Leaving Colombia with a child

[thundernco]

... in response to Re: It was.............., posted by lswote on Feb 20, 2004

The das requires it as it is CO law.  That said, my wife hasn't been checked every time but she was glad she had them when she was.  -TNC

[thundernco]

... in response to Leaving Colombia with a child, posted by lswote on Feb 19, 2004

Iswote,

Happy to hear that all is well with wife and child.  The answer to your question is yes.  When your wife and child leave CO without you accompanying him, your wife will need a letter,(the original, no fax or copies, from the Consulate stating that you have given her permission to leave the country with the child.  Contact your nearest local Colombian Consulate and they will be more than happy to provide it for a fee of $18.00USD, you can then fedex it to your wife.  You will need:
1. Copy of your face page of your passport, (some allow dl)
2. Copy of face page of your wife's pp
3. Copy of face page of your child's CO pp
4. I usually take a copy of the registro civil of birth just in case they want any other info.

They mainly need the copies so that they can get the info to type the letter out.  It reads something toalong the lines of the following:  x child of x & y parents, has permission to travel out of the country with y parent.

Hope the info helps.  Take Care -TNC

[lswote]

... in response to Re: Leaving Colombia with a child, posted by thundernco on Feb 20, 2004

[This message has been edited by lswote]

I am not quite sure I understand what is necessary.  My wife and child are in Colombia and I am in the US so while I could take my passport to the Colombian embassy, I don't have access to my wife's passport and my son's two passports.  Are you saying I need my wife to photocopy the passports, send the copies to me, then I take them to the consulate along with my passport?  Is that what you are saying?  Also, do I need a copy of her cedular?

[Edited to add a thanks for your help.]

[thundernco]

... in response to Re: Re: Leaving Colombia with a child, posted by lswote on Feb 20, 2004

Sorry if I wasnt clear, you only actually need to know their passport numbers and where they were issued, as well as their full names as it appears on the passports.  In order to guard against an error on my part, I have copies of the face page (first page with picture of face) of all passports, and I take that with me.  Your passport or drivers license will suffice for you.  Hope that clears it up.  Sorry for being unclear, it was too late/early when I wrote it. -TNC

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: Re: Leaving Colombia with a child, posted by lswote on Feb 20, 2004

Call your local consulate - at least in Texas they are very helpful and can tell you exactly what you need.  When I did it the first time, I believe all I brought with me were the 3 passports and I had carried along a "template" letter that I nabbed off the internet.  They processed it in under 30 minutes having me sign it and they imprinted an official consulate seal.  As I mentioned previously, it was never asked for in Colombia.  Indeed, if you look at the "official" rules - when traveling to Colombia you need to register the child in Bogota within 30 days or some-such also, once again I've chosen to bypass that as well.  Of course I'm not recommending following what I have done

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: Leaving Colombia with a child, posted by thundernco on Feb 20, 2004

Note I'm not recommending this, but:

This issue has been perplexing for me - as TNC stated officially you need to do the above steps, in particular the "absent" parent needs to physically go to the Colombian consulate to process it.  I quit doing that since we have never been asked for the papers in Colombia.  My guess is the US passport is the key.

Supposedly, it should work the same way when leaving the US also, but they will only be confused at the ticket counter if you present such a letter.

If you must have all your ducks in a row - by all means get the letter.  If you've got a little flexibility - don't worry about it.

[lswote]

... in response to We've never been asked for that letter, posted by cancunhound on Feb 20, 2004

I am not sure what you mean by flexibility, but I don't want my wife to go to the airport with the baby, mother and all the luggage and then find out she can't leave Colombia.  I am tempted to go to Colombia to pick her up despite the additional cost for my airline ticket (money never use to be an issue but it is now) just so we don't have any unpleasant surprises.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: We've never been asked for that lett..., posted by lswote on Feb 20, 2004

That's exactly why the issue is so perplexing - The 1st time my wife returned solo with niño and without the paper I was very worried - but no problems.  If I lived in Houston I'd consider getting the paper processed for the heck of it - in my scenario I prefer not to - I'd rather have to fly spur of the moment to Colombia than waste a day driving down to Houston only to line the consulates pockets.  

Once again, I'm not recommending to bypass this - but my wife has never been asked for it when returning solo - and I have yet to hear anyone else that has.  Passport is the key.