🛂 Renewing your SA passport and ID abroad
How South Africans living overseas renew passports, apply for smart ID cards and get civic documents from Home Affairs.
Updated 4 October 2026
You don't have to fly home to renew your South African passport. South African embassies, high commissions and consulates handle Home Affairs applications for citizens abroad, though it's slower than at home.
Passports
- Apply in person at the SA mission that serves the area you live in. Many missions require an appointment, and some (for example in the UK) use an outsourced appointment and collection partner.
- Take your current passport, your green ID book or smart ID card, and the fee in the format the mission accepts (often card or a bank transfer, not cash).
- Allow several months. Renew well before your passport gets near its expiry, especially if you need it for visa renewals.
- Children's passports need both parents' consent and the unabridged birth certificate.
Smart ID cards
A limited number of missions accept smart ID applications. Check with yours. If yours doesn't, the green ID book stays valid for now, but smart ID is being rolled out to replace it, so apply on your next trip home if you can (some bank branches in South Africa also process them).
Births, marriages and citizenship
- Children born abroad to South African parents can be registered as South African citizens by descent at a mission. Do it early, because it's needed for their SA passport.
- Dual citizenship: for years, South Africans who took another nationality without first getting Home Affairs permission were told they had lost their SA citizenship. That rule (section 6(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act) was successfully challenged in court. Check the current position with Home Affairs or your mission before you apply for another citizenship, and keep copies of everything.
Find your nearest mission on the official DIRCO website: dirco.gov.za. Our directory also lists SA missions found on OpenStreetMap.