Traveling abroad with a minor child requires careful preparation of documents. To prevent cases of illegal removal of children, the Israeli border control service (Bikoret Gvulot) and the immigration authorities of the destination countries have the right to request official consent from the other parent or from both parents. The absence of this document may result in a ban on departure and a disrupted vacation. Permission for a child to travel abroad should be arranged in advance if the minor is traveling abroad with one parent, with an accompanying person, or independently.
Attorney and notary Elena Gomelski (Tel Aviv) helps promptly prepare a notarial permission for a child to travel abroad, which will be accepted both at Ben Gurion Airport and abroad.
In which situations is notarial consent required?
Document requirements depend on who the child is traveling with:
- The child is flying with one parent. If the parents are divorced, the consent of the other parent for the child’s departure is strictly required. Even if the parents are married, border officers in European countries (the Schengen Area), the United States, or CIS countries often require a notarized document from the spouse who remains behind.
- The child is flying with third parties. A trip with a grandmother, grandfather, older siblings, as well as with a coach or schoolteacher, is impossible without the notarized consent of both parents.
- Independent travel. If the child is flying alone, for example, using an airline escort service, the child must have permission from both parents clearly indicating the travel route.
Important: If one of the parents has been deprived of parental rights, has passed away, or a court order has been issued allowing the child to travel without the consent of the other parent, notarial permission is not required. However, the relevant court decision or death certificate must be presented at the border.
What should be included in the document?
To avoid additional questions from border officers, the document must contain the most accurate information possible:
- Parents’ details: names, Teudat Zehut numbers or passport numbers.
- Child’s details.
- Details of the accompanying person.
- Travel dates: exact dates of departure and return to Israel. Open-ended travel authorizations are usually not accepted.
- Countries of stay: the list of countries the child plans to visit.
Preparation for other countries: translation and Apostille
A permission document prepared only in Hebrew may be suitable for leaving Israel, but it may cause problems when passing passport control in the country of arrival.
Therefore, in our office, the document is prepared immediately in accordance with international standards:
- Translation. The text of the permission is prepared in English or professionally translated into the language of the destination country, such as Russian, Ukrainian, and others.
- Apostille. For countries that are parties to the Hague Convention, the signature of an Israeli notary is certified with a state Apostille stamp.
Please note: foreign consulates and border officers often ask for proof of family relationship. For this, you may also need a translation of the child’s birth certificate (Notarial translation of a birth certificate for status change), especially if the child and the parent have different surnames. We prepare these documents as one complete package.
Checklist: what to bring to the notary’s office
The presence of the child and the accompanying person is not required to prepare the permission. Only the parent, or both parents, giving consent for the child’s travel must come to the office.
You need to bring:
- Your Teudat Zehut, including the appendix — the sefah — where the child is listed.
- The child’s foreign passport (Darkon).
- A copy of the accompanying person’s foreign passport.
- Flight information, ticket numbers, and travel dates.
Permission for a child to travel abroad helps avoid questions at border control, airport delays, and the risk of trip cancellation. To ensure that the document is accepted in Israel and abroad, it is important to correctly indicate the details of the parents, the child, the accompanying person, the travel dates, and, if necessary, to arrange translation with an Apostille.
Do not risk ruining your vacation because of one missing stamp. Arrange travel permission quickly and without queues in the center of business activity. Contact the office of attorney and notary Elena Gomelski in Tel Aviv: call 03-375-1178 or leave an online request on this page. We will prepare the document in just one visit.
