Apostille Korea launches a minor travel document package as requirements shift by travelling party Entry and exit rules for minors have tightened, but inconsistent guidance from travel agencies and airlines is leaving families blocked at the check-in desk.

Apostille Korea said it has launched a worldwide document package for travel involving minors. As protection rules for minors tighten, the Family Relationship Certificate and parental travel consent have become basic requirements for travel, yet the documents actually needed change with the make-up of the travelling party.

Blocked at the check-in desk

A 35-year-old resident of Eunpyeong-gu in Seoul planned a holiday in the Philippines with his wife and his wife's nephew. Because the nephew, a minor, was not travelling with his own guardian, he asked the airline and the travel agency whether any documents were needed, and both replied that they could not confirm any additional requirement and that he should simply bring the tickets and passports. Following that advice, he went to the airport with only passports and tickets, and at the Incheon Airport check-in desk was told that tickets could not be issued because there was no way to confirm that the child's legal guardian had consented to the trip. He put airport staff on the phone with the child's parents and showed photographs taken together, but the desk dismissed this as insufficient proof. In the end he had to ask the child's father to send the Family Relationship Certificate and parental travel consent by courier to the airport.

Requirements that change with the travelling party

The first thing travellers should check is who is travelling together. If a minor departs with both parents, the Family Relationship Certificate alone is enough, but because it is issued only in Korean it must also be translated into the language of the country where it will be submitted and notarised. If the child travels with only the father or only the mother, or with a third-party escort who is not a parent, a notarised Family Relationship Certificate must be accompanied by parental travel consent showing that the person with parental authority agreed to the trip. Embassies around the world, including those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Guam, Saipan, the United Kingdom, Canada and Latin American countries, publish these rules under strengthened immigration law and state clearly that entry or departure may be refused if the documents are not sufficient. Publicity about the changes has not been adequate, however, and cases of travellers being caught out continue to appear. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it announces changes through various channels and that the most important step is for each traveller to check and prepare the necessary documents before departure, while one travel agency said nothing had been passed down from its head office or from diplomatic bodies and that it directs customers to obtain the documents themselves.

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Source: 국제뉴스 · 2017-05-11