At the PHASA booth in Reno I spoke to a Marianna Louwrens who said that the SAPS Firearms Office is being moved in Terminal 2 to a new location in front of the Post Office and that when this is completed you would go through customs and then go out to this new location to obtain your temporary firearm import permit. I told her that I was just there 2 months ago and this was not the location when I was there. She said that the hole in the wall for the office has been cut and it will be only a short time before this is completed. She gave me a printed flyer with this information on it and it is the same that is on their web site at: [URL=www.professionalhunters.co.za]
Does anyone have any additional information on this new change?

Just went on their website. See this link Phasa Firearms

There is something new, note that it now says Certified copies of everything.

I believe having the copies Certified is a new requirement. In the past, I just made photocopies of everything.

How does one go about getting "Certified" copies. I don't know much about Notary Public Law, will a Notary Public certify copies?

Regards,

Terry

Just a quick Google and found this. Don't know about other state laws.

******************************************************
Can a notary public certify a copy of a document?

Answer:
No. Michigan notaries cannot make a statement on a copy of a document that it is a true copy of the original document. The notary can only acknowledge the signature of the person making the original or true copy statement on the document. In Michigan, only the issuer or holder (person named on the document) can certify to the authenticity of a document and that it is an original or true copy.

For example, an official from the school that issued a diploma can certify that a duplicate of the diploma is a true copy of the original diploma. Or, the person named on the diploma can make a true copy statement on a copy of his or her original diploma.
*************************************************


So maybe you make a statement on the document, something like "I, Terry L. Carr, attest that this a true and correct copy of this document." Sign it and have the Notary Public attest to your signature. Probably need to check with a local Notary to see what specific language you need to use.


Regards,

Terry

P.S.

I wonder how much it would get cost to get a stamp made that says "Certified Copy", maybe add some kind of official looking seal to stamp.

yep, Notary Public will do it and to my knowledge, a Commissioner of oaths too. I have just learned this in Canada now. I needed to ask a Barristor/Notary Public.
In RSA we usually just go to the local police station. All they do is stamp it and sign it as proof of an genuine, unaltered copy of the true original document. This form of certification is good enough for foreign embassies etc in RSA too.

So, at home perhaps just try that approach, go to the cops, ask them to stamp it and sign it as proof it is a true copy.

I am no expert but this my work just fine.

Terry,
PHASA is now providing the service of obtaining your actual temporary import permits in advance. Their cost for this service is $80.00 per application. This is where the need for certified copies comes into play.

Robo,

Are you saying, that if I arrive with my own paperwork that I don't need Certified copies. But, if I am having someone else get my license in advance, then I need to send them Certified copies?

I got my license in advance last year and did not send Certified copies.

Regards,

Terry

Terry,
There is no requirement for certified copies if you are doing it on your own and I haven't heard of anyone else requiring the paperwork to be certified. This appears to be PHASA's requirement for them to get your permit in advance.

Just checked SAPS website. SAPS Firearms

They do mention having "certified" copies of some documents. I don't know if this is new law.

Regards,

Terry

In reference to the SAPS website this still appears to be in reference to obtaining your firearm permit in advance.

You know, since there is no definition as to what constitutes a "certified copy." I've got a simple solution.

Make a copy. Stick the copy back in the feed tray of your printer. Open a Word document, set it up so it will print in blue, and type the following on the Word document.

CERTIFIED COPY

I, ______________________, do hereby certify and attest that this document is a true and complete copy of the original document.

____________________________
Signature:


_____________________________
Date:


Set it up so that it will print in a blank area on the copy.

Print it out, then hand print your name in the first blank space and then sign and date it.


Regards,

Terry

Should you be concerned, you could always add an attestation:

Sworn to and subscribed before me this ___ day of _____, by ________.


_________________________________
Notary Public in and for the State of ____
My Commission Expires ________

(SEAL)


In my business, a certified copy is one certified by the corporate secretary if it is a corporate record, by the government office if it is a public record (articles of incorporation, for example), and by someone with knowledge if it is something else (I certify that attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of _____).

Hard to say exactly what they are looking for.

I believe that this very issue was visited late last spring or early summer. If I recall, you don't need certified copies if you are doing it yourself. The "certified" issue has been in their paperwork for quite some time, and at least as long as last spring or summer. In fact, I believe that someone contacted Gracy Travel regarding this issue and was told that you did not need to have the documents "certified" as in using a Notary Public. Let's not create something that doesn't need to be or doesn't need to be complied with.

Folks,

I'm going to let AIR 2000 sort it out for me and recommend clients do the same rather than trying to guess my way through it. In the past they have been consistently on top of all these developments.

Mark

UEG and Mark -- you guys are just no fun! Please permit us to panic and create our own self-serving documentation!

[I'm only poking fun at myself here, not at the ones with legitimate questions.]

Mark,

Even using Air2000 you will need to send certified copies of your documents..

All I did was go down to the local Police Station here in the UK and got them to sign it and stamp it with an offical stamp...I don't think its matter much who does it, as long as it looks "official" if you get my drift..

Regards,

Pete

damn - is just seems like pretty soon we'll just all put on boxing gloves and beat everything to death

It's looking more and more like Namibia for the next trip.

Here in RSA any policeman or a Commisioner of oaths can sertify something as a true copy. You only need an official stamp. I have never seen anybody checking who certify it, they only look for the words "Certified copy" and the stamp. So it is quite easy. Get it certified and send it over, nobody will ask who did it, must only look official.

PHASA sent out a newsletter last week about this but it seems a little confusing so I've queried a few things and am awaiting a reply.....which I probably won't get until early Feb at least.

As I read it (and I could well be wrong) the cops want you to have the import licence issued in advance which will mean everone has to send certified copies either to the outfitter to do it himself or to whichever firearms handling company (Air 2K etc) you choose.

The newsletter also said overseas hunters wouldn't be allowed to import revolvers or semi auto's...... I don't understand this either as the act doesn't forbid handgun hunting and actually stipulates a maximum calibre for handgun hunting of .45. (No semi auto's for hunting though)

I suspect some or all of the newsletter might have been written in Afrikaans and then translated and something lost in the translation........As I said in my previous post a week or so ago about this, I'll post the reply as soon as I get an answer....

Keep us all updated. As we get closer to the African hunting season and our departures it will be critical to know whether or not we need to order a "Certified Copy" stamp from Office Max.

The main reason for my original post was the new location of the SAP office in terminal A2. It seems that in someones wisdom that if they move the office to the area by the post office, then the outfitter will be there to help with any problems that may occur and hopefully that will speed up the long delays that have happened in the past.

My original reason for talking to someone in the PHASA booth was because I had seen a copy of their recent newsletter that stated handguns would not be allowed to be imported and I challenged Marianna Louwrens on this issue. She immediately backed off their statement about handguns and said that yes they could be imported for hunting use only. She then showed me the information about the SAP office and that is when the other conversation took place.

PHASA is promoting their venture to help you obtain your temporary import permit prior to your arrival to help speed up the process for the visiting hunters. That is where all of the confusion about certified copies comes into play. If you are doing it yourself, you do not need anything to be certified. The laws have not changed.

Marianna said that she would not be back until around the middle of February and I will contact her at that time. All I was trying to determine with this post was to see if anyone had been in the terminal in the last couple of weeks and actually seen the hole cut in the wall for the new office.

Dear Guests

This has been an ongoing problem perceived or real for as many months/years as I can remember.

It seems at times, the left hand is unware what the right is doing and the blame seems to shift with the wind.

Sometimes it is the SAPS security people to blame whom say it is the hunters with incorrect documentation to blame whom say it is the laws of SA to blame whom say it is the large number of hunters on a particular flight to blame and it goes (full circle of blame) and no solution.

I do believe the NEW PHASA leadership is trying (under difficult political circumstances) to liase with the authorities to get a smoother system going ... BUT then at the end of the day it requires ALL the SAPS people at the security desk to be reading from the same BIBLE which I am afraid particularily in Africa is maybe asking toooooo much !!!

Some hunters have taken the bull by the horns bit the bullet and used a commercial agency being AIR 2000 and OPTIMA as well, mostly with some good success.

At the end of the day we are (to a degree) master of our own destiny and can use a paid service or not, it is an individual choice. All clients whom we have had todate whom used the paid service have been happy.

I get the feeling SA might eventually head down the ZAMBIA route whereby the Oufitter has to arrange for the permit in advance with the Police in Lusaka and present it at the airport upon arrival, that seems to have worked quite well mostly

Peter

Hold on a minute boys!!

The big fubar for me last year wasn't paperwork. I was first thru customs and first in line with perfect paperwork, at the SAP office in July '05. Unfortunatly my tuffpak was the last thing to come off the airbus. They DID NOT process my paperwork until the fire arms finally showed up.

I missed my connecting flight to Polokwane

What are the chances that the guncases get to the new SAP office SNAFU free??????

Elmo