South Africans travelling with their children will be pleased to know that the Department of Home Affairs will be making the process a whole lot easier.
The department announced yesterday that they will work on an automation of the Births, Marriages and Deaths (BMD) system, which will include the printing of parents details on their children’s passports.
Home Affairs spokesman Thabo Mokgola told IOL Travel that the department will embark on a major system upgrade that will start on Friday, July 13.
“Once we have completed the upgrade and is fully implemented in the identified offices, the details of parents will be printed in the children’s passports. In this way, the department will have delivered on the earlier Cabinet concession of easing travel with children.
“However, if a child is not travelling with parents (one or both), written consent is still required. Those with valid passports do not have to reapply for new passports for children,” said Mokgola.
He said while they have not done away with the unabridged certificates, there will be no need to produce it if the parent’s names were on the passport.
“Travel is meant to be an exciting time so the department is trying their best to make certain that the process is fuss-free".
“This is another way of ‘meeting the future’, by rising to opportunities created by technological advancements for maximising client satisfaction,” added Mokgola.