Family trip checklist: documents to sort before you fly overseas

Passports

Check every family member’s passport, including babies:

• Valid for at least six months after your return date, which many countries require
• Enough blank pages for entry stamps
• Name matches the name on the ticket exactly

Visas and travel authorisations

Each destination and each passport has different rules. Sri Lanka usually needs an ETA, India needs an e-Visa or OCI, and many countries now need an online arrival card. See our guides to the Sri Lanka ETA and India e-Visa or OCI.

Coming back to Australia

If anyone travelling isn’t an Australian citizen, check that their Australian visa lets them return. Permanent residents should check their visa’s travel facility, because if it has expired a Resident Return Visa may be needed before travelling. Confirm the details with the Department of Home Affairs.

Children

If a child is travelling with only one parent or with relatives, carry a signed consent letter from the absent parent or parents, plus a copy of the child’s birth certificate.

Insurance and money

• Travel insurance that covers everyone, including pre-existing conditions if needed
• A card that works overseas, plus some local currency or a way to get it
• Copies of passports and bookings saved on your phone and printed

We’ll help you check

When we book your trip, we send a checklist for your destination with the booking. Start with a flight request or visa request.

More guides

• Travelling to Sri Lanka from Australia: ETA and documents checklist
• India e-Visa or OCI card: which do you need?
• Parents visiting Australia: a general guide for families