Visiting South Africa with baby

[Esthee]

Hi,

 

I'm thinking of going to visit my parents with my 4 month old baby in SA. He's an Australian citizen and doesn't have a South African passport and I only have a South African passport. I also got married in Australia, so his surname is different from my maiden name that is on my passport. Will there be an issue with travelling from Australia to SA in this situation?

 

Thanks

[monsta]

As long as the parents names on his birth certificate match yours and your husband's passports. 

 

I have been through passport control in JHB and they were not the most diligent... but I wouldn't assume you would get the same treatment. 

 

But I would suggest reading..

https://www.sahc.org.au/visas/Visa_Applications.htm

 

And verify that the South African High Commission says you don't need a Visa for your husband or son:

https://www.sahc.org.au/visa_countries_waivers.html

 

South Africa obviously isn't Australia where you can just say that you " saw it on the official website " and give them the link where you saw it. But its worth reading the requirements never the less.

 

You could also think about getting your son his South African passport. The issue there is the Australian government doesn't seem to like to give out an official document with a baby's picture on it. But the South African government wants a police man to rubber stamp the paperwork. The police man can't confirm he has seen your kid without the correct documentation. We literally had to get our kids their Aussie passports  (because passports have a picture of your kid on them) and then go visit the local police station. So, it was quite a lengthy, expensive process. 

 

The government's suggestion was that we get a card from our kids primary school that has their name and picture on it. When we said, "our kid is years away from going to primary school"... they couldn't really give an alternative. We eventually just accepted that if we wanted to go to South Africa, our kids would have to leave Aussie on their Australian passport anyway, so we just applied for it. I think the whole process took +- 6 months. 

 

The process does get a bit harder if your kid is over a year... then they want things like phone numbers to call up the kids school, pastor, etc..