The Department of Home Affairs has launched a pilot project to ease the passport renewal course of for South African nationals dwelling in the United Kingdom.
The pilot will cowl the cities of London, Edinburgh and Manchester, the division stated in a assertion on Monday (13 June).
To ship this service, the division stated it is extending its partnership with VFS Global to implement the pilot in the UK. VFS Global will obtain purposes for passport reissues at its new centres in the three cities.
South African nationals will have the ability to go to the VFS Global centres to resume their South African passports.
“This is part of the effort to introduce innovative and effective methods of improving service delivery as the new passport service will accelerate the processing of applications and delivery of completed products to clients in the UK.”
“The new passport service will advance the department’s movement from manual, paper-based processes to digital systems, for smart, faster and reliable services. With this system in place, our citizens in the UK will no longer wait for extended periods when renewing their passports. This will also ease space constraints at SA’s embassy in London”, stated minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
He added that key advantages for candidates embody:
- Operating occasions in London, Edinburgh and Manchester (08h30 to 16h00);
- Dedicated courier service for processed passports;
- Dedicated e-mail for applicant queries;
- Quicker turnaround time for passport renewal;
- Passport photograph service is additionally out there in London, Edinburgh and Manchester;
- Application monitoring facility with SMS service.
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