New Immigration Act- your questions answerd

SINCE the Department of
Home Affairs announced
new regulations for child
travellers early last week, the
inbound and outbound travel
industry have raised numerous
questions.
Under the new regulations,
parents travelling with children
must produce an unabridged
birth certificate for children
under the age of 18. This is in
addition to the child passport.
While many of the questions
have yet to be answered,
Ricardo Abramse, a
spokesperson for the DHA,
has responded to some of
them. Other answers were
sourced from the DHA through
the process of applying for an
unabridged birth certificate.
Q: Do the new regulations
apply to outbound travel only?
A: They apply to all travel
across South African borders:
inbound, outbound and transit.
Q: Does it apply for domestic
travel as well?
A: No. The Immigration Act
applies to those travelling
across SA borders, including
land and sea.
Q: What documents do
parents need to apply?
A: Mother’s ID, father’s ID
and the child’s abridged birth
certificate. Although, when
applying for an unabridged
birth certificate at the DHA,
TNW's journalist did not have
to produce any documentation
and was only asked to fill out
the relevant forms.
Home Affairs has advised
that application forms will
no longer be available on
its website and SA citizens
must visit their nearest Home
Affairs office to obtain original
application forms.
Q: What does it cost to
apply for an unabridged birth
certificate?
A: R75
Q: How long will it take, after
application, to receive an
unabridged birth certificate?
A: The DHA says six to eight
weeks. However, TNW has
received reports from agents
and parents who said they
had to wait several months.
Q: Can clients travel with
certified copies of unabridged
certificates?
A: A certified copy will suffice.
Q: What documents do
travellers need if they are…
a) one parent travelling with
a child?
A: An unabridged birth
certificate and:
(i) consent in the form of an
affidavit from the other parent
registered as a parent on the
birth certificate of the child
authorising him or her to enter
or depart from the Republic
with the child he or she is
travelling with;
(ii) a court order granting full
parental responsibilities and
rights or legal guardianship
in respect of the child, if he
or she is the parent or legal
guardian of the child; or
(iii) where applicable, a death
certificate of the other parent
registered as a parent of the
child on the birth certificate;
Provided that the DirectorGeneral
may, where the
parents of the child are both
deceased and the child is
travelling with a relative or
another person related to him
or her or his or her parents,
approve such a person to
enter into or depart from the
Republic with such a child.
b) an adult travelling with
a child who is not his/her
biological child?
(i) a copy of the unabridged
birth certificate of the child;
(ii) an affidavit from the
parents or legal guardian of
the child confirming that he or
she has permission to travel
with the child;
(iii) copies of the identity
documents or passports of
the parents or legal guardian
of the child; and
(iv) the contact details of the
parents or legal guardian of
the child, provided that the
Director-General may, where
the parents of the child are
both deceased and the child
is travelling with a relative or
another person related to him
or her or his or her parents,
approve such a person to
enter into or depart from the
Republic with such a child.
c) an unaccompanied minor?
(i) proof of consent from one
of or both his or her parents
or legal guardian, as the case
may be, in the form of a letter
or affidavit for the child to
travel into or depart from the
Republic: Provided that, where
one parent provides proof of
consent, that parent must
also provide a copy of a court
order issued to him or her in
terms of which he or she has
been granted full parental
responsibilities and rights in
respect of the child;
(ii) a letter from the person
who is to receive the child in
the Republic, containing his
or her residential address
and contact details in the
Republic where the child will
be residing;
(iii) a copy of the identity
document or valid passport
and visa or permanent
residence permit of the
person who is to receive the
child in the Republic; and
(iv) the contact details of the
parents or legal guardian of
the child.
Q: Will more immigration
officials be employed for the
additional processing and
to prevent longer queues at
immigration?
A: “Our staff capacity is being
looked at to deal with the
processing and to gear them
not to become a stumbling
block in processing travellers
speedily,” Ricardo said.
Q: What platforms did DHA
use to engage the industry
before making these
amendments?
A: “The regulations were
published for public comment
early in 2014 to allow industry
to raise concerns. We have
received a lot of information
that is very helpful from tour
operators and the industry
and we are setting processes
in place to meet with the
industry to provide guidelines
around how we will implement
these processes and not
to unnecessarily burden
travellers with areas that
can be dealt with expediently
when they visit our missions,”
Ricardo said.
Q: How will immigration
officials at the airport verify
unabridged birth certificates
in foreign languages?
A: “A person’s name is
spelled the same on a
passport and birth certificate,
regardless of the language.
The unabridged birth
certificate is to ensure that
the child is travelling with
the awarded parents or
guardians. For this reason,
if a letter has been written
to give approval for a child
to travel with another adult,
this documentation should
be provided in English. We
would then check the person’s
name and verify it against the
passport and unabridged birth
certificate,” Ricardo said.