Parents' consent for a minor to travel abroad (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A consent for a child travelling abroad from Germany without their parents, with only one parent, with grandparents or alone. German law does not require one, but the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and the Federal Police recommend it. It holds what they recommend: the child's details, the details of each holder of parental responsibility and how to reach them, the journey and the accompanying adult. Written in German with an English translation on the page. Whether the signatures must be certified or translated depends on the destination. Fill in, print, sign by hand and hand it over with copies of your ID.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Child
- Child's date of birth
- Child's passport or ID card (series and number)
- Parent
- Parent's date of birth
- Parent's address
- Phone
- Other parent
- Other parent's date of birth
- Other parent's address
- Other parent's phone
- Parental responsibility (in two languages)
- Destinations
- Travelling from
- Travelling until
- Itinerary: transport and accommodation
- Accompanying adult (blank if the child travels alone)
- Relationship to the companion
- Companion's identity document
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Is a travel consent for a child required by German law?
- No German law requires one. The German Foreign Office and the Federal Police recommend it when a child travels without their parents or with only one parent who holds parental responsibility: border officers and airlines may ask for it, and some countries refuse entry to a minor without it. What the destination requires is in the Foreign Office's travel and safety advice for that country.
- Does the other parent have to agree when the child travels from Germany with one parent?
- Where parental responsibility is joint, the parents represent the child together (§ 1629(1) of the German Civil Code, BGB). If they live apart, the courts generally treat a trip abroad beyond a short holiday in a neighbouring EU country as a matter of considerable importance that both decide (§ 1687(1) BGB). If one parent refuses without good reason, the family court can, on application, give the decision to one parent (§ 1628 BGB).
- When should the signatures on a German travel consent be certified, and by whom?
- Whether a certification, an apostille or a translation is needed is up to the destination country; the German Foreign Office's travel advice or that country's embassy will say. Any German notary can certify a signature publicly (§ 129 BGB), and in Hesse so can the local Ortsgericht; the Ratschreiber in Baden-Württemberg may not certify for use abroad. Whether a town hall will certify a signature for this purpose varies. If certification is needed, sign only in front of the person certifying.
- Which travel document does a child from Germany need?
- Every child needs a document of their own. Germany stopped issuing the children's passport (Kinderreisepass) on 1 January 2024; children travel on their own ID card or passport, each valid for six years for a child. Which one the destination accepts is in the German Foreign Office's travel advice. Where parental responsibility is joint, issuing one needs both parents' consent — there is a separate consent document for that.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Freedom of information request (Germany)
The request for access to official information held by a German authority — files, contracts, reports, e-mails or answers to questions: under the Federal Freedom of Information Act (IFG) from federal bodies, under the Land's freedom-of-information or transparency act from Land and municipal bodies, or under the Environmental Information Act (UIG) or the Consumer Information Act (VIG). You choose the act and the form of access; the letter asks for an answer within the statutory time limit, for notice of any fees in advance and for partial access rather than refusal. In German.
- Application for an apostille (Germany)
The letter asking the competent German authority to issue an apostille under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 for a German public document — a birth or marriage certificate, a notarial deed or a certificate of good conduct — so that it is recognised abroad. It identifies the document, the body that issued it and the country where it will be used, and says how it should be returned. Which authority is competent depends on the document; within the EU, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 removes the apostille for many documents. If the authority offers its own form, you can use that free instead. In German.
- Invitation letter for a visitor visa (Germany)
The letter in which you invite a relative or friend from a country whose nationals need a visa to visit you in Germany, addressed to the German embassy or consulate-general: details of the person invited and of you, the purpose and dates of the visit, where they will stay and who bears the costs. No form is prescribed for it. It is not a formal guarantee of costs (Verpflichtungserklärung) under § 68 of the German Residence Act (AufenthG): that is made separately at the foreigners' authority, on its official form, if the mission asks for one. In German.
- Inventory of the spouses' starting assets (Germany)
A joint list, drawn up by both spouses in Germany, of what each owned and owed on the wedding day, plus inheritances and gifts received during the marriage, with values. Under § 1377 of the German Civil Code (BGB), an inventory the spouses draw up together, dated and signed by both, is presumed correct between them; without one, everything a spouse owns at the end is presumed to be gain when the gains are equalised on divorce. No notary needed. Separate property or another regime needs a notarised marriage contract, which this is not. In German.
- Cohabitation agreement for unmarried couples (Germany)
An agreement for an unmarried couple living together in Germany: who owns or rents the home and who moves out after a separation, how household costs are shared, a list of who owns what, how joint purchases and debts are divided if they split up, and pointers to a health-care power of attorney and separate wills. German law has no property regime for unmarried couples. This agreement needs no notary because it deliberately leaves out land and promises of gifts (§§ 311b and 518 of the German Civil Code, BGB). In German.
- Contact arrangement for separated parents (Germany)
A written agreement between separated parents in Germany on the children's contact with the parent they do not live with: regular times, school holidays, public holidays and birthdays, pick-up and return, make-up dates, phone and video contact, information and trips abroad. Before you buy: a private contact agreement cannot be enforced in Germany. It becomes enforceable only when the family court approves it as a settlement (§ 156(2) of the Family Proceedings Act, FamFG); this agreement can serve as the basis for that, or for a settlement reached with the help of the youth welfare office (Jugendamt). In German.