My Sunday Photo - Documents for Dubai

My week has involved a flight from Johannesburg to Birmingham with a 7 hour stop over in Dubai arriving late Monday night.

Tuesday morning I was in Newport making a passport renewal application for my son, the new passport arrived Thursday.

On Friday morning our GRO copies of birth certificates and marriage licence arrived in Monmouth and Friday evening I drove to Bath to collect hubbies replacement driving licence.

On Monday I shall be seeing a solicitor to have certified copies made of all the above plus our degree certificates and then posting them all to the Foreign Office for verification, I will then be driving back to Birmingham to collect hubby from the airport.

Once that all arrives back it's off to the UAE Embassy in London for them all to be attested, then we fly to Dubai to submit the paperwork for work and residency visas.

On my return to South Africa I have to oversea the packing and shipping of our household goods and obtain export papers for the cat and dog, collect the children from OR Tambo Airport and on December 15th we all move to Dubai. Hubby is staying in Dubai while the applications are processed.

In between all of this, hubby and I are hoping that we can just rest while waiting for our papers to be returned and I hope next weeks My Sunday Photo will be a little more exciting.

New regulations for unaccompanied minors entering and leaving South Africa

How to get through South African Immigration as a child.

Despite having a visa issued by the South African Embassy in London in 2011 and renewed in South Africa in December 2013 there are 3 different procedures to follow here and the only thing I know for sure is that whether a child travels with their parents or on their own, they must carry an unabridged birth certificate with them.

Travelling with one parent, then a letter from the other parent and the birth certificate to state this person has permission to fly with their child. In the case of a desceased parent then the death certificate must be carried and in the case where the other parent is absent and cannot give permission then a court order is needed.

But what happens if the child is travelling on their own, is over 15 and the airline allows unaccompanied minors on their flight and the parents are divorced, the mother has a new surname and there is no court order because the parents never questioned custody?

Having spent most of the week on the internet and telephone I am still none the wiser as to whether the suggestions I received from the South African Immigration website, British High Commission and Deloitte should suffice.

I’m afraid ‘should suffice’ is not enough for me or my son. He arrives in SA with British Airways on July 27^th. I have the following documents as recommended which have been certified at SAPS (police) and will be sending them via DHL once I’ve been given clearance from immigration.

An unaccompanied child must carry with them the following:

Birth Certificate (unabridged) which actually reads on the bottom

‘WARNING: THIS CERTIFICATE IS NOT EVIDENCE OF THE IDENITY OF THE PERSON PRESENTING IT’

A letter from me with contact details stating I am the person collecting him.

A letter from me giving permission for him to enter and then leave SA.

A copy of my passport.

A copy of my divorce certificate and new marriage certificate to prove my name on his birth certificate and how it links with my passport now.

A letter from his father that needs witnessing by a solicitor to give permission for his son to visit me in SA and a separate letter to give permission for his son to leave SA and return to the UK.

I took these documents to OR Tambo airport today to speak with immigration directly to ensure these documents will suffice. The staff, via the twitter account @ortambo_int, were amazing, making phone calls, visiting immigration where I couldn't access, explaining my dilemma then phoning me back to direct me to where I needed to be. I was told my documents were good and son will clear immigration when he presents them, but due to the confusion the new law this has now been postponed until October.

I’m sure there is an easier way, but I can’t find one. My 15 year old is more than capable of travelling half way round the world on his own, finding the right gate etc, but I’m not sure if he’s equipped to deal with immigration after a 12 hour flight.



UPDATE after contacting British Airways who son is flying with. Taken from Foreign Travel Advice.

Even BA can't confirm what travel documents my son would need after October 1st but believe it would be best for him to travel with the following after highlighting the fact that have to be very careful - if your son is refused entry into SA we will be heavily fined:


- a machine-readable passport
- minimum of one full blank page in his passport although Immigration state 2 clear pages
- a copy of the documentation from the SA High Commission that was received with his granted student visa application, including all information relating to him being able to travel on a one-way ticket (standard SA-issued advice says that visitors should hold a return ticket or pay a deposit if on a one-way ticket). We would also say that if there becomes a query at the airport about his one-way ticket, it would be helpful to have with him some kind of proof of how his return ticket will be arranged/paid for (unless his visa application answers this issue fully). Ideally, our Terminal 5 team say an open-dated return ticket might have been better for him to travel on - these can be open for a return flight up to 12 months ahead
- his full/unabridged birth certificate 
- an affidavit from both parents giving their consent for his journey, including agreement for him to travel to SA on a one-way ticket. Please include permanent home addresses on this
- proof of his study in SA. This should be a letter-headed document that confirms he is a current student at their facility, the course he is on and the term dates they expect to receive him between.

UPDATE Son arrived and cleared immigration, no questions asked or documentation requested

From one expat to another

My friends husband is in hospital and I'm thousands of miles away.

Skype, mobiles, World Call cards, emails, facebook and twitter have made such a difference for expats living abroad, it makes the world feel smaller, but in reality it just highlights how far away you are from family and friends in times of need.

If you've read my blog or followed me on twitter, you'll know that despite the help we were offered to relocate our family to South Africa that the help never actually materilised. One year on there is a chance we have to move house. No big problem is it really? and I was going to blog about it anyway, but since recieving the news from my friend this morning, there has been many (selfish) mixed thoughts and emotions.

8 days into our arrival in South Africa, we got the call all parents dread, not the first time, but when a call starts with 'there's no need to panic, the paramedics are here' you panic. We were alone, a few parents, a teacher and some of sons mates turned up at the hospital before we got there, but all sorts ran through my mind when the ambulance called on route to the hospital and requested permission to carry out a tracheotomy.

We'd been in the country 8 weeks, I spent the night with a mobile phone on 3G that kept switching itself on and off, using the message system on facebook to rely on updates from my 16yo niece for information on my sister who was in labour and things had got complicated. We had no phone in the apartment, we'd asked for one to be put in, but as the apartment was rented in the company name we had no proof of residency so couldn't get one installed for ourselves. I then spent the following day back and forth to the phone box on the corner, cutting calls short when the lightening and rain came.

Since then there has been a broken arm, a child in the UK rushed into hospital (cause still unknown) a death in the family.

So not really different from many other people is it? and for everyone else a few words are exchanged and life carries on.

This morning I've taken son to school for his cricket match, sorted out the washing, the ants in the dishwasher, drank tea and had a smoke or two. And while I carry on with my normal day, my friend's is suspended. If I was in the UK I would've driven to the hospital at 1am, she knows I would. But I'm here and a 12 hour flight away.

So again what's different from everyone else?

We are both expats, I'm in country far away from family and friends and so is she, in a foreign country away from her family.

It takes a long time to build a support network, you sort of just assume it happens, but it doesn't. We all have people that can pick our kids up from school, rally around with cups of tea, provide a glass of wine and a shoulder to cry on. But when you're in a foreign country it's not quite the same as just moving to a new town, where your family and old friends are just a few hours away, where you can pick up the phone and speak freely (it's not the cost, it's the bloody reception and sometimes it just doesn't work here).

So back to moving house, my first thought was 'in the grand scheme of things' it's not that bad, so what we can move, we don't have to pay for the move, I'm not working it's not really a big deal. But...

...actually it is a big deal, I've spent a year building a support network, lift shares, friends, people to share a worry and a glass of wine with, people who send an sms and ask if everything is OK, who offer to help if needed.

I can't give that all up, I won't. Moving to another estate is NOT an option, my network will go, I won't be able to just turn up at a friends house to set the world to rights. I'll need to be booked into the estate, I won't be able to wander in as my finger print will be deactivated and I'll have to start my network from scratch again.

There's a new movie out with George Clooney (swoon) called The Descendants. The trailer on DSTV is 'just because with live in paradise, doesn't mean to say we don't have the same problems to deal with' I guess that's true and as we've found out, life isn't greener on the other side, same shit, different day, different country, and 24 hours and cost of journey for us to be there for you, or you to be there for us.

Taking kids abroad

I've checked the government websites and cannot find any information or guidance about travelling with kids abroad when they have a different surname to you.

In 2008 we drove to France, via the tunnel, me, hubby and my eldest was 16. Peter stayed on in France for a few days and was flying back after some business and Jamie and I drove back.

We arrived at the port to be questioned about why we had booked for 3 but only 2 were returning, I explained to customs that the tunnel booking hadn't allowed us to book 3 out and 2 back and that my husband was flying back at a later date...OK no probs...but what is your relationship to the child in the vehicle...I said he was my son..why the different surnames...I explained I'd re married...did I have any proof he was my son...I had a scan photo in my wallet, just ask him, he's 16 FFS...eventually they let us through and suggested I carried his birth certificate with me when we travelled again....

...and here lies the problem...my son had my maiden name which was changed by deed pole when I married, then I got divorced and remarried...so to prove he was my I'd need to carry his birth certificate and mine to prove my maiden name, then my marriage certificate to show my previous name, then my new marriage certificate to prove my new name and make the connection back to my sons name...

So from then on I carried all this documentation with me when we flew anywhere...but was never asked for it, the US, Tunisia, Turkey.

When we moved to South Africa we had visas, we'd had to have a letter of permission from the children's father to obtain the visas...no problem leaving the UK, but when I tried to take the youngest out of the UK after a visit home last week, I went through the same problems.

FFS do these people not understand a Visa and the process I went through, no one anywhere tells you to carry all the above mentioned documents when travelling abroad with kids. They finally let us through in immigration at Heathrow, but advised I carried his birth certificate on the next visit...which still wouldn't prove he was my son, just that I had his birth certificate.