A passport is a document issued by a national government for international travel and it certifies the identity and nationality of the holder. All travelers require their own passport, even babies.

Air tickets must subsequently be booked in the name which appears on the passport.

Passports can take up to 6 weeks for Home Affairs to issue and travelers must make sure they apply for their passports well in advance of their travel dates. Permanent South African passports and travel documents (machine-readable documents) are printed only in Pretoria from where they are dispatched to the offices of application.

Passports must be valid for six months after you return. This rule is enforced because countries do not want to risk having travelers overstaying their passport validity. Six months is now the standard validity requirement for most countries and you can be prevented from traveling should your passport be even only a few days short of the 6-month requirement.

A regular South African tourist passport contains 32 pages, but frequent travelers can opt to get a maxi tourist passport with 48 pages. If you need a visa in your passport, ensure that your passport has two full blank pages – one for the visa and one for an entry stamp.

If your passport is damaged in any way, it is advisable to replace it before departure as you can be prevented from traveling should border control feel that the document is unreadable.

Passports are not renewed. Once the validity period of a passport expires, you will have to submit a new application for a passport and will receive a new passport number. Passports are generally valid for ten years, but be careful as a child’s passport is usually only valid for five years.

Temporary passports were handwritten passports valid for 12 months. This document was issued within days of application and popular with people who realised their regular passports were no longer valid and they did not have enough time to apply for a new one. Home Affairs no longer issue this document due to the improvement of the regular passport application turnaround time.

Passports must be applied for in person because the passport officer must be satisfied that your identity is legal and valid. They must also check that your photo looks like you and take your fingerprints.

Both parents must be present at Home Affairs for child passport applications.

It is perfectly legal for a South African Citizen to have dual nationality and hold more than one passport or to have citizenship of another country. This is called dual nationality. In other words, South African citizens can use their foreign passports while traveling overseas. This is popular to avoid applying for the many visas required by South African citizens.

Important to note: South African Citizens are required by law to enter or depart South Africa using their South African passport. In other words, you can use your other passport freely outside of South Africa, but when entering or leaving South Africa, you must have a valid South African passport or you may be prevented from traveling.

If you plan to use more than one passport when traveling ensure they are both valid for 6 months after return.

Issues may arise for dual passport holders whose names differ in each passport, e.g. The South African passport has the traveler’s maiden surname and the European passport has the travelers married name. Please check with the airline which name to use when booking your air ticket as well as checking if further documentation is required.

Between 1995 and March 2013, when a child was born in South Africa, they were issued with an abridged birth certificate that showed only their mother’s name. Children born after March 2013 have been issued with an unabridged certificate showing the names of both parents. Now, the birth certificate automatically shows the names of both parents and is simply called a Birth Certificate.

Since 1 June 2015, the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa requires that all passengers under the age of 18 are to travel in and out of the country with a birth certificate which reflects both parents’ names. The Department introduced this new immigration law to combat child trafficking. According to the Department of Home Affairs, 30 000 minors are trafficked through South African borders every year. 50% of these minors are under the age of 14.

Should you need to acquire this birth certificate at Home Affairs, it can take up to 8 weeks. Where a birth certificate has been applied for and cannot be produced or be obtained at the time of travel, travelers need to obtain an official letter stating this fact from the nearest Home Affairs office before traveling through a port of entry.

As the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) speeds up its modernisation programme to a paperless system, a key change will see the printing of parents’ details on the last page of their children’s passports. Eventually, these passports will alleviate the need for any further documentation reflecting the parents’ names.

Children traveling with only one parent also need to carry an affidavit in which the absent parent gives consent for the child to travel as well as an ID copy. If one parent has full parental responsibilities or legal guardianship of the child the court order must be presented proving this, or the death certificate of the absent parent. Children traveling without either parent must carry affidavits from the parents confirming that the child may travel with that person, copies of the ID documents and the contact details of the parents. The affidavit should be no more than three months old from date of travel.

Permanent Residency means the person (immigrant) is allowed to reside indefinitely within South Africa although he or she is not a citizen. Permanent Residents do not have South African Passports because they are not Citizens. A permanent resident will have NON-SA CITIZEN written under the barcoded number in their ID book.

If you are a Permanent Resident and are traveling internationally on your foreign passport, you must take your permanent residency certificate to re-enter the country. This is because when you re-enter South Africa you will be doing so with no proof of returning to your country of Citizenship. ID books are not an accepted form of proof of permanent residency.

A Visa is an endorsement or pre-approval that a traveler is allowed to enter, leave, or stay for a specified period of time in a particular country. Unfortunately, there are many countries that require South Africans to apply for a visa. Some visas can be obtained on arrival but many must be applied for prior to departure and you will be required to present it at passport control when leaving the country.

Take special note of application and processing times. These vary depending on the embassy or country. Embassies can be particularly busy just before peak travel times, such as December, and will require a longer lead time.

Many visas require proof of travel documentation which can only be provided once full payment has been received.

Important to note: Countries can change requirements without notice, and therefore it is important to verify this information from trustworthy sources. Visas can be issued incorrectly and must be double-checked once issued.

• Make a list of your destinations, including any transit points and length of stay (number of hours if in transit).
• Ensure that you check with more than one trustworthy source whether a visa is required for your destination and routing.
• Ensure that the embassy of the country you are visiting or transiting to, are good sources for information.

The Escape Artist works with professional visa companies which can assist you in obtaining your visas as well as any information you may require.

All information on this page was correct at the time of publishing and may change at any time without prior notice. The Escape Artist will not be held liable for loss or inconvenience resulting from the use of information from this website.