What are the Legality Issues involved in living in a foreign country for a month?

Question

I'm 15 and i became really good friends with a german exchange student at my school (she is 16). she recently asked me to go to Germany with her to visit for a month. my parents' main worry is the legality issues involved. i.e: If i get hurt who will be responsible for me etc.

my mother says that she will have to sign a release to give to my friend's parents giving them the right to take me to the hospital and care for me or something like that...

please help me to dispel my parents's worries

Thank you.

Answer 1

There's no need to sign such a paper for medical purposes. In case of emergency, regardless if it's a broken arm or if you're stuck half-dead under a car, nobody will ask for it anyway, your health is obviously more important then. And in all other cases it is not even possible to globally release parental rights this way.

You will get medical treatment if it's needed and urgent, advance signatures of your parents or not. And if needed and _not_ urgent, your parents have to be asked about this _specific_ case, advance signatures of your parents or not.

Regardless of that, your parents will have to get a medical insurance for you, and these usually include return flights for medical treatment at home. In case of a severe accident you will be returned home in sort of an ambulance plane as soon as you're transportable, accompanied by a doctor, and payed for by the insurance.

So, you'll be near your parents if you get really sick, no need to worry about who'll care for you. And apart from that I bet that your parents will give a d**n about whatever release they signed if you're in hospital and cannot be transported back home. They'll come to Germany as fast as possible.

That said, what I suspect is that your parents are not really concerned about legal issues, but rather simply afraid of letting you go that far away, more or less on your own.

You won't get these worries away by having some papers signed, but only by trust.

I guess your parents already know your friend, but make sure they know her really well (and like her, of course). More important, ask her parents to get in contact with your parents. They are the ones who'll take care of you in Germany and they are the ones who your parents have to trust. As long as your parents don't know who they are dealing with, they won't let you go.

Furthermore, gather information about the medical insurance. Ask your parents' insurance company, get offers from other companies and show the papers to your parents.

Get flight info. All airlines offer an unaccompanied minor passenger service, get details about that.

Contact the German embassy (or next consulate, see http://www.germany.info/ ) to find out if you're allowed to travel to Germany alone or if you need a visa (US citizens usually do not need one, just a passport, but since you're not yet 18 it might be different). Ask your friend's parents to do the same in Germany.

Do all of this on your own to show your parents that you a) really do care about their worries and b) are old enough to take care of your own.

Answer 2

Your mother has the right idea. But even without a release note, in case of real emergency, they can be very unbureaucratic at German hospitals, so as to treat you first and then ask about the legal stuff. I don't know how you handle that in the US, but in Germany, we usually go to our health insurance and get an insurance certificate for foreign countries. That costs a little extra (not very much) and will make sure that the cost of medical treatment will be refunded.

But you shouldn't worry about such things. I travelled many a country, including a few months' stay in Asia, and I never got seriously ill (nothing that couldn't be treated with an Aspirin), and I never had an accident. It's very unlikely that something like that could happen to you. I rather assume you'll have a pleasant stay here in Germany.

I know it's difficult to persuade parents to allow you to travel at your age. I went to France when I was 14 (long time ago...), and it cost me a lot of persuasion. But finally, they agreed.

Good luck, and enjoy your stay.

Answer 3

if you are an American citizen you can stay in Germany for 90 days without a visa, it is wise if you purchase travel health insurance, since you are under age your parents need to contact the state department and inquire about your travel alone.

Answer 4

Well ure parents and his or her parents can sign a contract kinda of like a custody contract. If they do this your parents will have a lawyer and will decide whose fault it will be. Talk to them any way they should trust you