Unabridged vs. Abridged vs. Vault Certificates from Home Affairs

You have just found out that you need to submit a copy of your marriage and birth certificate for your visa application. But which version of the certificates from Home Affairs must you submit? If you don’t have the original document, for which one do you apply from Home Affairs?

Do you need an abridged, unabridged, or vault copy of your official South African document? Or perhaps all three? Why are there three versions of each document, and what are the differences between them? You’ll see that only two are ever needed for emigration purposes (unabridged or vault) and that usually you’ll need only one of them, possibly apostilled.

In this post, we discuss the differences between the three different versions of official certificates and take a look at the importance of each.

Comparison of unabridged and abridged birth certificates in South Africa

Abridged Birth and Marriage Certificates from Home Affairs

In essence, abridged birth and/or marriage certificates merely indicate the most basic details pertaining to the person to whom the document is issued.

Between 1995 and March 2013, all children born in South Africa were issued abridged birth certificates. These certificates only stated the name and surname of the child’s biological mother. Children born after March 2013 were issued with the longer-form unabridged birth certificate, indicating the details of both the child’s biological parents.

Abridged marriage certificates are issued by the Department of Home Affairs on default after a wedding takes place in South Africa. The married couple often receives this certificate immediately after their wedding. This certificate should suffice if you live, work, and plan to stay in South Africa.

An unabridged marriage certificate is only issued by the Department of Home Affairs and thus the only version that counts in overseas applications. This document is given to South African couples and non-South African couples (if they apply) that get married within the Republic. These certificates are also issued in the event that one partner in the married couple is a foreign national. These certificates are typically issued if the couple lives outside of South Africa. They are also issued if a couple plans to travel outside the country. But your reason for applying can be anything, and you will not be denied.

It is essential to understand that the terms’ ABRIDGED’ and ‘UNABRIDGED’ are no longer used by Home Affairs. Instead, birth certificates are simply issued as THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE, and marriage certificates are titled MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. Although it does not state unabridged, these certificates contain the same details found on the unabridged certificates.

Vault copies of your documents

Whenever a South African citizen is born, the original registration paperwork is stored at the archival offices of the DHA. The same process is followed when someone gets married or a person’s death is registered. These documents, which are stored in the vault, are proof that certificates issued to South African citizens contain the correct information.

As the name implies, a vault copy is an authentic copy of the original registration form. The “vault” is merely the name for the archives where these documents are stored. One can have vault copies for a number of documents. However, generally, only birth, death, or marriage certificates are required by South African citizens. Divorce decrees are held by the High Court in which the divorce order was granted.

Vault copies contain essential information. This is why they might be requested by foreign passport and visa issuing authorities for travel or immigration purposes. Vault copies are used as protective measures against fraud as computer-generated South African unabridged certificates are believed to be vulnerable to forgery. In order to prove one’s lineage, you will often need to provide a vault copy of your birth certificate.

The timeline for obtaining vault copies of your certificates from Home Affairs

Locating the original file to make a copy of the birth registration form can be lengthy. Applying for these documents on your own can take a few months. In rare cases, it can even take years to obtain vault copies. The process is further delayed by the fact that courier bags need to be filled up before they are dispatched to various branches of Home Affairs.

In the event that the DHA is unable to retrieve your documents from the vault, they might attempt to search for the document a second time. But after this attempt fails, the document will be classified as lost. This is why it is absolutely imperative to take good care of your original documents. Remember to make your own copies of them (hard and digital format copies).

Need more information?

We always advise our clients to start planning early. You have nothing to lose, even if you do not currently need the vault copies of your certificates. It is always better to apply for them and have them in hand when you need them most rather than finding out that an official process like applying for foreign citizenship might potentially be derailed by the fact that your vault copies are hard to track down.

If you need assistance obtaining a copy of your marriage or birth certificate, contact us today.