Certificates of citizenship in cases of doubt If a child’s South African citizenship is in doubt, you may apply to the Minister of Home Affairs for a certificate of citizenship in cases of doubt in terms of section 15 or 16 of the Citizenship Act. This can be used as a last resort before court intervention, when South African citizenship documentation is denied by the Department of Home Affairs. There is no official form or format. It can be submitted by way of a letter to the Minister. VISAS AVAILABLE TO CHILDREN: Visitor’s visa Study visa (section 11 of the Immigration Act) (section 13 of the Immigration Act) Short term: Issued to short term visitors. Valid for 3 months. Issued to students and learners. Relative’s visa (section 18 of the Immigration Act) Permanent resident permit (section 25 of the Immigration Act) Non-South African citizens Children who do not qualify for South African citizenship, are either the citizens of a different state, or are stateless. To determine whether a child is a citizen of a different state, an embassy must be approached and asked to determine the citizenship of the child, unless the child is a refugee. To decide which embassies to approach, consider their links to a country such as: - The country where the child’s parents have citizenship; The country where the child’s parents were born; The country where the child was born, or lived for a significant time. The country where the child resided previously. The embassies of these countries should be approached to determine whether they recognise the child as a citizen. If so, an application for a passport must be made. Long term: Issued to dependants, including children, accompanying a main visa holder. Issued to the child of permanent residents or citizens. Valid for as long as child is in school. Issued to the child of a permanent or citizens. Valid until the child’s 20th birthday, unless the child applies for its confirmation between the ages of 18 and 20. A person who has had permanent residence for 5 years, may apply for citizenship by naturalisation. A child may apply to be exempted from the 5-year requirement. All applications for immigration visas must be made through VFS Global at https://visa. vfsglobal.com/zaf/en/dha Once the child is issued with a passport, you must apply for a visa from the Department of Home Affairs. Immigration visas/permits South African citizens automatically have the right to reside and work in South Africa. However, non-nationals must have authorisation from the state to reside and work in South Africa. These authorisations are called visas or permits. STUDY VISA 18 HOW TO GET DOCUMENTED HOW TO GET DOCUMENTED 19