Regulation 30 Illegal foreigners (1) Upon requesting authorisation as contemplated in section 32(1) of the Act, an illegal foreigner who has neither been arrested for the purpose of deportation nor been ordered to depart and who wishes to apply for status after the date of expiry of his or her visa, shall – (a) demonstrate, in writing, to the satisfaction of the Director-General that he or she was unable to apply for such status for reasons beyond his or her control; and (b) submit proof to the Director-General that he or she is in a position to immediately submit his or her application for status. (2) Authorisation to remain in the Republic as contemplated in section 32(1) of the Act shall be granted on Form 20 illustrated in Annexure A. (3) As soon as the final decision in respect of the application for status has been made, the authorisation contemplated in subregulation (2) shall lapse. (4) An illegal foreigner who has satisfied an immigration officer that he or she will depart from the Republic as required by section 32(1) of the Act, shall be ordered by that immigration officer on Form 21 illustrated in Annexure A to depart from the Republic within a period of 14 days of having so been ordered: Provided that such period may, for good cause, be extended. 3.2.4 Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 Birth registration is key to nationality in South Africa. For all those who qualify for citizenship or permanent residence, it is the critical moment when a person is entered into the National Population Register. In order to obtain an ID in South Africa, one must first apply for a birth certificate and be issued with an ID number. Only at this point can a South African citizen apply for an ID and passport and conduct other civil registry activities, such as registering one’s children’s births, registering marriages and registering deaths. Home Affairs recently took a decision to cease issuance of abridged birth certificates; for all births after 4 March 2013, only unabridged birth certificates will be issued.52 Unabridged certificates are also known as ‘long birth certificates’ and include one’s parents’ details. Abridged certificates are shorter and only include one’s name, place of birth, date of birth and ID number. 52 32 South African Government Information, ‘Minister Naledi Pandor to issue unabridged birth certificates to parents of newly born babies at Park Lane Hospital in Johannesburg’ (28 February 2013) available at http://www. info.gov.za/speech/DynamicAction?pageid=461&tid=99998 (accessed 3 October 2013). Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide