Cape town: In another major step towards fulfilling the Home Affairs vision of delivering ‘Home Affairs home’, Minister Leon Schreiber announced the introduction of doorstep delivery of passports for South African citizens living abroad.

According to South African Government News Agency, the service will commence on 1 November 2025. This milestone was unveiled during Schreiber’s address to the South African community in The Hague, where Home Affairs launched its latest dedicated service centre. This new initiative reduces waiting times for passport applications from up to 18 months to just five weeks.

This marks the first time ever that Home Affairs is providing clients with the option to select courier delivery for a critical enabling document, instead of requiring a second visit to an office for document collection. The initial rollout to South Africans living abroad allows the department to refine the process before expanding the service to clients in South Africa as well.

Starting 1 November, the courier delivery option will be available at all new Home Affairs service centres globally. Turnaround times will range from 24 to 72 hours, with fees between US$30 and US$60. Initially, the service will be available at existing centres in 18 cities worldwide, with additional locations planned in the coming months.

‘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,’ Schreiber stated. ‘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.’

Schreiber added that once the doorstep delivery is proven effective for South Africans living abroad, the service will be scaled up to allow all citizens the option to have documents delivered to their doorsteps. This expansion will include a new digital partnership model with the banking sector.

The development demonstrates that the tech-driven service delivery revolution underway at Home Affairs continues to gather momentum, delivering dignity for all.