Home Affairs launches global doorstep passport delivery for South Africans abroad

Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, on Wednesday announced the introduction of doorstep passport delivery for South African citizens living abroad — a first in the department’s history.

The new service, which forms part of the department’s “Home Affairs @ home” digital transformation vision, will go live globally on 1 November 2025.

It allows South Africans overseas to have their passports delivered directly to their homes, eliminating the need to return to embassies or consulates to collect documents.

Schreiber unveiled the initiative while addressing the South African community in The Hague, Netherlands, where the Department of Home Affairs also launched a new dedicated service centre that has dramatically reduced passport turnaround times from 18 months to just five weeks.

"This bold reform not only promotes inclusivity by resolving long-standing problems experienced by South Africans abroad when applying for a passport but also amounts to another watershed moment for Team Home Affairs as we work with urgency to reform our department from a laggard to a world leader in identity management," Schreiber  said.

"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 to obtain enabling documents. 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."

From 1 November, South Africans will be able to select courier delivery for their passports at all new Home Affairs service centres abroad. Delivery will take 24 to 72 hours, with a courier fee of between $30 and $60 depending on location. The rollout will initially cover 18 cities worldwide, with additional centres to follow in the coming months.

Schreiber said the global pilot would serve as a “sandbox phase” to test and refine the process before expanding doorstep delivery to clients inside South Africa.

"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," he said.

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