Parents take note! If you are travelling with kids under the age of 18 years old to South Africa you will be asked to present their Birth Certificate at the airport prior to boarding. A valid Passport is not good enough. This is something that parents are not being told by their travel agents when booking their tickets.

Beauty doesn’t come cheap! Here are South Africa’s bureaucratic red tape requirements:

A VALID PASSPORT AND VISA

Now, we know it’s pretty obvious that your child will need a valid passport and visa (if necessary) in order to travel to another country. But remember to check passports (both your child’s and your own) for blank pages. Passports must have at least two blank pages for entry and exit stamps. This is a small but vital detail that could stop your holiday in its tracks if forgotten.

To find out if you need a visa, take a look at the list of visa-exempt countries here.

YOUR CHILD’S UNABRIDGED BIRTH CERTIFICATE

The worldwide problem of human trafficking has prompted the South African Department of Home Affairs to be rather strict about children entering and exiting the country.

An unabridged birth certificate is a birth certificate that has the information of both of the child’s parent on it. The DHA formerly required that parents travelling with children carried this birth certificate with them at all times as a way of proving parentage. This has recently been relaxed. As long as your child’s passport lists both parents, you don’t technically need an unabridged birth certificate to travel. However, we still recommend that you bring your child’s birth certificate along to avoid any hassles getting through border control.

A PARENTAL CONSENT AFFIDAVIT

If you’re travelling with children but without their other parent, you’re going to need a little extra paperwork to get you through immigration.

The Parental Consent Affidavit from the Department of Home Affairs must be completed by the parent not travelling. The non-travelling parent must complete and sign this form. This document MUST be certified in order for it to be valid. It must also be accompanied by a certified copy of the non-travelling parent’s ID or passport.

COURT ORDER

Thankfully, the Department of Home Affairs recognises that there are certain situations where obtaining a parental consent affidavit may be impossible. In these cases, you will need a court order that grants full parental rights to the travelling parent.