to think this may pose problems for families travelling to South Africa?

[herethereandeverywhere]

Sorry, posted for traffic really.

Just discovered there are new rules for travelling with kids to South Africa.

www.postofficeholiday.co.uk/the-travel-blog/new-rules-travelling-children-south-africa

You need to have with you:

1. Original long form birth certificate (not short form, not a certified copy. You'll need to apply for one if you don't have one as it is not compulsory to do so in the UK)
   
2. Passport with over 30 days remaining and 2 blank pages (this is fairly usual)
   
3. If you are travelling as a sole parent you'll need a sworn affidavit that the other parent has given consent to take the child into and out of South Africa.
   

Thought this may affect some MNers or their friends so have posted here. That last one is going to cause all sorts of headaches where the 2nd parent can't be reached...

[britnay]

Knowing how things are there nowadays, I wouldn't travel there myself again, let alone with kids.

[kua]

I've first hand knowledge of this.

DS is currently out there with his touring sports team. Luckily for him my ex and I are on good terms so we were able able to get all our papers signed off by a notary.

For others this caused some distress as they had to get in contact with an ex who had no input in their child's life to receive permission/ get their ID etc notarised.

My friend was travelling on a flight to SA and got talking to two players and their coach. They had to travel out two days later from their team whilst as their paperwork was not complete.

[5446]

I live here (and, touch wood, have never experienced any trouble or felt unsafe. For the most part, it's a stunning country where I've always been made to feel extremely welcome) and have been stuck twice now in immigration behind families who were not aware of this new rule.

Regarding the third point, I thought it was always advised to have written permission regardless of where you travel? I know relatives of mine have been stopped in the past, particularly when their surnames didn't match.

[Andante57]

What Britnay says.

[kua]

I have to say that DS is having a wonderful time and I had no qualms about sending him.

[sparechange]

It is an insane policy, and also applies to South African's wanting to take their children abroad.
I travel there quite regularly (and Britnay, have never seen or heard of anything that would put me off going on a family holiday there) and South Africans seem just as annoyed and bemused by this policy. There was no problem of child traffiking or international abduction that prompted this. Someone somewhere just decided it was a good idea and it became law.

I've been behind families with a few children in the queue for passport control, and the pile of paperwork they have to produce is insane . The stress of not losing or misplacing a few pages must be horrible

[5446]

sparechange you should have seen the paperwork I had to provide to get a visa! 180 pages of paperwork that had to be in a particular order.