Immigration regs ‘on course’ – DHA

SOUTH Africans
travelling with children
internationally will not
be required to produce an
unabridged birth certificate,
effective October 31.
Home Affairs
spokesperson, Mayihlome
Tshwete told TNW
the concession to the
immigration regulations,
which were introduced on
June 1 last year, would be
implemented by the due
date.
“Once implemented,
parents would need to
apply for a new passport for
their children if they want
their details printed in the
child’s passport,” he says.
Alternatively, children could
travel with their current
passports, as long as they
present an unabridged birth
certificate at the time of
boarding, in addition to the
necessary documentation if
the child is travelling alone
or with one parent.
In October last year,
Minister in the Presidency,
Jeff Radebe, who was part
of the IMC tasked with
reviewing the immigration
regulations that were
introduced on June 1, 2015,
said details of parents
must be printed in their
children’s passports ‘within
three months to a year’ so
that the unabridged birth
certificate would no longer
be required for travel (see
TNW November 4, 2015).
“The Department will
communicate the changes
to airlines and Home Affairs
foreign offices once these
concessions have been put
in place,” Mayihlome says.
Until then, however,
children travelling across
South Africa’s borders must
produce an unabridged
birth certificate in addition
to their passports when
travelling with both parents.
When travelling with one
parent, a signed and
stamped affidavit must be
presented, proving the other
parent is aware the child is
travelling.