Drive South Africa launches South Africa’s first Child Visa Checklist app

Drive South Africa is pleased to announce the launch of South Africa’s first Child Visa Checklist app, which helps would-be travellers heading to South Africa quickly find out which documents they’ll need when travelling in and out of the country with children.

If you have not yet booked your vehicle for your trip, you might want to have a look at car hire South Africa, make sure the car is child-friendly.

The Child Visa Checklist app falls in line with South Africa’s new child visa regulations starting on 1 June 2015, which according to Traveller24, states that all minors (under the age of 18) must travel with an unabridged birth certificate, which names the child’s mother and father – or the equivalent thereof from their country of origin.

Why we created the Child Visa Checklist app

We created the Child Visa Checklist app with 3 main reasons in mind:

1. To give travellers confidence when heading in and out of South Africa with children

2. To remove the complexity of the new South African child visa requirements

3. To ease the fear and uncertainty faced by parents trying to work out exactly which documents they need when travelling with their youngsters.

South Africa’s new child visa regulations are straightforward for two parents travelling in and out of South Africa — a birth certificate reflecting the particulars of both parents of the child will be needed.

However, the documentation needed is more complex for single parents, if one parent is deceased and for unique circumstances such as if the child is adopted or in foster care.

Andre Van Kets, the creator of the Child Visa Checklist app, says there are “15 different documents and 37 unique scenarios for children travelling in and out of South Africa”.

How the Child Visa Checklist app works

The Child Visa Checklist app asks two or three simple multiple-choice questions to determine what documentation a user will need. These questions are:

1. Who the child is travelling with

2. Parental status (married, divorced, legally separated etc.)

3. Any other special circumstances (adoption, foster care, whether both parents are still alive, etc.)

Once the required questions have been answered, a list of required documents for a users specific scenario is displayed on the screen.

The Child Visa Checklist app — which works on desktop and mobile — also provides links to official documentation from the South African Department of Home Affairs and answers frequently asked questions in layman’s terms.

Once you are done with the app, you might want to head on over to car hire to book your vehicle to for the trip you just used the app for.