How to Complete and Submit DHA Official Forms: South Africa Home Affairs

To complete and submit a Department of Home Affairs (DHA) form correctly, pick the right form for the service you need, fill it in with black ink in block capitals with no alterations, attach certified copies of your supporting documents (with sworn English translations for anything in another language), and lodge it through eHomeAffairs, a DHA-enabled bank branch, a Home Affairs office, VFS Global, or the nearest South African embassy if you are abroad. Every form feeds into the National Population Register, so the details you write must match the records already held there.¹

The Rules That Apply to Every DHA Form

Black ink. Block capitals. No white-out, no crossings-out, no alterations of any kind. If you make a mistake, throw the sheet away and start again on a clean form.² The forms are scanned for digital archiving, which is why the ink colour and letter style matter.³

Where a form has a signature box, keep your signature inside the lines. Where fingerprints are required, they must be taken in person by a Home Affairs official, or, if you are abroad and applying for an identity document, at a police station or notary; electronic fingerprints on police cards are not accepted.⁴

Accuracy is not a courtesy. The Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 gives the Director-General authority to reject any notice containing information that is inaccurate, cannot be verified, or amounts to misrepresentation.⁵ The same standard applies in practice across all DHA forms: if what you write does not match the existing entry in the National Population Register, the application comes back. Making a false statement on a death notice (DHA-1663A) is a criminal offence carrying a fine or up to five years’ imprisonment under Section 31(1)(b) of the Act.⁶

Some forms are barcoded originals that must be obtained from the DHA or a South African embassy in advance rather than printed off. The DHA-24 birth notice is one example: if you plan to mail in a birth registration from abroad, you must request the barcoded form from the embassy first.⁷ The DHA-947 permanent residence application goes the other way: it has to be completed digitally, because the department does not accept a handwritten version.

Supporting Documents You’ll Need to Attach

Almost every application requires certified copies of your existing identity document, birth certificate, or marriage certificate. A commissioner of oaths or a police officer can certify a copy; their stamp confirms the copy is a true replica of the original.⁸ Commissioners are appointed either by application to the nearest Magistrate’s Court or ex officio through their professional role, and the ex officio designation is tied to the specific post they hold at the time.

Any document in a language other than English must be accompanied by a sworn translation. In South Africa, sworn translators are certified and authorized by the High Court and listed on the Register of Certified Translators and Interpreters. A valid translation carries the translator’s seal, signature, full name, and the language pair they are certified for, and the layout should mirror the original as closely as possible.

Category-specific attachments sit on top of that base. A birth registration under the DHA-24 also needs the DHA-24/A fingerprint form for the South African parent, a DHA-529 determination of citizenship, the original hospital birth certificate, the parents’ identity documents, a marriage certificate if the parents are married, and a DHA-288/C paternity affidavit if the child is born outside marriage.⁷ A permanent residence application under the DHA-947 needs a valid passport, passport-sized photos, police clearance for every country where you lived 12 months or more in the last five years, a medical report no older than six months, proof of financial support, and category-specific evidence such as a marriage certificate or proof of kinship.

Choosing the Right Form for Your Service

Picking the wrong form is the most common reason a submission goes nowhere. The forms you are most likely to need:

DHA-24 — notice of birth, used to register a newborn within 30 days. Late registration after 30 days brings additional affidavit requirements.⁹¹⁰
DHA-1663A — notice of death. Not a form you complete alone: the attending medical practitioner or professional nurse, the informant (usually a family member), and the funeral undertaker each complete their own sections, and fingerprints of the deceased, the informant, and the undertaker all have to appear on the form.⁶
BI-130 — application for a marriage certificate. This is how you request an official copy (abridged or unabridged) of an existing marriage record for a passport, visa, or legal filing. It is not the document that originally records a marriage.¹¹
DHA-9 — fingerprint form used with every identity document application.¹²
DHA-73 — passport application. You complete Parts A, D, and E in block letters with black ink; the DHA official or embassy officer completes Part B after verifying your identity and taking your prints in person.¹³
DHA-1738 — temporary residence permit application for foreign nationals staying more than 90 days, covering visitor, study, work, business, retired person, medical, and several other visa categories.¹⁴
DHA-947 — permanent residence application, completed digitally only. The application fee is R1,520 per applicant, plus a VFS Global service fee of R1,550.
BI-526 with DHA-24 and DHA-529 — the set used to amend a name, surname, date or place of birth, or gender in the National Population Register under Section 7(2) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act. Applicants 16 and older must also submit a DHA-9.¹⁵

You can download most of these from the DHA website or eHomeAffairs, and physical copies sit at every DHA office and South African embassy.¹

Where to Submit

eHomeAffairs

The portal at ehome.dha.gov.za handles Smart ID and passport applications. You create a profile, complete the application, upload supporting documents, pay electronically, and then book an appointment at a DHA-enabled bank branch for biometrics.¹ The in-person step is not optional; a branch visit captures your photo, fingerprints, and signature. If you’d rather skip the portal, you can walk into any Home Affairs office and finalize the application there without an appointment.

Partner Bank Branches

Capitec Bank, Standard Bank, and First National Bank operate DHA-enabled branches under a digital partnership model launched in early 2026.¹⁶ These branches currently handle Smart ID conversions from the green ID book and re-issues for existing Smart ID holders. First-time Smart ID applications, passport services, and courier delivery are planned for later in 2026. Queues tend to be shorter than at traditional DHA offices.

DHA Offices and VFS Centres

Traditional Home Affairs offices handle the full range of civic services: birth registration, death notification, identity documents, passports, marriage certificate requests, and amendments. For visa and immigration applications lodged inside South Africa, VFS Global is the department’s official facilitation partner. You book with VFS, submit documents and biometrics at a VFS centre, and VFS forwards the file to the DHA for a decision.

From Abroad

South Africans living outside the country submit civic forms at the nearest South African embassy or consulate. If a barcoded original is required, request it from the embassy before you start.⁷ For urgent travel due to a death, serious illness, or another emergency, consulates can issue an Emergency Travel Certificate valid for one month to one year, but you must apply for a permanent passport at the same time.¹⁷

Fees to Budget For

First-time Smart ID applicants aged 16 and older, and pensioners aged 60 and above, pay nothing for the card. Every other citizen pays R140.¹⁸ A standard 32-page adult passport and a child’s passport are each R600; the 48-page maxi passport is R1,200 (fees as of November 2022).¹⁹ Permanent residence is R1,520 to the DHA plus R1,550 to VFS.

h2>After You Submit

Keep your reference number. The DHA sends SMS updates as your application moves through processing, and VFS Global has a separate online tracker for visa files. Without the reference number, checking status becomes difficult.

Processing times vary. Passport applications typically take 7 to 21 working days.²⁰ Complex visa applications can take several months. You will be notified when the document is ready, and you must collect it in person at the same office or branch where you lodged the application; the DHA verifies your identity one last time at pickup. Documents left uncollected for an extended period risk being destroyed, and fees are generally not refunded.

Fixing an Error on the Record

If you receive a birth certificate and spot a mistake, you have seven days from receipt to return it to the Director-General for correction.⁵ Miss that window and you are into the full amendment process: a BI-526 with a DHA-24 and DHA-529, plus a DHA-9 if you are 16 or older, backed by documentary proof (ID, passport, marriage certificate, or birth certificate).¹⁵ Once the Director-General is satisfied the register is incorrect, the entry is amended, and the previous details are preserved in the system and linked to the new record rather than deleted.

1
Department of Home Affairs. eHomeAffairs Portal
2
South African High Commissioner in Ottawa. Basic Application Information and Requirements
3
Embassy of South Africa. SA Citizens Services
4
South African Consulate-General in Toronto. Reissue of ID
5
Department of Home Affairs. Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992
6
Statistics South Africa. DHA-1663A Notice of Death
7
Embassy of South Africa. Birth Registration
8
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Commissioners of Oaths
9
Department of Home Affairs. DHA-24 Notice of Birth
10
South African Government. Register Birth
11
Department of Home Affairs. BI-130 Application for Marriage Certificate
12
Department of Home Affairs. Requirements of Identity Documents
13
Südafrikanische Botschaft. Application for a Tourist Passport
14
Department of Home Affairs. Application for Visa to Temporarily Sojourn in the Republic
15
South African Embassy in Mexico. Application for Amendment of Personal Particulars
16
South African Government. Home Affairs on First Bank Branches Go Live Under New Digital Partnership Model
17
South Africa – New York. South African Emergency Travel Certificate
18
Department of Home Affairs. Requirements When Applying for Smart ID Card
19
South African Government. Minister Aaron Motsoaledi Approves New Fees for Passports and Travel Documents
20
Western Cape Government. Applying for a Passport