# SA visa for a child (4yrs)



## ATLres (May 15, 2011)

Hoping someone will have some advice for me. I'm dealing with the Dept. of Home Affairs on 3 different issues at the moment for three different people - and I am so confused I can't even think straight!

Due to DOH's refusal to put my husband's name on my son's birth certificate because he is not South African - we had to reapply and have now been waiting 4 months for a certificate that still shows no sign of arriving anytime soon. Of course the waiting period was 6-8 weeks. All this has delayed his application for American citizenship which in part is keeping us in SA longer than the validity of my husband and daughter's relative visa. 

We don't have time to reapply for my husband's visa as he'll now leave in January so that we can at least be together for the holidays. The police clearance alone takes 8 weeks...so no point in even trying. We are prepared to pay the penalty for him overstaying his visa by 60 days. In my daughter's case - I am only seeing us leave around April to give everything time to get sorted - her penalty would be R5000. I would prefer to apply for her relatives again to avoid the fine. 

What is the procedure when renewing for a child? I can't get hold of anyone on the phone and after visiting Bellville office this week, I actually left more confused than before going there. Do you still schedule an interview in Cape Town? Is there a better way to avoid this penalty? Should I look at a different visa?

All the officials question why I never got my daughter's citizenship - but after dealing with them for the last few months I don't have the energy or even the desire for her to be a citizen. Plus I hear today that that even takes 3 years for a child born in a foreign country. 

Any advice would be great. Getting my US citizenship was a piece of cake in comparison to getting a relatives visa in South Africa - it's really a joke.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

Woah there!

Firstly, I must strongly advise you to apply for extensions on the relatives permits, as you may very well encounter more trouble than just paying a penalty fine, your husband may well get arrested!

Next, the DHA is not allowed to refuse to put the father’s name on the birth certificate. Unfortunately, this is a civil matter and I can't assist with more advice on that, but it's wrong.

Lastly, instead of submitting a police clearance certificate, one can simply submit *an undertaking* to supply a police clearance certificate within a certain period of time. The DHA accepts both.

Good luck!


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## ATLres (May 15, 2011)

Hi Legalman, 

Thank you for the advice. According to the application he also needs an FBI clearance - which with the US government shutdown will not happen anytime soon. Will they also accept the application without having that in hand?

We applied for his permanent residency 19 months ago - but as the Home Affairs official told me those take 3-4 yrs these days. Was probably a waste of time.

Can you recommend who I should speak to regarding their refusal to put my husband's name on the certificate? If it wasn't for that we would probably already be back in the States, not depending on them to issue another visa which could take 6 months.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

ATLres said:


> Hi Legalman,


Good morning



> Thank you for the advice. According to the application he also needs an FBI clearance - which with the US government shutdown will not happen anytime soon. Will they also accept the application without having that in hand?


Yes, provided that you submit a letter showing that you will submit it within 6 months.



> We applied for his permanent residency 19 months ago - but as the Home Affairs official told me those take 3-4 yrs these days. Was probably a waste of time.


My advice: take them to court. They'll "suddenly find and issue your PR permit".



> Can you recommend who I should speak to regarding their refusal to put my husband's name on the certificate? If it wasn't for that we would probably already be back in the States, not depending on them to issue another visa which could take 6 months.


Here you have a choice of speaking to a lawyer to take legal recourse, or to speak to them directly (perhaps speaking to a different person will bring a different result).


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