Bringing grandchildren from abroad for holiday

DD's best friend who lives in the USA managed to run into a climbing frame and knock herself out. Her face was bruised and swollen to Frankenstein proportions and a visit to the ER was involved.
A couple of weeks later she flew over here for a holiday, bringing her two small children. At the airport she was politely taken aside by the police who wanted to know why a woman who had apparently been beaten up was travelling with two children with American passports while she had a British one. Fortunately she had realised that her appearance might be a problem and she had brought her marriage certificate, the childrens' birth certificates and all the hospital paperwork about her accident.

I'm so glad I saw your message as I am bringing my grandson over from Poland for a holiday and I hadn't thought about this.Thankyou ladies.

I do the same . I insist on both parents producing an upload the hand written letter and I have copies of the parents passports with me. On Eurostar stations I noticed signs saying that there must be proof that if you are travelling with a child who does not have the same surname you are related. This was about three years ago. I noticed that at Leeds Bradford and other Uk airports my DGCs were asked their names and who I was. They were obviously old enough to answer and it was done in a very pleasant and benign fashion. I am doing Eurostar with them again this summer. I did notice that French grandparents can take their DGC for free on the train. I do think we should be able to do that.

My DD writes a letter giving us permission to travel with the children (with details of when and where) and to act in loco parentis in the event of an emergency. Both parents sign it and give contact details.
This works fine, in fact one immigration officer did the kissing fingers gesture, because he thought it was so good!

Maybe check with the airline/airports or embassies what documents/parental permission is required?

Hope you all enjoy your time together and it all goes smoothly for you. Sounds lovely

Thank you Bez. We will go on from here.

I have seen that travelling with children who do not have the same surname as yourself can cause trouble at some borders where they are worried about abduction. I saw it suggested that copies papers proving the relationship are a handy thing to have. One family where the mother had retained her maiden name had a problem even when the children said she was their mother. I would think you would need a letter from some official source saying you had permission etc might prevent any problem. It is a lovely idea and would be a nice experience for the children - hope all goes well for you.