Travelling abroad for a 16-year-old: required documents

Sister and brother decided to go visit their mother in Russia, but the girl did not know which requirements have to be met so that her minor 16-year-old brother could go abroad. She tried to obtain a power of attorney without their mother’s permission but in vain. Vyacheslav Lyakh, lawyer at the Bilozersky Office of the Legal Development Network, explained the rules of legislation that regulate the crossing of the border by the 16-year-old Ukrainians.

Lawyer of Belozersky Office of the Legal Development Network Vyacheslav Lyakh

 

Kateryna Donets* turned to Bilozersky Center for Regional Development. According to the IRC “Legal space,” the 27-year-old girl lives with her minor brother, who is already 16 years old. Their mother lives in Russia, and their father is missing.

The siblings were planning to visit their mother but since the boy is a minor, Kateryna decided that a notarized power of attorney was required for her brother to travel abroad. The notary informed Kateryna that he could not issue a power of attorney without their mother. To do this, she needs to apply to the court with a petition for granting a permit for a minor to travel abroad without one of the parents’ consent.

Having studied the current legislation, the lawyer of the Office said that, according to Art. 2 of the Law “On the procedure for departure from Ukraine and entry into Ukraine of citizens of Ukraine”, minor citizens of Ukraine leave Ukraine with a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for travelling abroad, issued to children under the age of 18.

Also, in part 3 of Article 313 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, an individual who has reached the age of sixteen has the right to free independent travel outside of Ukraine.

– To date, in order to cross the border with Russia you only need to have a passport of a citizen of Ukraine, – the lawyer commented. – So, Kateryna does not need any additional documents for travelling abroad with her brother.

According to the lawyer, the notary should have informed Kateryna about this, but for some reason he sent her to court.

– The notary knew that the boy was already 16 years old. But he refused to issue a power of attorney to cross the border of a minor without the consent of his mother. Although, in my opinion, he had to inform that such a power of attorney is not needed in this case.

Vyacheslav Lyakh emphasized that in order to travel to the counties of the EU it is required to have a biometric children’s passport:

– You should keep in mind that in order for a minor to travel to the EU countries, the only official document that allows a child with Ukrainian citizenship to cross the border is a biometric children’s passport.

 

* The name has been changed for ethical reasons.

Written by Alexander Yermolayev, “Legal Space”