The Hague, Netherlands – In a landmark move toward realising its “Home Affairs @ home” vision, the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has announced the immediate introduction of doorstep delivery for passports for South African citizens residing abroad. The revolutionary service is set to go live globally on 1 November 2025.
The major milestone was unveiled by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber, during an address to the South African community in The Hague, The Netherlands. The announcement coincided with the launch of the DHA’s latest dedicated service centre in the city, which has already dramatically cut passport application waiting times from up to 18 months to a mere five weeks.
End of Double Travel
This new offering marks the first time ever that the DHA has provided clients with the option to select courier delivery for a critical enabling document, eliminating the need for applicants to travel to an office a second time solely for collection.
Minister Schreiber emphasised the significance of this reform. “This bold reform not only promotes inclusivity by resolving long-standing problems experienced by South Africans abroad when applying for a passport,” he stated, “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.”
A Global Sandbox for Future Reform
The initial rollout to the South African diaspora is strategic, enabling the department to “refine and perfect the process in a sandbox environment,” before extending the doorstep delivery option to all clients within South Africa.
“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,” Minister Schreiber added. “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.”
Service Details and Expansion
The option for courier delivery will be available from November 1 at all of the new Home Affairs service centres worldwide.
Turnaround times for delivery are expected to range from 24 to 72 hours.
The service will attract a fee ranging between US$30 and US$60 (around R520 to R1040).
The service will initially be offered at 18 existing service centres across the globe, with plans for more centres to be launched in the coming months. A full list of locations offering the service from November 1 can be found on the DHA website.
Minister Schreiber concluded by looking ahead: “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,” he concluded.
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