I’ve been doing the paperwork for the UK and Schengen visas over the past few days (yay for the Green Mamba) and my goodness, I have a pile of paperwork big enough to explain the deforestation in the Amazon. At least it’s easy things though – bank statements, letters of invitation from friends, hotel bookings… It’s pretty straightforward stuff to obtain.

Imagine having to deal with home affairs to get your birth certificate, though?

That’s what foreigners wanting to visit South Africa are going to have to do from now on (granted their equivalent of home affairs probably works).

As of next Monday (June 1), anyone arriving in South Africa in the company of a child will have to prove parenthood or guardianship – while lone adults flying in with their offspring will have to show that they have the consent of their non-travelling partner.

The whole point of the agonising exercise is to “counter child-trafficking operations on the African continent”, but it’s going to be to the detriment of our tourism industry.

The Telegraph has reported on it, saying that “tour operators and airlines are fearful that the move will deter families from journeying” to SA.

There’s even a poll, asking readers whether it will affect their holidaying decisions. So far 62% say that they will no longer holiday in SA, with 38% saying it is “inconvenient” but they will still come.

So what is the breakdown of the new rules?

Parents have to show that any children under 18 travelling with them are their own by providing their birth certificates to immigration officials. If you’re a single parent, you need an affidavit from the other parent saying it’s OK, and “a court order confirming full parental responsibility or guardianship of the child”. If you’re a single parent because your spouse has died, you need their death certificate. Chilled. But let’s not even start on the documents you need if the kids aren’t yours… You can read all that HERE.

Airlines and travel companies are in shock about the new laws as they will be hugely affected. Chris McIntyre from Expert Africa in the UK says that they are “very apprehensive that this change might discourage visitors” and that “the new rules will be particularly challenging for single parents, and other families who aren’t all travelling in the ‘traditional’ structure of two biological parents”.

In accordance with the universal tit-for-tat visa game, it will probably only be a matter of time before we’re all scrounging around for our birth certificates.

I cannot wait.

[Source: The Telegraph]