South African Embassy in Sweden, South African Citizen Services, Birth Certificate
Application for a Full Birth Certificate
Full (unabridged) birth certificates are issued upon request to
persons who are South African citizens and whose births were duly registered in the Republic of South Africa,
provided that such persons obtained their citizenship through:
Birth in the Republic of South Africa to South African citizens (by birth, naturalisation) or to foreigners
who have valid permanent residence or work permits in South Africa;
Registration of their birth for those who were born abroad to South African citizens
The following documents must be submitted when applying for a full (unabridged) birth certificate:
Form BI-154 to be fully completed in block letters and in black ink;
Form BI-529 to be fully completed in block letters and in black ink;
Note:
- All applicants are kindly requested to fully complete this form, which would assist in locating
records at the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria.
- Questions 9, 10, 11 of Part A are of particular importance.
- Questions that are not applicable should be marked as 'n/a'; if answers to certain questions are
not known e.g. the mother's identity number, they should be marked as 'Do not know'.
Form DHA-24 to be fully completed in block letters and in black ink (as this form may not be
downloaded, it should be requested in writing and by submitting a self-addressed A4-size envelope with
postage paid for SEK 71 to mail the form to the applicant; alternatively, this form may be collected in
person at our office during the opening hours: Mon-Tue, Thu-Fri; 09:00-12:30);
Note:
- Parts A to F must be completed, dated and signed by the applicant.
- Questions that are not applicable should be marked as 'n/a'; if answers to certain questions are not
known, they should be marked as 'Do not know'.
- The 'Compulsory Section' under Part A is not applicable i.e. may be marked as 'n/a'.
- The informant is the applicant i.e. person applying for the unabridged birth certificate.
- A recent photo of the child is not required for form DHA-24.
Certified copy of the applicant's South African passport or identity document, or foreign passport or
identity document in the case of an applicant, who is not a South African citizen;
A self-addressed A4-size envelope with postage paid for SEK 71 (registered mail), to return the
certificate after issuing, and any personal original documents;
Proof of payment of the prescribed application fee of SEK 75, e.g. copy of the bank transfer slip.
Payment of the above-mentioned application fee may be made through an electronic bank transfer to the
following account:
Recipient:
South African Embassy in Stockholm
Bank giro:
606-4893
Banking institution:
SEB
Ref:
Birth Certificate and Surname
Should you require clarification on completing the application forms or have any further enquiries about the
application process, please contact our office at your convenience.
NOTE (please read carefully):
Should the birth certificate be certified with an apostille in terms of the 1961 Hague Convention (usually
required by Swedish authorities), please confirm this in writing when submitting the application.
Applicants are advised that applications submitted at our office are referred to the Department of Home Affairs
in Pretoria, where the documents are issued, with the diplomatic freight bag once every two weeks.
Unfortunately the intra-departmental movement of the application and tracing of original records in the register
held by the Department of Home Affairs is a time consuming task, with the result that these applications may
take up to six (6) months to process.
Applicants would be immediately notified as soon as the issued document has been received by our office from
Pretoria, and are kindly requested not to contact our office unnecessarily for progress reports. Applicants may
however contact our office in the event of the application taking longer than six (6) months.
Due to the long-term nature of such applications, applicants are kindly requested to keep our office informed of
any change of address during the processing period; in fact, applicants should also provide us with a valid
cellphone number and email address when submitting their application.
A complete application may be either mailed to our office, or submitted personally during the consular opening
hours: Mon-Tue, Thu-Fri; 09:00-12:30.
Application forms should not be folded, and applications that are submitted by post, should be mailed in an
A4-size envelope.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (formerly, Department of Foreign Affairs) offers a
voluntary registration service for South African citizens that are travelling or residing abroad, ROSA (Registration of South Africans Abroad).
This service is provided in the event there is a need to contact you to offer urgent advice on a natural disaster or civil unrest or
a family emergency. Information may submitted by a South African citizen via the ROSA Online Registration form.
