South African Passports

South African Passport and Travel Documents Act, 1994, (Act No 4 of 1994) hereinafter referred to as The Act and the Regulations issued in terms of the Act regulate the issuing of South African passports and travel documents.

Please do not make firm travel bookings before obtaining your passport.

Passport applications take up to 6 months or more to be finalized. Clients are requested to bear in mind that applications are referred to the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa for processing.

Clients are requested not to contact the Mission unnecessarily for progress on passport applications (These requests ultimately delay the process).

Applicants can contact our office in the event of the passport taking longer than 6 months.

Different types of South African passports and their requirements

• Tourist Passports
• Child Passports
• Maxi Passports
• New Passports
• Temporary Passports
• Emergency Travel Certificates

Passport Applications

Persons must apply for a first or new passport when the passport has reached the full validity (ten years for persons over 16 years or five (5) years for children), or the passport has no blank visa pages available. New passports have a validity of ten (10) years for adults and five (5) years for children. Please note that these passports cannot be extended once they have reached the expiry date - a new application must be lodged.

Applications are currently taking approximately 6 months to be finalized in South Africa and returned to this Mission.

Please do not contact the Mission before then.

The Department of Home Affairs has now introduced maxi passports, which contain 64 visa pages instead of 32 pages. These passports are available to persons who travel extensively. In order to apply for a maxi passport, the relevant fee and letter of request must be provided.

Please note: Do not make firm travel bookings before obtaining your passport.

Passport Requirements

1. Form BI-73 - Passport application form
2. Form BI-529 - Determination of Citizenship Status
3. Form BI-9 - Finger Prints: Only applicants 16 years and older. Although this form is mainly used for ID applications, all passport applications done from abroad MUST include the finger prints.
4. Form DI-47 - Loss Report: Stolen / Lost Passport. Only if your passport is Stolen or Lost.
5. A copy of your old / current passport OR identity document OR birth certificate
6. A copy of your foreign citizenship certificate and your dual citizenship certificate, if applicable
7. Photographs - Four (4) clear colour or B/W photos of full face of applicant, showing only head and shoulders measuring, 35mm x 45mm. (Photographs taken at photo booths are not acceptable). Include the photos but do not attach them. Have two (2) photos endorsed by the certifier of the declaration by placing the applicant's name on the reverse side and the signature of the certifier.

Forms, except Form BI-9, may be downloaded from www.sahc.org.au

New Passports (see below for Temporary Passports)

General Notes

1. Children are no longer endorsed on parent's passports. Minors under the age of eighteen (18) years must have the consent of both parents on form BI-73.
2. Dual Citizenship: A South African citizen aged twenty one (21) or older, who is also the citizen of another country, must use their South African passport when entering or leaving South Africa. South African citizens aged under twenty-one (21) may enter on the passport of the other country as visitors until their twenty first birthday.
3. Foreign Visas in Current Passport: Any valid visas that are contained in your current passport will not be affected in any way. Any queries regarding your visas should be directed to the issuing country concerned. Although the note in Paragraph D of the application form indicates that your current / old passport must be forwarded with the application, it is not necessary - please keep your old / current passport.
4. Applicable to women: If you want your passport to be issued in your maiden / married surname, a formal letter of request must also be included together with a certified copy of your divorce / marriage certificate.

Temporary Passport Application

NB: Applicants applying for temporary passports to accommodate their travels to foreign countries are urged to check with the respective countries representation whether a temporary passport can be used to enter their country before lodging an application with this Mission.

At this stage the following countries do not recognize the South African temporary passport as a valid document to enter these countries:

The United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, China, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Italy, Canada and certain states in the USA.

Processing period is 14 working days.

An emergency is defined as needing to travel in the event of serious illness or death of a family member. In the event, a doctor's letter or certificate must be provided as evidence. You are required to provide a written request detailing reasons for urgent travel, documentation to back up those reasons and a copy of your provisional flight itinerary.

Temporary passports are valid for 1 year from date of issue.

Temporary Passport Requirements (in addition to the permanent passport requirements)

1. A further form BI-73 - Passport application form.
2. An additional x2 photographs - colour or B/W photos of full face of applicant, showing only head and shoulders measuring, 35mm x 45mm. (Photographs taken at photo booths are not acceptable). Include the photos but do not attach. Have both photos endorsed by certifier of declaration by placing the applicant's name on the reverse side and the signature of the certifier.

Note: A temporary passport contains only four (4) visa pages. If you intend to travel to more than two countries where visas are required, you must apply for two temporary passports and additional fees are payable. An additional signature and photo will be required for each extra temporary passport.

Temporary Passport Fees

Payment must be in Australian Dollars (AUD) made out to the “South African High Commission” by way of Postal Money Order, Bank Cheque or Bank Draft.

Return Postage:

• For applications originating from within Australia - a Self-addressed Express or Registered Post Envelope (only one envelope per family) OR a Postal Money Order or Bank Cheque made payable to the South African High Commission.
• For applications originating from outside Australia a Bank Draft for the amount of
  10.00 AUD made payable to the South African High Commission. (Fee covers
  whole family / group)
• One Postal Money Order / Bank Cheque / Bank Draft for the total amount will suffice.

Personal cheques or credit cards are NOT accepted.

Postal Address:

The South African High Commission
State Circle
Yarralumla
ACT
2600

Emergency Travel Certificates

An Emergency Travel Certificate valid for one single journey and issued only to South African citizens who are returning directly to South Africa in extreme emergency cases.

Once back in South Africa, the applicant may then apply for a Tourist passport.

These application forms cannot be downloaded, kindly contact the Mission during Consular Office hours 8.30am to 1.00pm on +61 2 6272 7300 for assistance.

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