South African Embassy in Sweden, South African Citizen Services, Retention of South African Citizenship
Retention of South African Citizenship
An adult South African citizen who intends to apply for foreign citizenship, but who does not want to lose
his/ her South African citizenship, must first apply for the retention of South African citizenship, which
must be done and be approved before acquisition of the other citizenship.
The following documents must
be submitted when applying for the retention of South African citizenship:
Form BI-1664 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’.
Original or certified copies of South African passport or identity document;
A letter from the relevant Swedish authorities confirming that the applicant has not
acquired Swedish citizenship accompanied by an English translation by a sworn
translator("personbevis");
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 300, 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:
Retention of South African citizenship
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):
The processing period for an application for the retention of South African citizenship is a maximum of
15 working days;
Applicants are requested not to contact our office unnecessarily for progress reports on applications.
Applicants may however contact our office in the event of the application taking longer than 15
working days.
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.
