MINORS TRAVELLING OUT OF SPAIN WITHOUT THEIR PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS
Any children resident in Spain, under the age of 18 who are travelling out of Spain without their parents or legal guardians need an AUTORIZACIÓN PARA SALIDA DE MENORES AL EXTRANJERO.
Admittedly many many non-Spanish ( & Spanish) children will have left the country without one of these, but airport security can, & often does, ask to see this permission form, and can prevent the child from travelling if they don’t have it. Not every child will be asked to show the form, but in my opinion, since it’s a simple procedure & also free, better safe than sorry!
The AUTORIZACIÓN PARA SALIDA DE MENORES AL EXTRANJERO is valid for 30 days, so you need to arrange it less than 30 days before the child leaves. It will have the date of travel & date of return on it.
The AUTORIZACIÓN PARA SALIDA DE MENORES AL EXTRANJERO is available from the Guardia Civil. You need to take the passports of the child & the parents – both parents need to sign the authorisation. If there is only one parent, you have to prove that, either with the death certificate of a parent who has died, or official documentation that the lone parent is the legal guardian. This documentation might have to be ‘officially translated’, so it might be worth checking with the Guardia in advance to see if this is the case.
If the adult with whom they are travelling is available to go to the Guardia, that helps, but it isn’t essential because the forms are available to download & print for completion at home – so even if one parent or the accompanying adult isn’t in Spain at the time of application, the forms can be completed & sent to Spain, or even scanned & e-mailed. Photocopies of passports are also required, though some Guardia offices will make the photocopies for you.
The form is available at the Guardia office, but here it is for download.
© Lynn Cobb 2014
