Applying for a South African passport

South African passports and travel documents are issued in terms of the South African Passports and Travel Documents Act, No. 4 of 1994, and the related regulations. The travel documents page says an application inside South Africa can be submitted at any Home Affairs front office with live capture (it also says a Smart ID card office), at participating banks, or through eHomeAffairs. For the banks, that page says to refer to the DHA website for a list. An application outside the country goes to the nearest South African embassy or consulate [source].

• The application must be made in person, whether it is lodged in South Africa or abroad [source].
• Applications lodged outside South Africa are estimated to take at least six to eight months, because of the logistics [source].
• The gov.za service page says you need a passport to travel abroad, and that you must have a South African identity document, or a birth certificate if you are a child. It points to the Branch Appointment Booking System (BABS) office list, and it tells you to book at services.dha.gov.za. What that booking address says, and how BABS differs from a bank visit: Booking and walk-ins [source, source].
• The BABS notice says the services on that booking system are for smart ID cards and passports [source].
• DHA's eHomeAffairs how-to is the sequence for a Smart ID card and/or passport application that can end at a bank office. Those steps are on Booking and walk-ins [source].

• A person aged 16 or older must first apply for an identity document, so that fingerprints can be registered, before applying for a passport. If you do not have a South African identity number, you must first apply for registration of your birth and for an identity document, as applicable [source]. That identity document is on First Smart ID at 16.
• The partner-branch passport list starts at 18, for a standard or maxi passport, for citizens and for naturalised citizens. It does not say that "standard" is the 32-page ordinary passport. A minor passport, and ages 16 and 17: not in that list [source].
• Passports are issued with the names as they appear in the National Population Register (NPR) at the time of application. Any change of name must be applied for, finalised, and recorded in the NPR before the passport application is submitted [source]. Name changes and amendments to personal details are not yet available at Digital Partnership branches. Those clients must visit a Home Affairs office [source]. Standard Bank says it cannot assist with a surname change [source].
• In terms of section 26(b) of the South African Citizenship Act, 1995, the travel documents page says it is a punishable offence for a South African citizen aged 18 or older to leave or enter South Africa using a foreign passport. The penalty: not stated on that page [source].
• The passport must be valid for at least 30 days after the intended date of departure, and it must contain at least two blank pages for entry stamps. Those pages must be facing each other, and they cannot include the endorsement page at the back. If a visa is required, the page says one blank page is for the visa and one is for the entry stamp [source].

Standard Bank's online booking answer says payment must be made within 45 days of the application, or the application is automatically cancelled. The question does not say the 45 days are only for a Smart ID. A refund after payment: the same page says cancellations and refunds cannot be processed once payment has been completed, and that sentence is under the smart ID questions [source].

FNB says payments cannot be made in branch by cash, debit card or credit card. That sentence is in the eHomeAffairs section, which is the section that names a passport [source]. Under "DHA at FNB branches", FNB says you must be a South African citizen by birth or naturalisation, or a permanent resident, and an FNB customer with an active, funded transactional account. That block also says to get a Smart ID or passport. DHA's travel documents page does not issue a tourist passport to a permanent resident. It issues a document for travel purposes, described below. FNB does not say which of those documents a permanent resident receives [source, source].

The older eHomeAffairs bank lists, and the live locator, are on the bank pages and the province pages. This page does not turn those branch rows into passport branches. The locator page does not say that every listed branch takes a passport [source].

A damaged passport on this document list: not stated by source. The fees page, in the next section, does use the word damaged [source, source].

The photograph measurements, the background colour, and the file size: not printed on the travel documents page. The page only says the photographs must comply with the specifications [source].

Whether the "not needed at a Smart ID card office" photograph exception also covers a bank branch: not stated in that bullet. Standard Bank and FNB say the photograph is taken at the branch for the visit they describe [source, source, source].

An affidavit, where the travel page asks for one, is a written statement under oath. gov.za says an affidavit can be made at any police station. A case number: not stated on the travel documents page or on that affidavit page [source, source].

Parents and children must each complete a separate application form. Both parents and the children must be present when applying for passports for children. The page says to see the exceptions under tourist passports for persons under 16. Both parents must have their identity documents, and an original or a certified copy of the child's birth certificate [source].

The same general section also says [source]:

• If one parent is unavailable, and both parents' details are on the birth certificate, there must be a consent or an affidavit, obtainable from a Home Affairs office or from an embassy abroad.
• If the parents are divorced or separated, the parent applying needs proof of full custody. If there is a dispute about custody, that parent must seek consent through the High Court.
• If a parent cannot be located, or refuses to consent, or a dispute about consent arises, the matter goes to the Children's Court. The court's decision must be submitted with the application.
• If one parent has died, a copy of the death certificate is required.

The later section, for persons 15 or younger, is more specific, and it does not say that it replaces the general section. Both are on the same page [source].

For a minor tourist passport, persons 15 or younger, the travel documents page says [source]:

• A completed passport application form, obtainable from a Home Affairs office. The form number in this section: not stated. The adult sections name DHA-73.
• If the parents are married, both parents and the child sign, and both parents should be in attendance.
• The child and both parents should attend when the application is submitted at the nearest Home Affairs office or South African mission or consulate.
• If one parent cannot attend the same office, that parent must visit their nearest Home Affairs office with their original identity document. The application remains pending until the second parent provides consent in person. A note under that rule says a letter of consent and an ID copy are no longer accepted.
• If the parents are divorced, and sole parental rights and responsibilities concerning guardianship have not been granted to one parent, the child and both parents should attend, and both must sign.
• If a parent has died, the death certificate and a copy must accompany the application.
• For a minor born out of wedlock, the biological father's consent is also required if any of the circumstances in section 21 of the Children's Act, 1995, apply, and the child and both parents should attend. What those circumstances are: not printed on this page.
• If a guardian other than the parents has care of the child, proof of the High Court's appointment must accompany the application.
• If a parent cannot be located, refuses, or a dispute arises, the Children's Court decision must be submitted with the application. This repeats the general section.
• The child's South African birth certificate and a copy.
• Two colour passport photographs, not needed where the process is automated.
• The prescribed fee of R600, which is the figure in this list, not the six-month figure in the type section.
• A parental consent letter can be downloaded from the page. The link in that sentence goes to a PDF on dha.gov.za [source].

FNB, for a minor on the eHomeAffairs route: both parents must accompany the child for a passport, and one parent for a Smart ID. The age of that minor: not stated by source [source].

The Digital Partnership page says children cannot apply at those branches [source]. The partner-branch passport list starts at 18 [source].

The general section's consent or affidavit, and the later note that a letter of consent and an ID copy are no longer accepted, are both printed. The page does not say which sentence an office will follow if you arrive with only a letter [source].

DHA's notice, and the travel documents page, say temporary passports are no longer issued, from 1 September 2014. The notice gives the reasons as refusals of entry on a temporary passport, a shorter turnaround for the 10-year passport, and abuse. The travel documents page states the date and points to that notice [source, source].

Both pages say an emergency travel certificate (ETC) is what can be issued instead, and only for emergency travel [source, source]:

• The passport is lost or stolen while the person is abroad.
• Or the person is travelling to a country that accepts an ETC in an emergency, and the examples given are a family member in distress who needs immediate assistance, or a death in the family.

The travel documents page adds a limit the notice does not: you can only travel from the country where the ETC is issued to South Africa, which that page calls the country of origin [source]. The notice does not print that return-only sentence [source].

The only ETC amount on the fees page is R140.00, and it sits in the table of fees at missions. An ETC fee inside South Africa: not stated in that table [source].

The fees page still lists, at R600, an official passport (including an official emergency passport) or a crew member certificate, and a temporary passport issued for official purposes. It does not say that temporary-passport line has been withdrawn [source].

• One answer to "can I do this at a bank today". The Digital Partnership page says not yet. The partner-branch page says currently available from age 18. The 26 October 2026 statement says shortly. The travel documents page says participating banks and does not name them [source, source, source, source].
• That Capitec's replacement article, or Absa's renewal page, is a passport service [source, source].
• That Nedbank's smart ID steps are the passport document list. Nedbank says DHA officials issue passports. It does not list passport documents [source].
• A passport production time at a named bank. The 13 and 18 working days are on the travel documents page, and that page does not say a bank uses the same count. Standard Bank's "up to 4 weeks" is worded for the smart ID [source, source].
• Which bank, on this check, offers the delivery the partner-branch page allows. Collection, including what each bank does say, is on Collecting a Smart ID or passport [source].
• The photograph measurements. They are not printed on the travel documents page [source].
• A police affidavit for a passport that has only expired, or that has only run out of pages. The affidavit on the travel page is for a lost or stolen passport [source].