New immigration law hits gay couple

Source: RABBIE SERUMULA - Pretoria News Weekend, 01/01/1970

A couple who adopted two young boys never had any problem travelling
overseas - until Home Affairs`s new immigration law took effect last
month.
Griffin Shea and his partner Purilarb Cherngphatthana moved to South
Africa in 2008 because the country was welcoming to gay couples, they
said.
They are married with two boys, Alex, 10, and Kuna, 5, and are
permanent residents here.
Gay and lesbian couples, as well as single and surrogate parents, have
been worst affected by the new law under which all minors under 18
should produce a passport and an unabridged birth certificate carrying
particulars of both parents when exiting and entering the country.
However, airline agents and immigration officials allegedly have
different rules for same-sex couples about which documents need to be
produced, resulting in families waiting for hours for their papers to
be verified and even missing flights.
This week Shea, Cherngphatthana and the boys flew back into the
country from Bangkok, Thailand.
They explained that since the new regulations came into effect, they`d
had issues about which documents they were required to to produce at
OR Tambo International Airport.
"Some of the documents required from same-sex couples are not required
by law but immigration thinks they are," said Shea.
"Airline agents and immigration had different rules and each day we
went to OR Tambo the rules seemed to change. There is no clear
communication about what documents need to be provided and each agent
doesn`t ask us to provide a consistent set of documents."
Shea said some of their friends had also been turned away from OR
Tambo a few times because they did not have certain documents. That
taught him and his partner to arrive at the airport four hours before
their flight, and to take along a 2cm thick flip file with all their
and their children`s documents, even ones not needed, just in case.
"We have two different sets of adoption papers for our boys. Alex was
adopted in Guatemala and Kuna in South Africa, so some of the
documents are in a foreign language," he explained.
But the law, Shea complained, assumed that all families were static or
conventional, based on the fact that biological parents travelled
quite easily with their children.
"Less than one-third (29 percent) of South African children live with
both their biological parents but the majority don`t have that luxury."
Home Affairs Department spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said there had
been queries from same-sex parents about the new immigration law.
However, all these had been resolved.
To avoid further problems for same-sex parents, the department had
started an extensive training programme.
"In cases where there is confusion, clients are advised to escalate
the matter to supervisors on duty. The department stands ready to
ensure no client is unable to travel due to misunderstandings that may
occur."
He said if gay or lesbian couples were travelling with children, an
unabridged birth certificate carrying both their names was all the
proof needed, if both partners were travelling. When only one partner
was travelling, a letter of consent from the other partner was required.