Child Travel Consent for Peru From Australia

A Peruvian child living abroad who stays in Peru no more than 183 days does not need a travel authorisation to leave. Beyond that, or for a child resident in Peru, a child leaving without both parents needs one. A parent in Australia signs it at a Peruvian consulate, because Peru does not accept foreign notaries.

Key takeaways

• Peru requires a travel authorisation for a child leaving Peru alone, with one parent or with another adult. With both parents, none is needed.
• Peru's government says a Peruvian child resident abroad who stays in Peru more than 183 days must present one to leave. A shorter visit does not need one.
• A parent abroad gives it at a Peruvian consulate, and it must then be legalised by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Peru's consulates say authorisations signed before foreign notaries are not valid, even if apostilled. An Australian notary cannot do this one.
• Notarial and consular authorisations are valid for 90 days and for one trip.

When does Peru require an authorisation?

The Peruvian Government's official portal explains the basic rule. When a child travels with both parents, no authorisation is needed. If the child travels with only one parent, the parent who is not travelling must give permission; if the child travels alone or with another adult, both parents must sign. The authorisation is handed to Peru's migration authorities so the child can leave, and it is valid for a single trip.

The legal basis, quoted by Peru's consulates, is article 111 of the Code of Children and Adolescents, Law 27337, which makes an authorisation from both parents, with notarial certification, compulsory for a child leaving the country alone or with one parent.

The 183-day rule for families in Australia

This is the point most Australian families need. The portal says that, as set by Peru's National Superintendency of Migration, a Peruvian child resident abroad who stays in Peru for more than 183 days must present a travel authorisation to leave. The Consulate General of Peru in Madrid puts it the same way: the authorisation is required for Peruvian or foreign resident children who have stayed more than 183 days in Peru. A consulate's page in Boston states the converse: Peruvian children living abroad who have been in Peru for less than 183 days do not need one.

So for a typical holiday, a child who lives in Australia and visits Peru for a few weeks or months does not need the authorisation to leave Peru, even travelling with one parent. The rule matters for long stays, for children who have moved to Peru, and for children resident in Peru. Carry evidence that your child lives in Australia, such as the Australian passport and your return ticket, in case you are asked.

Timing a consular authorisation for a long stay

The 90-day validity and the legalisation step interact in a way that needs planning. Suppose a child from Australia is spending a school year in Peru with one parent, while the other parent stays in Australia. Because the stay passes 183 days, the child needs an authorisation to leave. The parent in Australia gives it at the Peruvian consulate, but it lasts only 90 days from issue, so it cannot be signed at the start of the year. And it must be legalised by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the child departs. Work backwards from the return flight: sign it at the consulate within 90 days of departure, and allow time for it to reach Peru and be legalised there.

Is an Australian-only child covered?

The rule, as the Madrid consulate describes it, covers Peruvian children and foreign children resident in Peru who have stayed more than 183 days. A child who is only an Australian citizen, visiting Peru as a tourist and not resident there, is not described by that wording. Many children of Peruvian parents born in Australia are dual nationals, though, and a child who entered Peru as a Peruvian is treated as one. If your child's position is unclear, ask the consulate before you travel.

Counting the days

Keep a record of the date your child entered Peru, such as the boarding pass and the entry record, so you can show how long they have been there. If a planned visit might stretch past 183 days, for example because of an illness in the family, arrange the consular authorisation before the stay crosses the line rather than after.

Three kinds of authorisation

The portal describes three routes, depending on where the parents are:

Situation	Authorisation	Where it is given
Parents in Peru; child travels with one parent, another adult or alone	Notarial	Before a notary in Peru
One or both parents abroad, for example in Australia	Consular	At a Peruvian consulate, then legalised by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Both parents missing, one absent, or one disagrees	Judicial	A Family Court judge in Peru

Notarial and consular authorisations are valid for 90 days from issue, according to the portal and the Madrid consulate, and each is used once.

Why an Australian notary will not do

This is the honest answer that saves families a wasted fee. The Consulate General of Peru in Madrid says the authorisations must be given before notaries in Peru or, abroad, before Peruvian consular officials, and that authorisations given before foreign notaries have no validity in Peru's legal system, even if they are later apostilled. The Boston consulate's page says the same about notaries in the United States. The same logic applies to a notary in Australia.

So a parent in Australia who needs to authorise a child's departure from Peru should go to a Peruvian consulate, not to an Australian notary. Our guide to documents for Peru covers the Australian documents where a notary and apostille are the right route, such as powers of attorney.

How does a parent in Australia give the authorisation?

The consulates' pages describe the consular authorisation as a document drawn up and authorised by a consular officer, in which both parents authorise the child's travel outside Peru, alone or with one of them. The Boston consulate lists what it asks for; check your own consulate's list:

1. Contact the Peruvian consulate covering you in Australia and book an appointment.
2. Bring identity documents: Peruvian parents their DNI, the Peruvian national identity card; a foreign parent a passport or other ID.
3. Bring the child's DNI or a copy of the child's birth record.
4. Bring the trip details: itinerary and dates, the child's passport number, and the full name and passport number of the adult travelling with the child.
5. Sign before the consular officer. The Boston consulate asks for both parents to attend.
6. Have it legalised by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the child leaves Peru, as the portal and the Madrid consulate require.

If a parent has died, or only one recognised the child

The Boston consulate, citing article 5 of Legislative Decree 1310 of 2016, explains a special case. Where one parent has died, or the child was recognised by only one parent, the surviving or recognising parent's authorisation is enough, and it has indefinite validity unless revoked. The authorisation must record that the death certificate or birth record was sighted, and state that it is of indefinite validity. Bring that certificate to the consulate.

Leave Peru the way you entered

The Madrid consulate adds two practical rules. The child must leave Peru in the same conditions as they entered, using the same passport. And it recommends that every Peruvian child have a DNI, because it identifies the child and their parents more clearly, and Peru's migration authority has been asking for it. For a dual national child who entered on a Peruvian passport, leave on the Peruvian passport too.

What if the other parent will not agree?

If a parent is absent or disagrees, the portal and the Madrid consulate say Peru's migration authority will allow the child to leave only with a judicial authorisation from a Family Court judge in Peru. That is a court process in Peru, not something a consulate or a notary can replace. If a dispute is likely, get legal advice in Peru well before the planned departure.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Getting an Australian notarised letter for Peru, which Peru's consulates say is not valid, even apostilled.
• Getting an authorisation you do not need for a short visit of 183 days or less by a child living abroad.
• Forgetting the foreign ministry legalisation of a consular authorisation.
• Signing too early: the authorisation lasts 90 days.
• Changing passports between entry and exit.
• Assuming it covers the return trip: it is valid for one departure.

In short

A child who lives in Australia and visits Peru for 183 days or less does not need a travel authorisation to leave Peru. For longer stays, or a child resident in Peru, a child leaving without both parents needs one: notarial in Peru, judicial if a parent is absent or disagrees, or consular if a parent is abroad, legalised by Peru's foreign ministry. An Australian notary's letter, even apostilled, will not do. For a trip to another country, see our guide to travel consent letters, and our notarisation service covers documents that do need a notary.

People also search for

• When does a travel consent letter need a notary?
• How are documents for Peru apostilled?
• Which documents do I need to register a birth overseas?
• Can I sign a power of attorney for Peru in Australia?
• Do I need a Spanish translation?

If a Peruvian authority has asked you for an Australian document, send us what it asked for, and we will explain each step before you book.