Traveling to the UAE With a Child Who Isn't Your Own: Consent Letter Requirements

Grandparents, guardians, or a single parent traveling with a minor to or within the UAE without the other legal parent present often need to prepare for a specific documentation requirement that catches many families off guard: a consent letter confirming the traveling adult has permission to travel with the child, distinct from anything related to the child's own visa or entry permit itself.

This requirement generally exists to help prevent child abduction and unauthorized international travel with minors, and typically applies to situations like one parent traveling alone with a child while the other parent remains elsewhere, a grandparent or relative traveling with a grandchild without either parent present, or a guardian traveling with a child who isn't legally their own. The consent letter generally needs to be signed by the non-traveling parent (or both parents, if neither is traveling), often requiring notarization or attestation depending on the specific circumstances and which authority is requesting it, whether that's the departure country's own border control, the airline, or UAE immigration itself on arrival.

Because this requirement can be enforced at multiple points, the departure airport, during transit, or on arrival in the UAE, rather than being consistently checked at only one stage, families are generally better off preparing the documentation proactively rather than assuming it will only be relevant if actually asked for. A single divorced or separated parent traveling with their own child, without the other parent, is one of the more common scenarios where this comes up unexpectedly, particularly if the family assumed only non-parent guardians needed this kind of letter.

Given how this requirement can vary somewhat depending on the departure country, the airline's own policy, and the specific circumstances of the trip, families in any of these situations generally benefit from confirming the current consent letter requirements, format, and any needed notarization well ahead of travel, both with the airline and with UAE immigration guidance, rather than discovering the requirement only at the airport check-in counter.