A friend of mine who visited me in Mexico last month in Tankah, had what she thought was her original birth certificate<BR>with a "raised seal", which I told her she needed to enter Mexico along with her photo ID drivers license. Her birth certificate <BR> had a raised seal, but it was only her B/C from the hospital, not state authorized, which is the one you need. She was<BR>very lucky that the airline in the states let her board the plane, but not without a lot of phone calls and a long<BR>holdup and tears. When she entered Mexico, immigrations was not happy and told her never to come back without her<BR>proper b/c or passport. They also made several calls to the airline, and others, before letting her enter the<BR>country. I'm convinced if she hadn't been with her husband and teenage son with proper papers, she wouldn't<BR>have been allowed to leave the airport in the states. I've seen boarding denied to a mother with children without<BR>notorized consent from the father. People, please make sure you have the right documents, a passport is always best.<BR><BR>Here is a quote from someone in the airline/travel industry.<BR><BR>"We deny people everyday for not having the proper documents. These are the rules of the Mexican<BR>government-not the airlines. The reason the airlines are so tough about it is we get fined $10,000. for every<BR>person who gets down to Mexico & doesn't have the right dox & is sent back. Ask about documentation when traveling, instead of<BR>just showing up & then blaming the airline for not telling you."<BR><BR>Thought this was important to post.<BR><BR>Carole<BR>http://CasaTropical.com (summer/fall/specials)

Also make sure your Driver's License is Valid. I had a customer denied boarding because her Driver's License had expired.<BR>If traveling with children under 18 without both Natural Parents, you need a Notorized letter from the Non-Custodial Parents authorizing Travel or a Death Certificate or Proof of Sole Custody.

These are very valid points. My husband is a US citizen, but with landed immigrant status in Canada. One year we flew home from a vacation down south and he had problems with Canadian immigration. He had his US passport, but not his landed immigrant papers, which are in an old passport. He now makes sure that he carries both old and new passport.

I am travelling with my child alone and was told that even though I have sole custody, I still need a notarized letter of consent.<BR>Does anyone know if this is correct?<BR>Surprisingly this was not told to me by my TA, but the Mexico tourist board.

Even if you have sole custody of your child you still need to have notorized permission from the other parent. <BR><BR>The airlines did not always check for this document,when my husband or I traveled solo with the children, but I have seen people denied boarding without it.

It is sooooo much easier just to get your passport. If you have the ID you need to get into Mexico, then you've got what you need to obtain your passport.<BR><BR>Secondly it is not necessarily getting INTO Mexico that's strict... but I assume you'd like to return back home again as well!

This thread reminded me of something that happened to a dear friend of mine. She's a widow. She went to NYC with her 15 year old daughter and a friend. When boarding the plane on their way back, the person at the airline counter asked her for "parents' permission".<BR><BR>She had one for her daughter's friend, but the airline employee asked for the other girl's permission. My friend explained that it was her daughter. Airline person (AP)said: "Ok, but I need to see an authorization from her father". My friend replied: "Oh, but my husband died 2 years ago".<BR><BR>The AP said: "I am sorry, but I cannot allow her to travel without a written consent from her father".<BR><BR>My friend thought that the AP hadn't listened properly, so she calmly explained again that her husband died in an accident two years before. The AP insisted: "I understand that, but I need to see the written consent anyway".<BR><BR>At this point, my friend pulled out her (non-US) passport, in which it was clearly stated that she was a widow... the AP replied that "This is not a valid ID or written consent, I cannot let this girl travel".<BR><BR>It took 30 more minutes before a supervisor arrived. The supervisor publicly scolded the AP and offered many apologies and freebies, but the damage was done...

Yes, you need a notorized consent form from the other parent, and it has to be current, we almost ran into trouble trying to board. It was our 2nd trip to Mexico, so we just brought the consent forms from the previous trip (2 years prior). The airline did not like that at all. Luckily, they had a notary on staff, and for $10 and a bit of forgery we were off.<BR><BR>I think we were very lucky.<BR><BR>The first time we weren't even asked for them, they just assumed I was the mother.

A friend wanted to travel to Mexico with her children last year-her husband, the childrens father has passed away several years before. Her travel agent suggested that she take a copy of his death certificate just to play it safe. Thank goodness she had it-she needed it to get into Mexico and definitely needed it to get back into the US(not sure why)but nonetheless she was happy she had it on her.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

If you are a single parent with sole legal and physical custody with the court papers to prove it, you do not need the other parents permission. That parent no longer has any say in where you take the child. Also there are some single moms who did not list a father on the child's birth certificate (I didn't know they let you do that) but they also do not need anything else.

Just to add some hassle, technically, under Mexican law all these letters and documents have to be translated into Spanish along with the English version. I have been traveling to mexico with groups of kids and immigration is very erratic about everything. In my experience with my groups immigration asks about one in three kids for their noarized parental letter.

Just curious...why is Mexico so strict?

Not just Mexico. You need a letter of permission or death certificate for any country. Not only to enter but to leave Canada as well.

I guess I have been lucky but in the approximate 12 times I have travelled alone with my son, I have never been asked!

Carole made a good point. Two weeks ago my daughter along with some others was going to Aruba and only had her license and a copy of her birth certificate. The copy did not have a raised seal. She was turned down by the airline because of the lack of the seal, she called us from the airport and we were scrambling to find a notary public or someone that could stamp her birth certificate.She thought she would return home after rebooking the flight and get the bc fixed. Fortunately a different person at the airline counter asked why she was rebooking a later flight. My daughter explained and this person sent her to the State Police office in the terminal and said they would notorize her bc. They did and for no charge and she still made the original flight. It seemed a little crazy that just a raised stamp made the bc ok. My wife and I are getting passports before going to Mexico this year.

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