{"id":87876,"date":"2012-03-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelstartblg.wpenginepowered.com\/how-to-renew-your-south-african-passport\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:50:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:50:38","slug":"how-to-renew-your-south-african-passport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/how-to-renew-your-south-african-passport\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Renew Your South African Passport"},"content":{"rendered":"

The secret to avoiding queues and making your South African passport renewal<\/strong> relatively painless is to get there early. That way, you won\u2019t be left standing in the queue, wondering what happened in the 10 years since you last applied for your passport.<\/p>\n

Note: visa and passport information is not guaranteed. Kindly confirm details with the relevant government authorities.<\/h2>\n

That said, I\u2019ve just got back from renewing my South African passport and it was easier and more pleasant than I could ever have imagined. This is the story of my application …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Take One: South African Passport Renewal<\/h2>\n

Things got off to a sour start when I went to the Reserve Bank Building in the Cape Town CBD. The Home Affairs website lists the Reserve Bank Building in St Georges Mall, Cape Town as a place to get your South African passport renewed. Please note this is NOT<\/strong> the case. The Cape Town Home Affairs<\/strong> office is located in Barrack Street in the lower Gardens area.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/a><\/p>\n

After making this initial error, I decided to wait a while before trying again.<\/p>\n

Take Two: South African Passport Renewal<\/h2>\n

Fast forward a few weeks and I was ready to go to Home Affairs and get my new passport. I took the following things with me.<\/p>\n

What to bring<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • South African ID document<\/li>\n
  • Passport photos \u2013 usually come in sets of 4 and cost about R35 though you can get these taken at Home Affairs.<\/li>\n
  • Your old passport<\/li>\n
  • Cash \u2013 R400 (March 2012) + R10 to buy a Coke from the vending machine in Home Affairs<\/li>\n
  • A pen<\/li>\n
  • Your patience and a good attitude (if you get there on a particularly busy day)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Like I said, I got there early and this was definitely key in helping me get in and out of there as quickly as possible. The Cape Town Home Affairs<\/strong> opens at 8am so I made sure I was already queuing by 7am \u2013 there were already 20-30 people in front of me.<\/p>\n

    When the doors opened sharply at 8 we all filed straight in and got given numbers. It seemed that everyone in front of me was there to do other Home Affairs related stuff as they just dispersed into other sections of the building as soon as we got inside\u2026 not that I was complaining.<\/p>\n

    I proceeded to passport applications in the back on the ground floor \u2013 there\u2019s 4 stages apply, pay, fingerprint and another biometric process which wasn\u2019t working when I went and officials told me not to worry about it.<\/p>\n

    Cape Town Home Affairs<\/h2>\n

    Location of Barrack Street Home Affairs in Cape Town<\/strong>:<\/p>\n