The Council of Ministers approved, in the session on June 7, 2023, a Decree-Law – effective from the day following its publication in the Official Gazette – simplifying the process of issuing passports or identity cards valid for travel for parents of minor children.
This is a significant regulatory and procedural innovation: it will no longer be necessary to obtain the consent of the other parent of minor children for the issuance of one’s own passport or identity card. However, consent is still required for the issuance of a passport/identity card for the minor child.
The consent previously required is replaced by a procedure – which can also be activated after the issuance of the document and for which further operational instructions will be provided in the coming days – that involves potential judicial intervention: upon the request of the other parent or the public prosecutor, the judge may inhibit, for a maximum period of two years, the issuance of the document to the parent attempting to evade their obligations towards minor children.
