To apply to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), students are required to submit several documents such as IDs and proof of income, which were previously required to be certified to be accepted.

As certification is usually a process that involves physical documents and travelling to meet people, NSFAS has removed this requirement from its application process.

Under the NSFAS FAQ section, in an answer to “Do my documents need to be certified?”, the institution provides this answer:

“No. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, NSFAS has removed the requirement for documents to be certified.”

This change has been instituted and enforced for some time now, but the organisation still found it necessary to remind students of this matter recently.

Looking at some news stories and resources for students published over the last few months still incorrectly mentions the need to certify documents, which is why these reminders are so important.

NSFAS itself is still at fault here for outdated information, however. If you Google what supporting documents are needed for applications this official PDF shows up high in the rankings which still mentions certified copies.

In the past we’ve found the aforementioned FAQ section on the NSFAS website the best place to find the most up to date information about applications.

Applications are open now and will close on 7th January 2022.

But what if I do need to get something certified?

While NSFAS may have changed their policies to make its processes safer, many other institutions in South Africa may still ask for certified documents.

This process can be done in a number of ways with the South African Police Service (SAPS) providing this list of options:

• “You can have copies of original documents certified at any police station, at any time.
• The certification of copies is done free of charge.
• You must provide your own copies. The police station’s resources such as photocopy machines and paper, are not for use by the public.
• You must provide the original documents when requesting to have copies certified. Copies will not be certified if the original documents are not produced for verification.
• Please be patient. Remember that the police station has certain priorities to deal with, and it might take a while before they can attend to you.
• Alternatively, you can have copies certified at the following places:
  • Lawyers or notary public (who are members of a recognised professional body)
  • Actuaries or accountants (who are members of a recognised professional body)
  • Members of the judiciary 
  • Directors, managers or company secretaries of a bank or regulated financial services business.”

[Image – CC Aymanejed on Pixabay]