the other parent has died, is unknown or has been deprived of parental rights, the corresponding document is translated instead of the consent: the death certificate, the birth certificate without the father's entry or the court judgment.

What the consent must contain

The consent is drawn up at a notary and its content must be unambiguous for the foreign border service. As standard it includes:

• the name, surname, date of birth, personal number and passport details of the parent giving consent;
• the child's name, surname, date of birth and passport number, exactly as in their travel document;
• the accompanying person's name, surname and passport details, or a statement that the child is travelling alone;
• the destination country or countries, including transit, and the travel period with specific dates or a time span;
• the purpose of the trip (holiday, study, treatment, competition);
• where needed, a statement that the accompanying person has the right to take medical and other decisions on the child's behalf;
• the notary's certification, the register number and the date.

Some countries require specific wording (for example, for the USA and Canada both parents' contact details are advisable, and for Italy a separate consent for each trip). We draft the text according to the requirements of the destination country and hand the notary a ready draft, so that the visit is over in minutes.

Translation: into which language and in what form

Language

The consent must be readable by the official who sees it at the border. So it is translated into the language of the destination country or into English, and in case of transit (through Istanbul or Munich, for example) preferably into the language of the transit country as well. We often prepare a bilingual document, the Georgian and the foreign text in two parallel columns, which the notary certifies as one and which needs no separate translation.

Names and numbers

The names of the child, the parents and the accompanying person are written in Latin letters exactly according to the passports; the passport numbers, dates of birth and travel dates are checked separately by the editor. It is precisely these fields that the border official compares with the passports, and one different letter becomes grounds for questions.

Certification and apostille

The translation is notarized in the same building where the consent was drawn up. For border control an apostille is usually not needed; you will need it if the consent is intended for submission to a foreign authority, for example to arrange school enrolment, residence or medical treatment. In that case the Ministry of Justice places the apostille on the notarized consent and only then is the document translated together with the apostille. The general rules are described on the personal documents page.

Consent of a parent who is abroad

If the other parent is abroad, the consent is drawn up at a local notary or at a Georgian consulate. A consent drawn up at the consulate counts as a Georgian document and is translated directly. A consent drawn up at a foreign notary, to be used in Georgia, needs an apostille and a Georgian notarized translation; we prepare that translation too, including from German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Hebrew and Russian documents.

Typical cases

• A mother on holiday in Europe with her child. The father's consent in English or in the language of the destination country, in bilingual format, in one visit.
• A grandmother in Turkey with her grandchild. Both parents' consent in Turkish-Georgian, together with the translation of the child's birth certificate.
• A sports team at a competition. Consents in the coach's name for every child from one template, in one day.
• A child travelling alone to a parent abroad. The airline's form, the parent's consent in English and the receiving parent's details.
• Moving to live with one parent. The consent, the court judgment or the certificate of marital status, the certificate of address needed for the school: one package, one transliteration.

Mistakes that cause problems at the border

• The consent in Georgian only. The border official cannot read it and the document is as good as non-existent.
• A general, open-ended consent. Many countries do not accept text of the "any country, any time" type; a specific destination and period are needed.
• The child's name different from the passport. The transliteration must always follow the child's travel document.
• The transit country omitted. If the flight has a connection, the transit country must be listed as well.
• Only a copy on hand. The original notarized consent and the certified translation must travel with the child, not a scan on a phone.

Turnaround

Drafting the consent, the notarial formalities, the translation and the certification of the translation are completed in one visit, usually within one to two hours. Bring the parent's ID card or passport, a copy of the child's passport and birth certificate, and the accompanying person's passport details. If you send us the travel details before the visit, we prepare the text in advance and only the signature remains to be done on site.

Frequently asked questions