THE FACTS Unabridged Birth Certificate: Travelling to South Africa with Children

Travellers to South Africa have been confused by headlines claiming that the law requiring minors to travel with an Unabridged Birth Certificate (UBC) had been “scrapped”. The law has not yet been scrapped… but Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said in a statement today that his department is in “intense discussions” with Home Affairs to implement the Cabinet decision.

After receiving several concerned queries, SAPeople contacted both the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) for clarification on behalf of SAPeople’s overseas members.

The DHA declined to send a written email with the facts but stressed over the phone that they still “strongly recommend that parents travelling with minors from a visa-exempt country must carry the children’s UBC” and that basically it will be a problem if a child does not travel with a UBC.

For countries that do require a visa, the DHA said they would then have all your children’s info at the visa office (as it’s part of the visa application process).

The DHA said they have asked those media that published “incorrect” reports earlier this month to take them down.

SATSA Chief Operations Officer Jenny Mewett clarified that “our CEO, David Frost, asked me to please advise [your members] that the status quo remains – all minors need to travel with UBCs and supporting documentation until further notice.”

The law concerning foreign minors is set to be relaxed in the future following Cabinet recommendations, but as announced by DHA Director General Mkuseli Apleni on 5 February the DHA has not yet finalised the implementation of a Travel Advisory for foreign minors to ensure compliance with UBC-related directives. The DHA is “working with the NDT (National Department of Tourism), to ensure the regulations are amended accordingly.”

Today Tourism Minister Hanekom confirmed that “the Department of Tourism is in intense discussions with the DHA to implement the Cabinet decision that children from visa-exempt countries will no longer be required to carry UBCs but rather, where both parents or guardians do not accompany the child traveller, be strongly advised to carry proof of the relationship and consent from the absent parent/s or guardian/s.”

As far as local minors go, new South African passports are planned for the near future to include parental details (similar to Indian passports) which will negate the need for the UBC for children with those passports.

So to be clear – until such time as a new directive is issued, all children (foreign or local) should travel with a UBC in and out of South Africa.

In Hanekom’s statement today he welcomed the other recently-announced changes in visa applications as a positive step towards putting growth in the tourism sector back on track.

As reported in SAPeople on 6 February, changes included:

• Chinese tourists travelling to SA, whose travel arrangements are facilitated through an accredited travel agent, will no longer need to apply in-person at Visa Facilitation Centres in China for their visas.

• School principals will now be allowed to confirm permission for South African children to travel abroad on school tours, in lieu of individual parental consent forms.

•  The expiry on the parental consent affidavit has been extended to six months.

“These changes pave the way towards growing the tourism economy without compromising security, and have been widely welcomed by the tourism industry,” said Minister Hanekom.

IMPORTANT:

• All documents must be originals or certified copies.
• Minors refers to those children under the age of 18.
• For children born in South Africa, UBC info is here.
• For children born in the UK, you can apply for a UBC from the General Register Office here.
• A sample Parental Consent Affidavit is available here.

Happy Travelling!