South African Embassy in Sweden, Serivces for South Africans, Child Passport Application
Application for a Child Passport
South African citizens who are under 16 years old are entitled to a child passport valid for 5 years. Any South
African citizen who is under 16 years old may apply for a child passport if the current passport he/she is holding
is about to expire or if the passport is almost full, or if his/her passport has been damaged, lost or stolen.
Children born to South African citizens may also apply for a South African child passport provided that the child's
birth has been registered.
The following documents must be submitted when applying for a child passport:
Form BI-73 to be fully completed in block letters and in black ink;
Note:
- Parts A, C, D, E must be fully completed by the parents of the child.
- Part B must be completed by an official at the South African Embassy in Stockholm or by a Swedish police officer identifying the child,
if submitting by post; however, neither the 'Signature of the applicant' nor the 'Left thumbprint of the applicant' are required.
- For Question (a) of Part D, 'means of obtaining' citizenship of another country may be through
descent, birth, marriage, naturalisation or registration.
- Question (b) of Part D refers to a previously issued South African passport.
- Both parents must sign consent at Part C of BI-73.
- If the parent is a single parent, then a full birth certificate of the child must be submitted which
proves this fact.
- If the parents are divorced, then both parents are still required to sign consent unless sole
guardianship and custody is given to the parent making the application in which case proof of this
fact must be submitted, e.g. a court order together with a certified English translation, if necessary.
- If one of the parents is deceased, then a certified copy of the death certificate together with a
certified English translation, if necessary, must be submitted.
- If parents are divorced or separated and one of the parents cannot be traced, then a court order
regarding the granting of sole custody and guardianship together with a certified English translation,
if necessary, must be submitted.
Form BI-529 to be fully completed in block letters and in black ink;
Note:
-The purpose of this form is to verify the applicant's South African citizenship; therefore, all
South African citizens who are abroad at the time of lodging an application for a passport must
fully complete this form.
- 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'.
Original or certified copy of the applicant's South African passport (including page with the
residence permit for Sweden / Latvia if applicable);
Note:
- The child's passport or a certified copy of the passport must be submitted despite the fact that
the current passport is full or expired.
- If the child's current passport has been lost or stolen, a police report and a fully completed
affidavit (available on request from our office) should be submitted.
- If the child's current passport is damaged, what is left of the damaged passport must be
submitted.
In respect of dual citizens, original or certified copy of the applicant's foreign passport;
Original or certified copy of the child's birth certificate reflecting the full details of both parents, and
accompanied by an English translation by a sworn translator, if the original birth
certificate is not in English; alternatively, in the case of a child born in Sweden / Latvia an extract from the
birth register, which is commonly known as an 'international birth certificate' may be submitted;
Note:
- If the child has never been registered by the Department of Home Affairs, this must be done
before a child passport will be issued (the requirements and forms for an application for Birth
Registration are available on request from our office). An application for a child passport can be
lodged in conjunction with the registration of a child's birth.
Four (4) identical passport photos (see photograph specifications), including the
applicant's full
name on the reverse side - passport photos should not be affixed to the application form(s);
A self-addressed A5-size envelope with postage paid for SEK 71 (registered mail), to return the
passport after issuing, and any personal original documents;
Proof of payment of the prescribed application fee of SEK 400 e.g. copy of the bank transfer slip
(Please note that if the child's previous passport has been lost, stolen or damaged, the
fee is double the prescribed fee i.e. SEK 800).
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:
Child Passport 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):
South African citizens who must travel urgently and cannot wait for their child passport to be issued are entitled
to a temporary passport valid for 12 months. Please note that a new passport must
already have been applied for before an application for a temporary passport can be lodged; an applicant may apply for both a new
passport and a temporary passport simultaneously.
Please note that since 1 March 2007 Sweden no longer
recognises South African temporary passports. Although a South African temporary passport may be
used for entry into and departure from the Republic of South Africa, it may not be used for departure
from and re-entry into Sweden.
Applicants are advised that applications submitted at our office are referred to the Department of Home Affairs
in Pretoria, where the passports 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. Our office may issue a letter confirming that a passport application has
been lodged and the processing period, if required.
Applicants would be immediately notified as soon as the passport 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.
On receipt of a passport from Pretoria, the applicant would be requested to return his or her current child or
temporary passport for cancellation. Passports containing residence permits would thereafter be returned to
applicants together with their new passport.
Due to the long-term nature of passport 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.
