DesertDaisy Posted May 29, 2006 Report Share Posted May 29, 2006 My mom is currently running around getting all our paperwork done for us back home. We have the original abridged birth certificates for both our kids, but obviously need the unabridged versions. Except they tell my mom that my youngest (who is now 3) was "never registered" and is "not on the system" - this despite the fact we have her original birth certificate and the fact that she has already been issued a passport.So now my mom has to run around proving that my little one was in fact born.Bloody hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seoul Sister Posted May 29, 2006 Report Share Posted May 29, 2006 Good luck !! Hope you get it sorted out soon !!LoveSS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted May 29, 2006 Report Share Posted May 29, 2006 Dear DD,Don't get me started on this one. According to home affairs, my daughter is not my daughter, and I was never born, as my mother does not exist on their systems. That is just the tail end of it. Try and get it fixed, and you hit brick walls everywhere you go. I hope your mom is good at negotiating, because if you don't bribe or threaten, you just don't get anywhere! I really hope you guys have better luck than us! Greetings,Dreamy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDaisy Posted May 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2006 Dreamy, it appears that the problems at Home Affairs are endemic. A friend on another forum (non-immigration) sent me this message:I have personally experienced they lack of accountable and disinterest, as my aunt had applied for her grant and found out that she was actually dead (according to their records). On further investigation, we found that she had the same ID number as someone else, and that that person passed away about 2 years earlier. When we brought this to their attention (at our own cost), we were told that there was nothing they could do, and that we had to get a lawyer who would have to apply for this to be reviewed. They are just ridiculous. We eventually got things sorted out after 6 months by helping one of their kids with his tuition feesSo basically they had to BRIBE someone to get anything done.Its so frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippa Posted May 29, 2006 Report Share Posted May 29, 2006 Dear DesertDaisy,Benita from Home Affairs assisted us with our documentation. I suggest you contact her on 0128107552.Good luck!!!Pippa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Ai, hoe roep dit nou weer al daai onaangename herinneringe by my op....maar laat ek liewer stibly! I hope you get it all sorted out!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 I just spent 56 minutes, and 9 phone calls to South Africa, before I finally found someone who can understand Afrikaans, and is willing to at least listen to me! Why did I not see Pippa's post earlier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDaisy Posted June 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Well we had SOME good news today - they "found" my missing daughter, and we have unabridged copies of all our birth certificates (all four of us) and marriage certificate! Now its just the damn police clearance and a patient wait for the military discharge papers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 I got me unabridged certificate within 12 hours after dontaing R500 to a "soccer club". That showed me that leaving SA was the right choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindylou Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Let's also be honest about these document service providers - you know, the guys that charge you a fee to arrange your passport, Birth Certificate, Police clearance etc. We are employing them, and then they "pull strings" i.e. pay someone under the counter, in order that we get our paperwork within a reasonable timeframe. If you do the "normal" thing and go and join a queue (and refuse to donate to the soccer club) your application will be processed AFTER all the others. So you make a choice.Just a thoughtCindylou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hooray! Hooray! Someone finally reacted and my daughters' name has been fixed, free of charge, within a week. No bribibg, no threats.....There is life yet --- you just have to search long and hard to find it.Greetings,Dreamy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDaisy Posted June 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Thats great news Dreamy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Yeah, at leasty some good news in the darkness. And I meant bribing, not bribibg! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colton Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I don't believe you need to bribe everyone! I refuse to do it, it is just supporting corruption. When I applied for my birth cert., marriage licence, etc, I waited in the queue like everyone else, 2 hours long, and they said it would take approx. 3 months. I phoned after about 6 weeks, they looked it up for me, said yes 3 of them had come through except 1 birth certificate. Went in collected 3, completed a form for the 4th one and next day was phoned to please come and collect. There was 1 mistake on marriage certificate, no problem, come back in an hour to collect correct one! Very good service, no monies passed hands and people were very helpful.I believe we teach people how to treat us, if they know we can be coerced into paying monies for everything they will never stop! How do we adjust in our new surroundings if we believe we can bribe everyone to get our own way, eventually our own name will be sullied. There are people who do do things by the book and we are undermining their integrity by trying to bribe them. Sorry I am just sick of contributing to the crime in this country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 colton,None of us want to contribute to the crime, neither do we believe we can bribe everyone to "get our own way". I take exception to your comments, and don't count myself as one of these people you refer to. I also "waited in the queue like everyone else" - several times, but to no avail. Unfortunately I was the victim of a corrupt officer, who had conned many other people.I am very glad that you had your documents sorted out, and that you received good service. It is unfortunately a rarity, and not the norm anymore. Greetings,Dreamy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colton Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Dreamy,Sorry if I offended you, not intended I unfortunately speak my mind sometimes too openly. When I say "you" I mean "people in general" not you in particular. I am just tired of all the crime in this country and I feel we ALL, including myself, contribute to it in some way, it has just become the way to do things. Once again to everyone, I apologize I'm just tired of it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 It's OK - we all get a bit uptight sometimes. And you still having to live with it all, good luck. GreetingsDreamy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDaisy Posted June 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I can understand where you are coming from Colton - its the complete lack of respect for any and all laws that gets to me. Everyone has a story of how they bribed a police officer, swindled the insurance, walked off with too much change etc etc.Yeah, sure its all petty crime, but its still crime, and when petty stuff becomes acceptable, then the next step up is that other crime will become acceptable too. We were "victims" of that disrespect ourselves. We were attacked at home by some youths. Fortunately they were not armed, but did get hold of our garden fork and stabbed my husband in the shoulder with it (fortunately again, it wasn't a serious injury).It took 5 phonecalls before the police bothered to send anyone. When they did, it was a reservist couple who had their teenage daughter in tow! I carefully wrote out a statement while waiting for them to arrive (I tend to do practical stuff when in a state of panic), which they found very amusing. They never even lodged the call with the main office as "no one had been killed" and I had to go in myself the next day to get a case number to claim back for the insurance.Here in Abu Dhabi, the law is followed by pretty much everyone (except for anything to do with the obeying traffic rules) and the police enforce those laws. Justice is swift, and people respect the police. The police will even come out for "petty" stuff like noisy neighbours or having someone park you in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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