CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
The South African Citizenship Act, 1995 (Act 88 of 1995) was revised by the South African Citizenship Amendment Act, 2010, which went into effect on January 1, 2013. It introduced new criteria in areas of many applications related to citizenship:
APPLICATIONS FOR NATURALIZATION
Naturalisation applications will only be accepted if the applicant has had a Permanent Residence Permit in the Republic of South Africa for a period of five (5) years from the date of acquiring PR. If the applicant has less than the necessary five (5) year period, the office will not accept the application.
All applicants who wish to apply and are eligible to apply for naturalisation must be informed that the application process will not begin until Immigration Services (IMS) confirms the validity of their Permanent Residence Permit through a written and signed letter of proof or PR to be attached to the application. This will need offices receiving such applications first sending verification of PR requests to IMS before accepting an application for naturalisation. Submit a request to SAPS for a Police Criminal Record check and confirmation within the same time frame. (The SAPS record must be valid for at least six months.)
Applicants must be notified that they must get a Police Clearance as well as a letter of acceptance of dual citizenship from their country of citizenship (or origin) to be attached to their naturalisation application.
Naturalisation applications must be delivered to the Head Office Citizenship Section within five (5) working days of the Front Office receiving a fully compliant application.
Applications must be placed on Track and Trace 035 without fail, indicating every stage of the process update.
Before they may be received by the Front Office as applications for naturalisation, all applications for naturalisation must contain a PR identification number and a copy of ID.
Proof of language competency, as well as the completed language test form, must be submitted with the application for naturalisation.
The requirements for filing a naturalization application remain the same as provided by the Citizenship Act.
To become a citizen of the Republic of South Africa, you must attend Induction.
To be given citizenship in South Africa, all applicants must attend the Naturalisation Ceremony and appear before a Judge. Failure to attend would result in the Certificate being withdrawn or not being issued.
CITIZENSHIP STATUS DETERMINATION
Before submitting any application, an application for Determination of Citizenship must be sent to Head Office. This is to guarantee that the applicant submits the right application.
All applications for identification cards, passports, and other services must be approved once the Head Office confirms the applicant’s citizenship status.
To meet the deadline for determining citizenship status, all applications for Determination of Citizenship Status must be fully completed.
REQUIREMENTS
DHA -175 (application form)
DHA -529 (applicant form)
Proof of continuous residency for one year previous to RSA application Police report valid for six (6) months from the date of issue Police clearance from current country or countries
Acceptance of dual nationality confirmed in a letter
Proof of payment (R300.00) in accordance with National Treasury regulations
