Travelling With Children | Home Affairs Backs Down
On June 11, 2014 / Leave a comment
The new immigration law introduced by the South African Department of Home Affairs contains a section pertaining to the documentation required by children and their parents/guardians when travelling.
The new law states that both local and foreign parents who travel internationally with their children will be requested to provide unabridged birth certificates containing the father and mother’s details.
In the case of guardians who are travelling with children, these individuals will, in addition to the unabridged birth certificates, be required to provide affidavits from both parents (or a death certificate where relevant), granting permission to travel.
The new law and the travel requirements were initially said to take effect immediately, but following public outcry and media attention surrounding the matter, highlighting the short notice period as well as the lengthy waiting time for Home Affairs to issue an unabridged birth certificate, the South African Department of Home Affairs decided to extend the implementation date till the end of September.
However, despite the commencement date moving back, there are still various concerns concerning the new law. The unabridged birth certificate, for instance, is not a document that is automatically issued to parents.
If this law applies to you, we recommend that you get all the necessary documentation in order before the next big school holiday in December.
Initiate Immigration is here to help assist you through this time of change.
Feel free to contact us at: contact@initiateimmigration.com
Lara Horne
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