Title
Minors travelling alone can be stopped without a parental travel consent More students are flying without their parents during the school break, but entry is still being refused when the consent form and the notarised translation of the Family Relationship Certificate are missing.
Content
Apostille Korea said it provides a document service for minors travelling abroad without their parents. School holidays have brought more student trips and language study abroad, yet cases of refused entry over missing paperwork keep recurring. Recently, missing documents can block not only entry at the destination but also departure.
- Many countries require a parental travel consent for minors under 18 crossing borders.
- A Family Relationship Certificate and a financial guarantee are often required as well, with notarised translations.
- Without the documents, a traveller can be refused at immigration on arrival and even at departure.
- Apostille Korea handles the translation, notarisation and legalisation needed for these travel documents.
Why controls on minors have tightened
As international crimes targeting minors, including trafficking and abduction, have grown more organised, countries have tightened checks at the border. The aim is to confirm that a guardian genuinely consented when a person under 18 travels without a parent. As a result, a growing number of countries ask for a parental travel consent together with a Family Relationship Certificate and a financial guarantee, all in notarised translation. Missing documents can now lead to refusal at arrival immigration and to departure being blocked as well. These requirements are not widely publicised, so many families only discover the problem at the airport.
What to prepare before departure
The first step is to check the list of documents and the format the destination country requires. The Family Relationship Certificate establishes the guardian relationship, and the parental travel consent records the agreement of the parent who is not travelling. A financial guarantee covering the cost of the stay is sometimes required as well. Legal documents used internationally are recognised only after they are translated into the language of the receiving country and then notarised and legalised. Apostille Korea handles that translation, notarisation and legalisation. Because processing takes time, it is safer to prepare well before the travel date.
Frequently asked questions
What documents does a minor travelling alone need?
Requirements vary by country, but a parental travel consent together with a Family Relationship Certificate and a financial guarantee is commonly required. They must be translated and notarised.
What happens if the documents are missing?
The traveller can be refused at immigration on arrival, and recently departure can be blocked as well.
Can the consent be written only in Korean?
It has to be translated into the language of the receiving country and then notarised and legalised to be recognised internationally.
Source: 미래한국 · 2018-08-01