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Visa and birth certificate travel requirements relaxed

26 Oct 2015

The tourism industry can only benefit from the news that cabinet had approved recommendations that travel agents be allowed to make visa applications on behalf of clients and that the birth certificate requirement for travelling minors would no longer include the word "abridged", says Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy.

Enver Dumminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism

Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom addressed the media at a recent cabinet briefing, to comment on recommendations from the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) tasked with reviewing South Africa's immigration regulations.

The IMC recommended that:

Accredited travel agents be able to make visa applications on behalf of clients

Foreign minors no longer be required to have an unabridged birth certificate in order to travel to and from South Africa.

The news that a foreign national would no longer have to make a visa application to travel to South Africa in person and that although South African children would still be required to travel with an unabridged birth certificate, the wording would be changed to read "birth certificate containing parental details" is encouraging, especially since the regulations had presented a challenge to international travel to and from South Africa, Duminy said.