Can I renew my British Passport in South Africa?
British passport renewal has been subjected to a new process since 1st November 2013 where all applications regarding first time application or renewing of passports, are sent to the passports office in Durham, United Kingdom, unlike before when they were sent to the British high commission in Pretoria. The application form is completed online.
The renewing of the British passport also requires that the person wishing to do renewal should attach the relevant supporting documents to ensure success, and the process takes between 1 and 2 months. However, many people fail to complete this process because of the strict rules and regulations by the British government when offering these services abroad.
To renew your British passport in South Africa, you must meet the following requirements.
I) The persons wishing to renew their passports must be British nationals or South African nationals with dual citizenship and above the age of 16 and must have valid British passports.
II) British passport renewal is done after 10 years. Therefore, the passport to be renewed must have been in use for the last 10 years.
III) Immediate family members are allowed to join the main applicant in the process of passport renewal.
IV) Applicants should pay the renewal fee plus other service charges, typically totaling to under R5,000.
Read: Do US Citizens Require a Visa To Visit South Africa?
British passport renewal process in South Africa
Many British passport renewal applications in South Africa are usually rejected due to wrong presentation of the required information. Because of this, the British government has established an online support system to guide people during the filling in of forms required during the passport renewal application process.
Besides, many online consultant services deal with the same. These consultancies help you apply for the renewal of the passport at a small fee. One such agency is the Immigrant assist.
Immigrant assist and similar firms facilitates the application process and charge an extra fee on top of the Visa renewal fee. Among the documents such firms require include:
1. A clear digital photo of yourself, emailed or uploaded via an online portal.
2. A scan of the bio-metric picture page of your current passport. You can do it yourself or visit their offices for help.
3. A filled in scan of section 2 of the OS form.
4. Your old passport should be submitted physically once the process is done.
If you don’t want to go through 3rd parties, you can head direct to the British High Commission in South Africa. It allows both British and South Africans to access the United Kingdom government services while in South Africa.
They will assist you most of the way in your renewal.
Lost British passport in South Africa
Among the services offered by the British High Commission is facilitating quick access of an emergency travel document if the passport has been lost (see: application for emergency travel document)
It also offers first time applying for a British passport or an emergency travel document for British citizens who have never had a passport before.
