Draft visa rules to put off tourists

THE DRAFT First Amendment of the Immigration Regulations 2014 has been published for comment. The amendments relate to changes to the regulations announced in 2014 including that visa applications be made in person and children under the age of 18 produce an unabridged birth certificate with additional requirements if one or both parents are not travelling with the child.

The new draft amendments include this definition for unabridged birth certificates: “Any document or birth record issued by the relevant authority reflecting the full names and surnames, the date of birth of the child and the names and surnames of the parents of such child.”

It includes a substitution to the requirement that children produce an unabridged birth certificate as follows: “Where a parent or parents from a visa-exempt country, who is or are travelling with a child, such parent or parents may be required by an immigration officer to produce the child’s unabridged birth certificate upon admission into or departure from the republic.”

Further, that where an immigration official requests the unabridged birth certificate and it is not provided, the official may refuse a child admission or departure from the republic.

This is madness. Nobody is going to travel to South Africa to find their admittance and holiday depends on the arbitrary whim of an official. Rod Murphy