Unabridged Birth Certificates - Applying For One
Unabridged Birth Certificates are required:
- When registering your child at school
- When travelling (entering or exiting South Africa)
Prior to the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Act that came into effect in March 2014, parents registering a newborn child would have been issued with an abridged birth certificate depicting the child’s identity number, full name and country of birth as well as the child’s parent’s names.
The new unabridged birth certificates have been issued as a standard document since the 1st of June 2015. No fee is levied where the birth is registered within 30 days of the child’s birth, however a fee will be charged where registrations take place after this grace period. The process becomes more expensive and drawn out, requiring additional checks and paperwork where a child is registered after 12 months.
This document contains full details of the child as well as both parents including their Identity numbers, their full names, date and country of birth as well as their citizenship status. It is important to understand that both parents are required to be present upon the registration of a child as both parent’s fingerprints will be recorded. The South African department of home affairs will no longer register a child without the presence of the father. The child must also be present as a palm, footprint or fingerprint of the child will be taken and archived. Where a parent is deceased, a death certificate is to be submitted. Where both parents are deceased, a court approved legal guardian or next of kin must register the child.
The main driver of this change was the increased incidents of child trafficking in leading up to the change with over 14 000 children entering or leaving the RSA without the required documentation in 2014 alone.
If you require your birth certificate feel free to contact us for fast reliable service. To beat the queues, simply fill out the form and a friendly Q-Pro consultant will contact you to finalise the details.
Q-pro is an independent document sourcing specialist with no ties to Home Affairs.