The Department of Home Affairs announced the launch of their automation of all birth, marriage and death certificates on 13 July. Home Affairs has now retracted their statement that children under the age of 18 years are able to travel without an Unabridged Birth Certificate.
The Department of Home Affairs indicated that the automation would allow an included legal traveling document in children’s passports. Confirmation of the retraction was received by the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) and indicated that families travelling still require ‘ full birth certificates’.
Home Affairs will still be implementing parents details into children’s passports to ensure modernization but legal birth certificates are still required when travelling.
We will now be printing parents’ details in children’s passports. This is another way of ‘meeting the future’, by rising to opportunities created by technological advancements for maximising client satisfaction. #ABIS
— HomeAffairsSA (@HomeAffairsSA) July 17, 2018
In December 2016 – The Department of Home Affairs announced that it would roll out child passports with the inclusion of parents names. Home Affairs spokesperson David Hlabane indicated that the finale date of the roll out is still to be announced and full birth certificates are still needed when travelling.
Qantas Regional Manger of Africa, Michi Messner confirmed that the airline still requires travelers to produce the Unabridged Birth Certificate when flying with children under the age of 18. “Qantas will be guided by an official communication from the Department of Home Affairs should this be changes and this has yet to be received” said Messner
” I dont believe that the requirement of the Unabridged Birth Certificate is going to be removed so quickly as it will take a long time for new passports to be issued for children to include their parents details,” she said.
Parents are being advised to carry their children’s birth certificates with them when traveling to avoid further hassle.
FCTG Middle East and Africa Managing Director, Andrew Stark stated, “Until these child passports are rolled out and travellers are in possession of these, the requirement of presenting the birth certificate remains. Failure to present these to airline check-in staff and passport control will mean your family will be denied boarding.”