Guidance

South Africa: Knowledge Base profile

Published 9 May 2024

Version 3.0

About: South Africa

This document contains useful information about South Africa which will assist HM Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email HM Passport Office’s Guidance team.

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 3.0

• published for Home Office staff on 1 May 2024

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated:

• to confirm when a person changes their name and gender with the Department of Home Affairs they are issued with a new identity number and vault birth certificate

• with minor formatting changes

South Africa: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in South Africa.

Names in South Africa consist of:

• forenames

• surnames which can be:

  • either parent’s surname if the parents are married

  • the father’s surname if the parents are unmarried and the father formally acknowledges parentage when the birth is registered

  • the mother’s surname if the parents are not married and the father did not acknowledge parentage

Change of name

Name changes are allowed in South Africa.

A married woman can update the Population Register by writing to the South African Department of Home Affairs to:

• change her name to her husband’s surname

• create a double-barrelled name

• revert to a name held before her marriage

The Director General of Home Affairs must approve all other name changes. The application can be done at the Home Affairs office in South Africa or any embassy, mission, or consulate outside of South Africa.

Official name change documents are issued by the South African Department of Home Affairs who note the change of name on the customer’s birth record and issue a new vault birth certificate. Name changes are shown on the vault birth certificate together with the relevant sections of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1992, for example:

• section 24 if a forename has been altered

• section 25 if a child’s surname has been changed

• section 26 if an adult’s surname has been changed

• section 27 if there has been a change of gender

South Africa: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in South Africa.

Dual nationality is allowed in South Africa.

Anyone over the age of 18 years must apply to retain their South African citizenship if they:

• intend to take another foreign citizenship

• already held another foreign citizenship as a child and are now 18 years old

A person who has lost citizenship by failing to apply to retain citizenship will have the right to be a permanent resident in South Africa if they were born in South Africa.

A person will be allowed to apply for resumption or reinstatement of South Africa citizenship in South Africa on condition the person will live permanently in South Africa.

South Africa: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in South Africa.

Legitimacy

South Africa recognises a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

A child is considered:

• legitimate if:

  • the parents are married at the time of birth

  • the parents marry after the child is born

• illegitimate if the parents never marry

Parental responsibility

Both parents have parental responsibility if they are married. If they are not married, only the mother has parental responsibility.

South Africa: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in South Africa.

Adoption is legal in South Africa.

South Africa: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in South Africa.

Surrogacy is legal in South Africa.

South Africa: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in South Africa.

Transgender citizens are recognised in South Africa.

When a transgender citizen changes their gender with the Department of Home Affairs they are issued with a new identity number in the population register and a new vault birth certificate. The old identity number is cancelled and the record cannot be accessed.

South Africa: civil partnerships and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships and marriage in South Africa.

There are both religious and civil marriages in South Africa. Civil marriages are automatically registered, religious and customary marriages must be registered with the Department of Home Affairs to be valid.

Customary marriage

Customary marriages must be registered within 3 months.

In South Africa, the definition of a customary marriage is one that is “negotiated, celebrated or concluded according to any of the systems of Indigenous African customary law which exist in South Africa”. This does not include marriages concluded in accordance with Hindu, Muslim, or other religious rites.

There is no restriction in the number of customary marriages a man can have, but he must get a court order regulating the future matrimonial property system of his marriages first. It is also possible for a man who is already in a customary marriage to enter into a civil marriage.

South Africa: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents in South Africa.

Birth certificates

All births in South Africa should be registered within 30 days. Births are registered at the Department of Home Affairs. Late registration is allowed.

There are 3 types of birth certificate issued in South Africa:

• Abridged certificates; only name the child and is not acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes

• Unabridged certificates; name the child and parents at the time the certificate is issued, and is acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes if dated within 12 months of birth (otherwise a vault copy will be needed)

• Vault copy: is the copy of the first birth registration (the Form of Information of a Birth) and will include any amended details such as name change, change of gender, adoption. This is acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes when the unabridged certificate is dated more than 12 months after birth:

  • if a child is born to parents who are both foreign nationals, no vault certificate will be issued.

If there is a mistake on a certificate, the vault copy will show the change as an amendment. The abridged and unabridged birth certificates will be re-issued with no reference to the change.

The vault copy certificate for children born to two foreign parents will be a copy of the original handwritten Form of Information of a Birth. Where both parents are foreign nationals, the birth certificate will show ‘’Foreigner’’ or “Alien”.

New vault birth certificates are issued when a person’s name or gender is changed.

Marriage certificates

South Africa issue:

• handwritten marriage certificates (not acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes)

• computerised marriage certificates (acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes, as this is issued by the Department for Home Affairs)

Death certificates

All deaths are registered with the Department of Home Affairs and a certificate issued.

Identity documents

Identity cards are issued by local Home Affairs offices to South African citizens, or foreign national permanent residence permit holders who are 16 years or older.