Important Notice:
Discontinuation of Temporary Passports

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South African passports are issued only in Pretoria, South Africa. However, applications must still be submitted or forwarded to the applicable South African Representative Office. Applications take six (6) months or more to be finalized. 

Upon application the applicant must appear in person for verification. For the application of a child passport, the child and both parents must be in attendance when the application is submitted and both parents must sign the application.

The DHA issues the following types of Passports.

Please click on the link for the Requirements for each category of Passport

Regular Passports  - Regular South African passports are issued to South African citizens who are 16 years old and older. They are valid for 10 years and are not renewable. When South African passports expire, new passport applications will have to be filed.

Child Passports - Child passports are issued to children who are fifteen years of age and younger and are valid for five years. These passports are not renewable. On their expiry, applications for new passports will have to be filed.

Emergency Travel Certificates - Emergency Travel Certificates are issued to South Africans who have to travel back home urgently for reasons of death, sickness or any other emergency.  It is in a page form and may be issued with validity ranging from a month to a year. Applicants for emergency travel certificates must also apply for permanent passports Emergency travel certificates are issued at South African missions abroad and take up three (3) weeks to be finalized. 

* Please note that applicants, including minors, must be present when submitting applications for a

   passport.

. Frequently Asked Questions:

. Passport collection information: