Can one parent take a child abroad without the other's consent?
Children Act · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Both parents have equal parental responsibility, which includes the duty to facilitate or restrict a child's migration from or within Kenya, and neither parent has a superior right. If you cannot agree, the Children's Court can make orders, including one restraining a parent who intends to take the child out of Kenya.
- Deadline
- These Children's Court orders end when the child turns 18.
- Where
- The Children's Court (at your nearest magistrate's court)
Steps
- If you share custody under a court order and cannot agree on a move, either of you can apply to the Children's Court to decide.
- If you believe the other parent intends to take the child out of Kenya, you can ask the Children's Court for a production order restraining the child's removal.
- Where the child had lived with you for 3 years and was taken without the court's leave, the court can order the child returned, and if the child was taken out of Kenya, make a wardship or production order.
Watch out
- The specific ban on removing a child without the court's leave applies where the person applying for custody has had the child living with them for 3 years.
- Child stealing is a crime under the Penal Code, but a person who claimed in good faith a right to possession of the child has a defence.
- A child's passport needs a consent form from a biological parent or legal guardian. The immigration pages we checked do not say both parents must sign.
Who this covers
- Both parents, whether or not they are married and whether or not the child was born in wedlock.
- A parent, guardian or custodian can ask the Children's Court for orders to protect the child.
Official sources (3)
- Children Act, 2022 (No. 29 of 2022) childrenservices.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Penal Code (Cap. 63) new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- FAQs immigration.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026