# Help With Dept of Home Affairs



## kate_for_heidi (Feb 1, 2011)

Hello, expats!

Does anyone know anyone that works in the Department of Home Affairs in Cape Town?
A friend of mine, Heidi (U.S. citizen) is in an urgent situation over there. She's married a SA citizen and has given birth to their son who is currently 6 month old, but is now beginning the process of getting a divorce, because the man is a drug addict and does not support her or her son in any way. 

Anyway, the problem is, in order to register her son as a U.S. citizen (which is what she is), she needs a copy of the unabridged birth certificate for her son, which can only be obtained in the Dept of Home Affairs. However, they told her that this can take up to 6 months! She has no money except what me and her other friends can send her, so 6 months is entirely too long.

If you know anyone or can give advice on how to speed up this process, please reply!
Also, if you know any information about getting a simple divorce in South Africa - what steps are required and what fees - this would also be appreciated!

Thank you for your help!


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## maliasharpley (Jul 15, 2011)

*Unabridged Birth certificates*

Hi
I am a US citizen married to a South African and I have two kids, both which I have applied for an unabridged birth certificate. I would advise your friend to try a different Home Affairs office as you can get different stories from different offices. I was told it will take up to 3 mo. for unabridged here in Johannesburg at the Roodepoort Home Affairs, but before that I I went to the Home Affairs in Randburg and they had told me another story. My first child I had in East London and they applied for the unabridged from the hosipital I had him in. SO unfortunatly it takes perserverance and shopping around for a good home affairs office (they do exsist) But one thing is you have to follow up with them on a regular basis because forms get completed and they sit there and no one notifies you 
Good Luck









kate_for_heidi said:


> Hello, expats!
> 
> Does anyone know anyone that works in the Department of Home Affairs in Cape Town?
> A friend of mine, Heidi (U.S. citizen) is in an urgent situation over there. She's married a SA citizen and has given birth to their son who is currently 6 month old, but is now beginning the process of getting a divorce, because the man is a drug addict and does not support her or her son in any way.
> ...


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

kate_for_heidi said:


> Hello, expats!
> 
> Does anyone know anyone that works in the Department of Home Affairs in Cape Town?
> A friend of mine, Heidi (U.S. citizen) is in an urgent situation over there. She's married a SA citizen and has given birth to their son who is currently 6 month old, but is now beginning the process of getting a divorce, because the man is a drug addict and does not support her or her son in any way.
> ...


She will not get far dealing with Home Affairs officials. They do not care about individual circumstaces.

I would suggest that she approaches the US embassy and that the situation is handled on that level. 

Home Affairs offices differ from one to another, yes, but in the end all decisions run through one central point in Pretoria, so although you may get more information from some officials, the process will still take 6 months.

So if the US embassy gets involved, that is the only way of getting a quicker resolution to this.


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## dkhaley (Jun 10, 2011)

kate_for_heidi said:


> A friend of mine, Heidi (U.S. citizen) is in an urgent situation over there. She's married a SA citizen and has given birth to their son who is currently 6 month old, but is now beginning the process of getting a divorce, because the man is a drug addict and does not support her or her son in any way.


I agree with the poster who said to contact the U.S. Consulate for assistance. You can also ask them if the recommend any attorneys.

I had a South African friend abroad who needed an unabridged birth certificate for a work permit. The law firm was able to use its contacts to get one in one month. I imagine this is more expensive, but may be a worthwhile avenue.

On a related note, besides the birth certificate, your friend will need to prove that she has previous lived in the U.S. for 5 years total. This can be proven with various documents, but she may want to start collecting those now. She'll want to apply for a "Consular Report of Birth Abroad", a social security number and a passport for the child.


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## dkhaley (Jun 10, 2011)

Also, don't know if this applies but there is a way to get the documents in the US (assuming she can get the child there). But worth reading.

USCIS - N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

kate_for_heidi said:


> Hello, expats!
> 
> Does anyone know anyone that works in the Department of Home Affairs in Cape Town?
> A friend of mine, Heidi (U.S. citizen) is in an urgent situation over there. She's married a SA citizen and has given birth to their son who is currently 6 month old, but is now beginning the process of getting a divorce, because the man is a drug addict and does not support her or her son in any way.
> ...


I know this reply is very late but I had the same problem with my daughter's un-abridged birth certificate. This is how I solved the problem. I applied at my local HA office, only to be told that the waiting time was 5 months (this was in January 2011 and I am still waiting for that one). As I had planned to travel with my daughter fairly soon and needed a passport for her I simply could not wait. I therefore approached the South African embassy in my country of birth (Sweden) and explained the situation. They agreed to help as my husband is SA citizen and so is my daughter (by birth). They sent me new forms which I filled out and returned to them. Believe it or not but I received an sms from Home Affairs one week later and picked up the un-abridged birth certificate the very next day (from my local HA office). Obviously not sure if all SA embassies are as helpful. Guess it depends upon how busy they are. I know that the one in London is not very good (lived there for 12 years and so dealt with them a lot) but they are really busy I guess compared to the one in Sweden. Not sure if this helps but it might be worth a try at least. Good luck.


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