Apostille Korea on tighter border checks of minors' travel documents Minors who do not carry travel-guarantee documents may be refused entry or exit, so accompanying adults need to check the requirements.

Apostille Korea has said that families travelling abroad with a minor should confirm the travel-guarantee document requirements in advance. The rules apply across the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, including the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii, and a missing document can stop the trip at the check-in desk. What is required also changes with the composition of the family.

A passport and a ticket were not enough

Immigration offices around the world have been checking the travel-guarantee documents of minors entering and leaving countries more strictly. A traveller who does not carry them may be refused, so adults travelling with a minor need to pay close attention. One traveller planning a trip to Mexico with a five-year-old child was told by a travel agency that it did not know of any required paperwork beyond a passport and a ticket, and that those two items were essential. She prepared the child's passport and ticket carefully, but at the airport check-in desk she was told that the minor's travel documents could not be verified and that the rules did not allow a boarding pass to be issued. She had enough time to spare and managed to obtain the documents through an acquaintance and online searching before departing, but the whole trip nearly fell apart. Because the requirement did not exist previously, awareness of it remains limited, and that gap is what creates such situations.

Requirements that change with family composition

Through international cooperation, countries require documents such as the Family Relationship Certificate as travel-guarantee papers when minors enter or leave, in order to prevent crimes against children including trafficking and abduction. The rules cover well-known destinations such as the Philippines, Cebu, Guam and Hawaii, along with countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and embassies in Seoul state on their websites that entry or exit may be refused if the documents are incomplete. Airlines and travel agencies also run related services: one airline provides a guardian consent form required when a child enters the Philippines without at least one parent, and an English-language consent form for a minor travelling alone to Saipan. Explanations differ between travel agencies, airlines and notary offices, however, which leaves families confused about what to prepare. When a minor departs, the Family Relationship Certificate must be carried even if both parents travel too, and because it is issued only in Korean it must be translated into the language of the destination country and notarised before it can be used. If the child travels with one parent or with an adult third party, a parental travel consent may also be required, and since requirements vary for single-parent and divorced households, checking in advance is necessary.

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Source: 산업일보 · 2017-07-27