Title
Apostille Korea launches a document package for minors' travel Passengers continue to be turned away at check-in for lacking a Family Relationship Certificate and a parental travel consent.
- Связанные страны
- 한국
Content
Apostille Korea said it has launched a document package covering travel by minors. Requirements for supporting documents at immigration have tightened internationally, but understanding of them remains thin and more travellers are running into trouble on the day of departure.
- A passenger was refused check-in at Incheon Airport for not carrying the supporting documents required when accompanying a minor.
- When a minor does not travel with both legal guardians, a parental travel consent and a Family Relationship Certificate must be carried.
- Embassies advise that entry or exit may be refused if the documents relating to a minor's travel are insufficient.
- Apostille Korea has released a package that handles translation, notarisation and legalisation together.
Turned away at the counter on the day of departure
On the 5th a resident of Eunpyeong-gu surnamed Park was unable to obtain a boarding ticket at the check-in desk at Incheon Airport. She had prepared what she believed was everything needed for a trip to Europe with her 13-year-old nephew and his mother, but the desk saw it differently. Because the minor was not travelling with both legal guardians, a parental travel consent and a Family Relationship Certificate had to be carried as supporting documents, and without them the rules did not allow a ticket to be issued. With the June and July holidays approaching, many families are preparing trips abroad for their children or with them, yet cases of disruption keep arising because they did not check that these documents are required. Countries around the world demand supporting travel documents firmly at entry and exit in order to prevent international crimes against minors such as trafficking and abduction.
Requirements that change with who travels together
The websites of embassies in Seoul, including those of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the United States, Vietnam and the Philippines, carry notices stating that entry or exit may be refused if the documents relating to a minor's travel are insufficient. Because the rules took hold internationally only recently, travel agencies, embassies and notary offices explain them differently and many applicants are caught off guard while trying to confirm what is needed. A traveller accompanying a minor should first consider the composition of the party. When the minor leaves the country with both legal guardians, a Family Relationship Certificate is required, and because it is issued only in Korean it must be translated into the language of the destination country and notarised. In every other case, whether the minor travels with only one parent or with a third party acting as escort, a notarised Family Relationship Certificate must be accompanied by a parental travel consent. Apostille Korea has released a package that handles this sequence of translation, notarisation and legalisation in one go.
Frequently asked questions
Why do minors need extra documents?
Countries require supporting travel documents in order to prevent international crimes against minors such as trafficking and abduction.
Is the original Family Relationship Certificate enough?
No. Because it is issued only in Korean, it must be translated into the language of the destination country and notarised.
Does this apply when an aunt or uncle takes a nephew or niece abroad?
Yes. That counts as travel with a third party who is not a parent, so both a notarised Family Relationship Certificate and a parental travel consent are required.
Source: 디트뉴스24 · 2017-05-29