Travel Advisory

Important Notice

• Passengers travelling to South Africa must be in possession of a passport with two unused pages required for endorsements. The two unused pages when presented for purposes of endorsing a port of entry visa, visa, permanent residence permit or entry of departure stamp.
• The passport must be machine readable however, the foreigner may be admitted into or depart from South Africa with a non-machine readable passport provided that:
  • He or she is from a foreign country that is issuing machine readable passports and has not completely phased out the non-machine readable passports; and
  • His or her passport was issued after 24 November 2005 and its date of expiry is before 24 November 2015.

Travelling with Children

Please note that a number of changes have been made to the South African Immigration Act with regard to travelling with children. In brief the following regulations will now be applicable from the 01st of June 2015:

• Any child who is in alternative care as defined in the Children's Act, shall, before departing from South Africa, produce a certified copy of an authorisation letter from the Provincial Head of the Department where the child resided as contemplated in Section 169 of the Children's Act.
• An immigration officer shall refuse any person who does not comply permission to depart from South Africa.
• Where parents are travelling with a child, the parents need to produce an unabridged birth certificate and a valid Passport for the child reflecting both parents' particulars.
• Where one parent is travelling with a child, he or she must produce an unabridged birth certificate, a valid Passport and consent in the form of:
  • an affidavit from the other parent registered as a parent on the child's birth certificate authorizing him or her to enter into or depart from South Africa with the child.
  • 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
  • Where applicable, a death certificate of the other parent registered as a parent of the child on the birth certificate.
• Where a person is travelling with a child who is not his or her biological child, he or she must produce:
  
  • A copy of the unabridged birth certificate of the child
  • A valid Passport
  • An affidavit from the parents or legal guardian of the child confirming that he or she has permission to travel with the child.
  • Copies of the identity documents or passports of the parents or legal guardian of the child and
  • The contact details of the parents or legal guardian of the child.

Parental Consent Affidavit:

The Affidavit must not be older than 4 months when presented. The same affidavit will still be valid for the departure or return in relation to the same journey regardless of the period of the journey.
A suggested format of the Parental Consent Affidavit is available at:
http://www.dha.gov.za/files/ParentalConsentAffidavit.pdf

Unabridged Birth Certificate:

In the case of countries that do not issue UBCs, an 'Equivalent Document' containing the particulars of the child and his or her parent or parents, issued by the competent authority of that country, or an embassy of that country may be used instead of an UBC.
A suggested format for such an Equivalent Document is available at:
http://www.dha.gov.za/files/EquivalentDocumentForeignGov.pdf

For more information, please click on the following link:
http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/index.php/statements-speeches/621-advisory-new-requirements-for-children-travelling-through-south-african-ports-of-entry-effective-1-june-2015

Travel Health Information:

The South African National Travel Health Network (SaNTHNet) has been established to provide travellers with essential information related to health risks both locally and across borders. The website has regular updates on health risks, as well as providing general information related to vaccination requirements for various destinations. For more information, please visit: https://www.santhnet.co.za/