Travelling in and out of South Africa with children
Written by Lynda at Royal Jozini Private Big 6 Estate, Swaziland
It’s changing again... documentation requirements for travelling in and out of South Africa are relaxing... but don’t take a chance!
For eighteen months there has been confusion, anger and many tears shed over the anti-child trafficking regulations that the South African government brought into being, which meant that every child leaving and entering South Africa needed to have an unabridged birth certificate (or equivalent) and consent via an affidavit from non-travelling parents (amongst other requirements). People who were unaware of the new regulations, such as those travelling visa-free from the UK, found they could not board their plane to fly south as they were unaware of the new requirements.
And South Africans travelling out of the country could not leave the airport or cross the border when they were missing the required documentation.
This is all about to change for the better and relax a little bit (but not entirely!)
For South Africans, if your child already has a current passport, then you will still need an unabridged birth certificate (this shows the names of both parents). But if it has not come through in time, a letter from your local Home Affairs department will suffice.
For South Africans applying for new passports for children, you will be encouraged to apply for an unabridged birth certificate at the same time, but the NEW passport will have details of the parents in it – and you will not have to travel with the birth certificate as well.
All other requirements stay in place.
The reason for these stringent regulations is because the government needs to establish the relationship between the minor and the adult(s) they are travelling with.
The new relaxations have been widely publicised but please note that at January 2017 THEY ARE NOT YET GAZETTED AND ARE NOT YET LAW! So all previous requirements are still in place. Please check full details of what you will need to travel with children on this link.
If you are travelling into Swaziland from Mozambique, you will not need these documents, but if you are coming or going via South Africa, please ensure that you have everything to prove that you are travelling with your own children (or have an affidavit from parents of children that are not yours, but are travelling with you).
Now do yourself a favour; get the documents, book a trip and Bon voyage!