Finally! SA expats to get smart IDs abroad as Home Affairs unveils long-awaited digital breakthrough

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says his department has “heard the pleas for help from South Africans living abroad” who currently face long delays when applying for smart IDs and passports.

Delivering his Budget Vote speech on Wednesday, Schreiber announced that the department will begin rolling out new facilities abroad before the end of this month, with a five-week turnaround time for document processing.

“We have heard the pleas for help from South Africans living abroad who currently often may wait more than a year just to get a new smart ID or passport,” said Schreiber.

“I am pleased to announce that by the end of this month, we will begin to launch new facilities abroad to assist South Africans living overseas.”

He said the initiative will start in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, with France, Germany, and the Netherlands following later this year, and North America in early 2026. “These new facilities will ensure a five-week turnaround time for IDs and passports,” the minister confirmed.

This move is part of Schreiber’s broader “Home Affairs at Home” reform vision aimed at transforming how citizens access government services. 

''Our ultimate aim, as I said, is to deliver Home Affairs at home, which will enable every South African, no matter where you are in the country or in the world, to obtain services from your government online,” he said.

Schreiber emphasised that these efforts mark the beginning of an ambitious journey towards a fully digital ID system. “The civic service reforms we will deliver during the current financial year are all part of laying the foundation for our ambitious plan to create South Africa’s first ever digital ID system.”

He added that this digital-first approach will eventually allow citizens to order IDs and passports through banking apps and even have them delivered to their homes using advanced facial recognition technology.

According to Schreiber, the department has made visible progress in the past year, including the delivery of nearly 3.6 million smart IDs, which he considers a record. “If this is just some of what Home Affairs could do in one year, just imagine what we can do in five,” he said.

He also announced plans to digitise the application process for South Africans in-country by expanding smart ID and passport services to 100 additional bank branches this year, with the goal of reaching 1,000 over the medium term. A new home delivery option using facial recognition is also in the pipeline

“It won’t be long until you can log into your bank app and see the Home Affairs logo sitting there, ready for you to interact and order your documents remotely,” Schreiber said.

Schreiber also noted the current gap in service availability at home. “Many people do not realise that 101 out of the 348 existing Home Affairs offices still do not even have the capability to issue smart IDs,” he said.

He added that the department plans to scale up its partnership with banks to expand access.

To support these sweeping reforms, Schreiber tabled a budget of R11 billion for  Home Affairs for the 2025/26 financial year.

This includes a baseline increase of R321 million this year, R1.2 billion in 2026/27, and R369 million in 2027/28. The  Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will receive R2.1 billion this year, including an additional R885 million to prepare for the 2026 local government elections, he said.

The Government Printing Works is allocated R1.8 billion for this year.

However, Schreiber cautioned that the Border Management Authority (BMA) remains underfunded, despite its key role in digital transformation and immigration security.

“The BMA budget will only increase from R1.7 billion to R1.9 billion over the next three years, which, as I say, remains insufficient,” he said.

“We will continue to work on self-financing and finding alternative revenue sources for the BMA to unlock greater investment and further accelerate our digital transformation efforts.”

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za

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