Child Travel Consent Requirements by Country: Entry & Exit Guide

These destinations do not use the same rule. Read the direction column, then open the country page before you travel.

Only Canada, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Ireland have standalone destination guides. Brazil remains comparison-only.

A child may satisfy an airline and still fail a destination requirement. A child may satisfy destination ENTRY rules and later face an EXIT rule. Those layers are different from parental travel consent and from passport or visa requirements.

Ask who the child is under the destination's immigration and nationality rules before assuming a letter or permit applies.

Mexico's Formato SAM is an EXIT process for qualifying Mexican minors, Mexican dual nationals, and foreign minors with qualifying Mexican residence — not for every U.S. tourist child visiting Mexico.

The Dominican Republic digital Minor Exit Permit is a Dominican EXIT / government process for qualifying cases. An ordinary U.S. tourist child is not automatically in that workflow.

Costa Rica Decreto Ejecutivo Nº 36659-G Article 49 covers Costa Rican minors, including dual nationals, and foreign minors with qualifying legal permanence. Article 50 exempts foreign minors who entered as NON-RESIDENT, including ordinary tourist children.

Brazilian/dual-national minor exit rules are strict, but current official sources conflict on how authorization executed in the United States should be completed. Individual verification is required. Do not generalize those exit rules to every tourist child.

Use the standalone guides for the six destinations published in this wave.

Canada Child Travel Consent keeps IRCC/CBSA ENTRY guidance distinct from outbound travel.gc.ca consent-letter guidance.

Bahamas Minor Travel Consent is primarily ENTRY: unaccompanied certified/notarized; one parent MAY BE REQUIRED; non-parent notarized with medical authority.

Jamaica Child Travel Consent treats the described one-parent notarized letter or sole-custody proof as required, not merely recommended.

Mexico Minor Travel Consent & Formato SAM is an EXIT process and is not for every U.S. tourist child.

Dominican Republic Minor Exit Permit is a government digital EXIT process, not a substitute remote-online-notarization job.

Costa Rica Minor Exit Permit applies Article 49 to Costa Rican and qualifying resident minors and Article 50 to foreign nonresident / ordinary tourist children.

South Africa Child Travel Consent is ENTRY + EXIT documentation for children under 18. Parental-consent and supporting documents can apply by scenario. Remote online notarization is not expressly stated.

United Kingdom Child Travel Permission is outbound permission to take a child abroad from the UK. A letter is usually enough. Notarization is not a universal UK requirement.

Ireland Child Travel Consent keeps general border GUIDELINES, where an officer MAY seek evidence, separate from visa-application original-consent requirements.

Brazilian/dual-national minor exit rules are strict, but current official sources conflict on how authorization executed in the United States should be completed. Individual verification is required.

Current August 2026 U.S. Department of State guidance says all minor Brazilian citizens, including dual U.S.-Brazilian minors, need absent-parent authorization when leaving Brazil in applicable scenarios; if an absent parent is outside Brazil, authorization should be completed through the nearest Brazilian embassy or consulate; and Brazilian Federal Police will not accept authorization executed before a non-Brazilian notary public.

Current Brazilian Consulate General in Miami guidance still describes an alternative process involving a U.S. notary acknowledgment and a Florida apostille.

This page does not resolve that conflict. Brazil does not have its own guide here because the official sources do not agree.

South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Ireland now have standalone Wave 7 guides linked above. Brazil remains the only seeded destination that is comparison-only because official sources conflict.

Canada publishes an official outbound consent-letter template. Bahamas and Jamaica currently publish policy or travel guidance rather than one blank government form. Mexico’s SAM and the Dominican Republic permit are government processes. Costa Rica’s current rule is an exit-permit regulation.

Do not label a policy page as a form. Do not rehost official PDFs or forms.

Notarization required or recommended is not the same as remote online notarization accepted.

Canada: notary witnessing is recommended, not universally required. Remote online notarization is not expressly confirmed.

The Bahamas: a notarized or certified letter is required in certain scenarios. Remote online notarization acceptance is not expressly stated.

Jamaica: notarized absent-parent consent is required in the described one-parent scenario, or proof of sole custody. Remote online notarization is not expressly stated.

Mexico SAM, the Dominican Republic digital permit, and Costa Rica Article 49 cases are government processes. Ordinary remote online notarization is not a substitute.

Identify the destination, the child's citizenship or residency, who is traveling, and whether the missing item is entry documentation, an exit permit, a carrier form, or a parental consent letter. Government exit processes cannot be replaced by same-day remote online notarization. If you are already at the airport, use the Airport Emergency Child Travel Consent Guide. If you are already at a cruise terminal, use the Cruise Port Emergency Minor Consent Guide.

Check the official page again before you travel.