Home Affairs

Permanent residence South Africa guide: Section 26 and 27 categories, BI-947 form, 2026 fees, documents, timelines, and how to keep PR active.

A South African passport is the official travel document that confirms your identity and citizenship abroad. Whether you have never held one before or your last passport expired years ago, […]

South African citizenship is more than a passport. It determines whether you can vote, hold an SA-issued 13-digit ID number, work without a permit, and pass nationality on to your […]

South Africa hosts one of the largest asylum-seeker populations in the world. If you have fled persecution, war, or systematic human-rights abuse in your home country, the Refugees Act 130 […]

A death certificate is one of the first documents you need after a loved one passes away in South Africa. It is required to settle the estate, claim life insurance, […]

A South African marriage certificate is the official Department of Home Affairs (DHA) record that proves a marriage exists. You will need it for almost every life-admin task that follows […]

An unabridged birth certificate — sometimes called a "full" or "long-form" birth certificate — is the version Home Affairs issues that lists both parents in full. South Africa moved to […]

The South African passport is your gateway to international travel — but it has a finite shelf life, and if it expires while you are abroad or about to travel, […]

The eHome Affairs portal is the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) online self-service platform. It lets you apply for a Smart ID Card or passport, book an appointment, […]

If you are a permanent resident, refugee, or long-stay foreign national in South Africa, one of the most common questions is: can you get a South African ID, and if […]