Solicitação de Autorizações Eletrônicas de Viagem para Menores bate Recorde no Rio com Crescimento de 39% em um Ano.

A demand for national and international Electronic Travel Authorizations (ETAs) for unaccompanied minors by at least one of their parents has reached record levels in the first semester of 2024 at Notary Offices in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The interest in this document, necessary for minors under 16 years old to travel alone or with only one parent, is expected to increase even more with the arrival of school holidays. The document must be requested by the parents or legal guardians of the child or adolescent.

The numbers for the first semester of 2024 show a 39% growth in demand for this document compared to the same period in 2023 and a 481% increase compared to the first semester of 2022. There were 215 ETAs in the first six months of this year, compared to 155 from January to June last year. In the first semester of 2022, only 37 electronic travel authorization documents were issued.

Since August 2, 2021, guardians of minors who need to travel unaccompanied by their parents within Brazil or abroad can obtain the Travel Authorization (ETA) electronically by conducting the notarization process via videoconference through the national unified platform of Notary Offices in the country (www.e-notariado.org.br), receiving the document in physical or digital form for validation at the airline counter, either through a QR Code on the cell phone or on paper.

“The Electronic Travel Authorization is a tremendous convenience for parents and guardians, and many are still unaware of it, despite the 98% growth from one year to the next. The document is digital and provides the necessary convenience, as it is often requested shortly before a trip. Therefore, having the ETA for minors travelling within or outside Brazil in hand is always a gain in moments of daily rush,” explains José Renato Vilarnovo, president of the Notary College of Brazil – Rio de Janeiro section.

With the ETA, the minor or responsible companion can access the document through a mobile application on Android or IOS devices and present it via QR Code at airport service counters, which will prevent the loss of printed documents during the trip and ensure constant data and authorization updates. The guardians can also cancel the authorization remotely at any time.

Once issued, the ETA will have a pre-determined validity period set by the applicants and can be accessed at any time and from anywhere in the world through the e-Notary website or app. The physical model is still available, and can be obtained through notarization, done in person by the minor’s guardians at a Notary Office, by filling out and printing a form.

How to carry out the process

The process of issuing the Electronic Travel Authorization is carried out through the e-Notary platform (www.e-notariado.org.br), a national digital environment for performing notarial acts, where guardians must submit a request through the “citizen” section of the website, filling out the necessary information.

Once the request is complete, the applicants can choose whether to issue the digital document in person at the nearest Notary Office to their residence address or entirely remotely via videoconference. In this option, parents must have a standard ICP-Brasil digital certificate or Notarized Certificate, issued free of charge by Notary Offices.