question regarding age to fly

[shark22]

hello everyone,

coming to this site in hope of a few answers, hopefully someone can help.

I am 16 about to turn 17, I work in the sports gambling industry and was recently offered a job in London, I live in Canada right now and I ended up getting a passport and everything ready to fly over there. I had not told anyone in hopes living the leaving without a trace and coming back 5 years later or so with everything you ever hoped for type of thing,

however, I was stopped just adter boarding by the airline police who were called by my parents to hold me back.

here is my question now,

they said I have been blacklisted by all air lines that fly internationally,
--can they do that?

they said there is a block on me to get a new passport,
--can that happen?

they said i am blocked at all customs and border crossings so i will no be let into any countries besides canada,
--can that happen?

can they honestly do all of this or are they saying that to hold me back by threatening type of thing? I am 95% sure they are bluffing but I wanted to ask someone who knew these things before I go spend another $1400 on a ticket back to london and $200 for a rushed passport.

[News Shooter]

Unless things are done differently in Canada..you are a minor. Your parents have the right to pretty much do what they want until you turn 18

[Oneil]

At 16 you work in the sports gambling business?

[Gassy]

Rhyspiper...........I dont think he is trying to get an airline job.

[shark22]

but can you be blocked from flying anytime in your life without breaking any laws?

[deltayankee]

but can you be blocked from flying anytime in your life without breaking any laws?


If you are under 18 in most jurisdictions your parents or some other legal guardian decides for you. I am amazed you even got a passport without their knowledge. Anyway, they can stop you going out of the house if the house if they want to. Wait until you are 18, then you will have the right to run your own life.

[raffele]

Yes you can be banned. Individual airline's decision.

However in your case - you are most likely classed as a minor. And if you actually leave the country, when you get to the other side there will be some questions as to why you're travelling unaccompanied. Many countries require unaccompanied minors to travel with a letter from their parents.

While you may be able to get a new plane ticket and passport, since your parents reported you you are likely to be blacklisted. And if you think you've got a chance of getting a job over here in London you're mistaken - thanks to the recession there is now at least 10 people going for every single job in the UK.

[montag]

I have doubts about this - when I was 16 I had the money to take my bike on the ferry to France - with or without my parents' consent - no-one ever asked - but not for transatlantic flights. But if you are planning a new life in London you have bigger problems than just getting on the plane. If you want to work you'll need a work permit and the place to start is the local British Consulate. You don't want to find yourself here with questionable immigration status - our immigration gestapo are not pleasant people, no job and rapidly dwindling funds.

If you are determined to travel without your parents consent, and can afford another ticket, you can also afford an hour or so with a lawyer to make it possible - the courts have powers to give you the freedom to travel. But far better to get your parents on side - if it all goes wrong while you are downroute you might need them to bail you out. To do that you'll need to convince them that you have done your research, have a viable plan for finding legal work and housing, and have a ticket home if it goes wrong.

Or you could wait until you are 18, jump on a plane and never speak to them again. But that might cut you out of the will. Me, cynical?

If this is genuine, good luck. You'll need it.

[Rainboe]

Shark- just be patient for a while longer. Your parents have responsibility for you. From what you said, it's plain you have wonderlust, and grass won't be growing under your feet. Stay at school, finish your education- that is the most important thing. Without education, getting somewhere in life will be hard. Wait until the right time and the world will be your oyster- then take off. Provincial Canada may seem a bore, but it's a great country and your prospects there are good. Better than UK right now. Invest for your future, not running away.

[Shack37]

I am 16 about to turn 17, I work in the sports gambling industry and was recently offered a job in London,


Shark
At 16 just who offered you a job in London and how? A friend? A relative? Someone you met on the net? Be careful.

Other than that, take Rainboe's advice and get yourself some qualifications.
s37

[Donkey497]

Shark,

I have to echo Rainboe's & Shack37's comments, the UK is not a friendly place just now for someone like yourself unless you have a very wide and well established support framework. It is extremely dififcult to find work for those who have good, practical degrees just now, unless they also have a lot of experience - my girlfriend can testify to this, even although she has a good degree she's still struggling to get a start since she graduated last year.

Coming from Canada, you either need to do a lot of legal work and get yourself a work permit, and arrange a bona-fide job and somewhere to stay, both of which will be checked by immigration when you arrive, plus have sufficient funds to support yourself for a few months in case things don't work out (which in London probably equates to around ten to fifteen thousand dollars).

Alternatively, you can hit lucky and be entiteld to dual nationality, which my cousins were, but unfortunately, there's a time limit and you have to have applied by the time you're eighteen. HOWEVER, this doesn't get around the sufficient funds, somewhere to stay & the genuine job offer.

I don't want to rain any more on your parade, but there is also potentially another fly in the ointment regarding the job, in that any job offer may well have to be for one that someone in the UK cannot do, or there is a recognised shortage of specialist or uniquely qualified people in the UK. Your qualifications to perform this work will then be examined in detail prior to you getting in to do it.

As someone who travels to the US & Canada on a pretty regular basis, my own advice would be to seek opportunities in your own homeland. It's a wide land with a whole wide range of possibilities - try looking outside your own province if you want to roam. You can go a couple of thousand miles without having to change currency, banks or insurance which are (take my advice) major pains in the £$$.

I am afraid that the world is hugely unfair and set against you at this point in time & although I don't know your exact circumstances, I hope that you reconsider your "disapppear without trace" plan, get some good qualifications and use what look like roadblocks to you just now as motivation.

[Rhyspiper]

Yer now I see!

I just assumed as it was on here!

Now I feel like a right dimwit! Haha!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I feel VERY sorry for this lad. What sort of homelife and parents has he got that provoke him to, effectively, run away from home? My kids would never have thought to do that in ten million years... nor would I!

Hope all goes well for you eventually shark22.....