Johannesburg – South African citizens living abroad will soon have the option of having their new passports delivered to their doorsteps.
Announcing the development on Wednesday, 22 October 2025, Home Affairs Minister, Dr. Leon Schreiber, said the service was going live around the world on 1 November 2025.
“This milestone was unveiled during Minister Schreiber’s address to the South African community in The Hague, Netherlands,” a statement from the Department of Home Affairs said.
Home Affairs said it has launched its latest dedicated service centre that reduces waiting times for passport applications from up to 18 months to just five weeks.
“This marks the first time ever that Home Affairs has provided clients with the option to select courier delivery for a critical enabling document, instead of being forced to travel to an office for a second time just for document collection,” the statement said.
“The initial rollout of this service to South Africans living abroad enables the department to refine and perfect the process in a sandbox environment, before rolling out the option of doorstep delivery to all clients in South Africa as well.
“From 1 November, the option for courier delivery of passports will be available at all of the new Home Affairs service centres around the world.”
The department said turnaround times will range from 24 to 72 hours and will attract a fee ranging between US$30 and US$60.
The service will initially be available at the existing service centres located in 18 cities around the world, with more set to be launched over the coming months.
Information on all locations that will offer this service from 1 November is available here:https://www.dha.gov.za/index.php/civic-services/dha-service-centres-abroad.
Minister Schreiber said: “This bold reform not only promotes inclusivity by resolving long-standing problems experienced by South Africans abroad when applying for a passport, but also amounts to another watershed moment for #TeamHomeAffairs as we work with urgency to reform our department from a laggard to a world leader in identity management.
“Through our vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home, we are pushing forward relentlessly to eliminate the need for clients to travel large distances and stand in long queues to obtain enabling documents.
“Instead, our digital transformation journey means that we are using technology to decentralise access and bring our services to South Africans right where they live – anywhere in the world.”
Minister Schreiber concluded: “Once we are comfortable that doorstep delivery is working smoothly and securely for the relatively small population of South Africans living abroad, we will scale up this reform to provide all South Africans with the option to have their documents delivered to their doorstep, including through our new digital partnership model with the banking sector.
“This latest step demonstrates that the tech-driven service delivery revolution underway at Home Affairs continues to gather momentum as we work to deliver dignity for all.”
