The South Africa Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has announced a new pilot program for citizens to apply for a passport renewal while residing in the United Kingdom.
The pilot kicks off today, 13th June, with South Africa nationals capable of applying at centres in three UK cities currently – London, Manchester and Edinburgh. These centres are handled by VFS Global, with the department extending its partnership with the company following this announcement.
The DHA notes that this pilot will apply to both a minor or adult passport renewal.
“The South African diaspora in the United Kingdom can lodge applications at three convenient locations run by VFS Global. The centre in London is located at 66 Wilson Street, London, EC2A 2BT, while in Edingburgh at 1 Rennie’s Isle, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QT and in Manchester at 50 Devonshire Street North, Manchester, M12 6JH,” the department highlighted in a press statement.
Along with the aforementioned three locations, the DHA also highlighted the following elements of the program:
- “Dedicated courier service for processed passports
- Dedicated email for applicant queries
- Quicker turnaround time for passport renewal
- Passport photo service also available in London, Edinburgh and Manchester
- Application tracking facility with SMS service.”
Hopefully then, this pilot will prove successful and see a potential expansion to other cities, as well as other countries where there is a large South African contingent of citizens, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
“The new passport service will advance the department’s movement from manual, paper-based processes to digital systems, for smart, faster and reliable services. With this system in place our citizens in the UK will no longer wait for extended periods when renewing their passports. This will also ease space constraints at SA’s embassy in London,” added Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
To find out more about the application centres for passport renewal, visit the VFS Global portal here.
[Image – Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash]
