The I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form was created to provide courts and law enforcement with clarity surrounding a child’s international travel. Often international parental child abduction occurs due to the wrongful retention of a child by a parent traveling abroad because that parent fails to return the child to their country of original jurisdiction in violation of another parent’s rights of custody or in breach of a court order. This travel agreement focuses on key issues associated with the return of a child under the rules of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention and Article 12, Article 13, and Article 20 of the Convention. This travel document may assist a left-behind targeted parent expeditiously reunite with their parentally kidnapped child when litigating for their child’s return under the international civil remedies established by the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction under the rules of Article 1 of the Convention. For abductions that take place to non-convention signatory countries, this travel agreement may provide a court, where the child is wrongfully detained, with important evidence on behalf of the left-behind parent.
Individuals using this travel form should understand this document will not prevent a child’s abduction but is designed to provide clear affirmations that may expedite any law enforcement of court actions. Please note this document does not constitute legal advice. Should you have any questions concerning any family law matter, please contact a qualified attorney.
DOWNLOAD THE APPROPRIATE VERSION OF THE I CARE FOUNDATION’S INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL CHILD CONSENT FORM
Considerations On How To Use This Form
1. Parents or their legal advisors may want to consider filing this travel document with their country of citizenship’s foreign consulate or embassy located in the country their child is expected to travel to before a child travels abroad.
2. Parents or their legal advisors should consider filing this international travel document with a court of original jurisdiction overseeing the welfare of a child before the child travels abroad.
3. Parents or their legal advisors may want to consider filing this international travel document with the consulate of the country their child is traveling to that is located in their country.
4. Parents or their legal advisors who represent a parent who has had a child wrongfully detained in a foreign country are strongly advised to immediately contact their country’s Hague Convention Central Authority and file a Hague Application for the immediate return of the wrongfully detained child. When submitting the necessary legal documents to a Central Authority, parents and their legal advisors should consider including the sworn travel consent form.
5. Parents or their legal advisors who are considering seeking an emergency hearing before a court possessing original jurisdiction due to a child being wrongfully detained abroad should consider including this travel consent form to the court.
6. Parents or their legal advisors may want to present this document to law enforcement agencies in both the child’s country of original jurisdiction as well as where the child is located should wrongfully detention occur.
Additional Commentary By Individuals Deeply Familiar With International Parental Child Abduction
“From the I CARE Foundation sponsored conference at the United Nations I participated in, and discussed with Mr. Peter Thomas Senese numerous issues revolving around how we may prevent abduction, I am pleased to share that the ‘I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form’ has the worldwide potential to dramatically reduce global child abduction. This agreement is deep in Hague law, and strikes at the core of abductor statements who may attempt to mislead courts into sanctioning a kidnapping established under the rules of the Hague Convention.”
~ Turkey’s Honorable Judge Selma Nilhan Tekinalp
“The I Care Foundation International Travel Child Consent Form is a powerful tool for exposing a would-be abductor’s intent. If a parent will not sign the form, we have compelling evidence to present to a court in support of limitations on travel, use of passports, and conditions for access to the child.”
~ Washington, D.C. international family law attorney Armin U. Kuder, a partner at Kuder, Smollar & Friedman, named in ‘The Best Lawyers in America’ since the publication’s inception
“As a practitioner I am very optimistic about the effect the consent form will have in reducing kidnapping. I have just offered to use it in a case in London to offer reassurance to the other parent and minimize any concerns they have about agreeing to a holiday abroad due to a perceived risk of kidnapping. The international judiciary should embrace it as a preventive tool.”
~ Carolina Marín Pedreño, a partner at the prestigious London-based law firm of Dawson Cornwell, Founding Member of FASIM, Secretary of the British and Spanish Law Association, member of the Spanish Association of Family Lawyers, AEAFA, Resolution, Reunite: International Child Abduction Centre, the Society of British and Argentine Lawyers, and the Association of Lawyers for Children
“As a law practitioner deeply familiar with Hague Convention law and the great challenges parents and lawyers have protecting children targeted for international abduction, it is critical that new and creative abduction prevention tools are utilized to protect children. The I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form is an important tool that can and should be used to prevent children from being wrongfully detained in a foreign country. . . . This is a tool all attorneys should use.”
~ Carlos Alvarado, a partner at The International Law Group and considered one of the most knowledgeable international family law attorneys in Mexico
“We need to continue to treat child abduction and prevention of kidnapping as something extremely exceptional as we are dealing with children’s lives. The uncertainty and abuse related to abduction is not in their interest. The I CARE Foundation’s International Travel Child Consent Form is workable and would make child abduction more difficult as this document is a legally strong piece of evidence that may result in protecting many children. I hope all Hague-member states embrace this initiative.”
~ Silvia A. Sejas Pardo, a highly respected Argentinean and Spanish international lawyer based in Spain and a Founding Member of FASIM, an international association of attorneys dedicated to preventing child abduction