An advisory indicating changes to South Africa’s immigration laws is expected to be released “any time between now and the end of the month”, said spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs, Thabo Mokgola, on March 6.

In December, ahead of the festive season break, the department advised that, in response to an Inter-Ministerial Committee’s recommendations that amendments be made to the controversial regulations, an advisory would be issued in February effecting the relevant changes. However, the month went by without the expected announcement. 

In December, the DHA said it was holding back on releasing the advisory in peak travel season. However, it did advise that, regarding the highly unpopular requirement that under-18s carry unabridged birth certificates, the term ‘unabridged birth certificate’ would be replaced by ‘birth certificate’.

The requirement for travellers under the age of 18 to produce an unabridged birth certificate (UBC) when travelling to and from South Africa, remains in place.