Applying for a Passport
You need a passport if you want to travel abroad. The South African passport is valid for travel to all countries in the world unless endorsed.
A passport is an internationally recognised travel document that verifies your identity and nationality. Tourist passport: persons 16 and older It is issued to South African citizens of 16 years and older. It is valid for 10 years from the date of issue. Tourist passport: persons under 16 It is issued to South African citizens under the age of 16. It is valid for five years from the date of issue. Maxi tourist passport It is a document for frequent travellers and is issued to South African citizens of 16 years and above. The document contains 48 pages to provide for more visa pages. It is valid for 10 years from the date of issue. It is issued to South African citizens who have applied for a regular passport but need to travel urgently before the regular passport can be issued. Temporary passports are not accepted in all foreign countries. Applicants are advised to check first with the countries they intend visiting before applying for a temporary passport. It is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. Emergency passport You can apply for an emergency passport if you are a South African citizen. It is valid for one trip. The maximum period of validity of emergency passports is nine months from the date of issue. Official passport Official passport is issued to South African citizens in the employ of the Public Service or of a government institution and who need to travel abroad on government official business. It is valid for five years. Document for travel purposes It is issued to South African permanent residence holders who cannot obtain travel documents from their country of origin. It is valid for 5 years. |
||||||||||||||||||
Note: If your passport is lost or stolen, you must report it to the South African Police Service and complete a declaration form. If your passport gets full before the period of its validity ends, you need to apply for a new one. |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Replacement of lost/damaged/stolen South African passport, child passport or document for travel purposes referred to in Regulation 16 of the South African Passports and Travel Documents Regulations, 1996: Double the current tariff for the document concerned: Provided that where the document had been lost/stolen/ damaged through no negligence on the part of the holder, only the normal fee will be payable. |
||||||||||||||||||
*Application for a South African passport or travel document, DHA-73 Note: *Special specifications and requirements regarding the processing of this form apply and it may therefore not be downloaded for use as an application or registration form. All forms are available at any regional or district office of the Department. |
||||||||||||||||||
Contact and Source | ||||||||||||||||||
Department of Home Affairs |