International Travel with Children

A note before we begin: This guide is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.

Your Situation

You want to take your child outside the United States — maybe to visit family, take a vacation, or for some other reason — and there's a Colorado custody order (or a pending case) in the picture. International travel with a child is one of the most carefully regulated things you can do as a co-parent, because once a child crosses a border, the practical and legal tools for bringing them back become far more limited. That's why Colorado law, and Colorado courts, treat travel plans with a lot of care.

The stakes are real on both sides. If you're the parent who wants to travel, you need to know exactly what permissions you need so your trip doesn't become a legal emergency. If you're the parent worried about a trip, you need to know what protections exist. This guide will help you understand what the law requires, how to get permission when the other parent won't agree, what belongs in your parenting plan, and what concrete steps to take now.

What the Law Requires

The single most important rule to know is this:

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Once a divorce or custody petition is filed, you cannot take your children out of Colorado without either the other parent's consent or a court order permitting it.

This automatic restriction kicks in the moment the case begins and applies equally to both parents. It covers travel out of state — which necessarily includes travel out of the country. There are no exceptions you can assume; you need consent or a court order.

Your parenting plan itself must address several travel-related things. Colorado's parenting plan form treats passport decisions as their own separate category of decision-making — alongside school, medical, and religious decisions — so parents have to specify whether passport decisions are made jointly, by one parent, or by someone else. The plan must also spell out which parent can authorize travel and prepare the necessary travel documents without the other's signature, and it includes a provision requiring parents to notify each other about overnight and out-of-state travel and to share contact information during the trip.

When there's a concern about a child being wrongfully taken abroad, Colorado has a dedicated abduction prevention order with a menu of protective measures. A court can:

• Order a parent to enroll the child in the U.S. State Department's Child Passport Issuance Alert Program, which flags any passport application made for the child;
• Order a parent to surrender any existing U.S. or foreign passport for the child — including combined parent-child passports — to the court or an attorney;
• Prohibit a parent from applying for a new or replacement passport or visa for the child;
• Require a parent to deliver an authenticated copy of the order to the U.S. Department of State and the relevant foreign consulate or embassy before exercising parenting time, and to prove that delivery happened.

Colorado courts also recognize and enforce foreign custody orders when the foreign court substantially met the jurisdictional standards our law uses — meaning the order came from the child's home country, both parents had notice, and both had a chance to be heard. Courts have enforced foreign orders (including from countries outside typical Western legal systems) where those conditions were met.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, Colorado courts expect a parenting plan to cover travel in detail, and the standard checklist judges and practitioners work from flags in-U.S. travel, out-of-U.S. travel, passport handling, notice to the other parent, and whether advance permission is required. Spelling all of this out in the plan is what courts encourage, because vague plans produce disputes later.

Courts typically favor a travel-notification provision in which both parents agree to share their travel plans, addresses, and phone numbers whenever either travels with the children — so the non-traveling parent can always reach the child. If parents can't agree on that standard term, courts expect them to write out their own specific terms instead.

Where there's genuine concern about international abduction, courts can layer on additional conditions before permitting a parent to travel or even exercise parenting time abroad — for example, requiring the traveling parent to register with the U.S. Embassy in the destination country, and, if the destination country is part of the Hague Convention on international child abduction, to register with that Convention's Central Authority unless a party objects. A court can also require written confirmation from a foreign consulate that no passport has been issued for the child.

Keep in mind that courts weigh the child's best interests above all. For instance, when one parent has disregarded an order about removing a child, courts have held that custody should not be changed simply to punish that parent — the child's welfare remains the focus.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Figure out whether a case is already pending. If a divorce or custody petition has been filed, assume you cannot leave Colorado with the child without consent or a court order. Don't book international travel until you've resolved this.

2. Check your existing parenting plan or order. Look for how it handles passport decisions, travel authorization, and travel notice. If those provisions exist, follow them to the letter.

3. Ask the other parent for written consent. The cleanest path is clear, written agreement from the other parent for the specific trip — dates, destination, and contact information. Keep a copy.

4. If the other parent won't consent, ask the court for permission. You'll file a request asking the court to authorize the specific travel. Rather than hunting down and filling out blank forms yourself, the guided wizard on this site will prepare and pre-fill the correct paperwork based on your situation.

5. Make sure travel provisions are actually in your parenting plan. If your plan doesn't clearly allocate passport decision-making, travel authorization, and notice, address it — either by agreement or by asking the court. Again, the guided wizard can prepare the documents for this.

6. If you're the concerned parent, consider requesting abduction-prevention measures. If you have a genuine fear the other parent may take the child abroad and not return, you can ask the court for protective orders — passport surrender, the State Department alert program, or restrictions on obtaining travel documents. The guided wizard can help assemble that request.

7. Notify everyone the plan requires. Follow your travel-notice provision consistently — share your itinerary, addresses, and phone numbers before you go.

What Research Shows Can Help

The items available here focus on legal requirements and court practice rather than social science findings, so there isn't specific research in this guide to summarize on international travel outcomes. What the practical guidance consistently points to is that clear, written, detailed travel provisions — spelling out passports, notice, and permission in advance — prevent disputes before they start. When you leave travel terms vague, you leave room for conflict; when you make them specific, you give both parents and the court a clear roadmap.

What to Do Today

• Do not book or take any international trip with the child until you've confirmed whether a case is pending and whether you have the consent or court order you need.
• Read your current parenting plan or order and note exactly what it says about passports, travel authorization, and travel notice.
• Put your travel request to the other parent in writing — specific dates, destination, and contact details — and save their response.
• Start the guided wizard if you need to ask the court for travel permission, add travel provisions to your plan, or request abduction-prevention measures; it will prepare and pre-fill the right forms for you.
• Gather your documents — existing custody orders, the child's passport status, and any communication with the other parent about travel.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

Relocation. International travel is different from relocation, but the two can overlap or be confused. If a trip is really a move that would substantially change the child's geographic ties to the other parent, Colorado law treats it as a relocation — which requires written notice with the new location, reasons, and a proposed revised parenting schedule, and triggers a best-interests hearing that courts give docket priority. Be clear about whether you're asking to travel or to move.

Missed or modified parenting time. Travel that interferes with the other parent's scheduled time can create problems. A parent denied parenting time can seek makeup time of the same type and duration, so coordinate your trip around the existing schedule and document any agreed changes.

International child abduction. This is the serious concern underlying many of the travel restrictions above. If you fear the other parent may take the child abroad and not return — or if you're accused of planning to — understand the abduction-prevention tools available, including passport surrender, the State Department alert program, consulate notifications, and Hague Convention registration, and address them before any international travel happens.