Newborns are not charged for birth certificates. You will be required to submit the following forms to your closest South African mission, embassy or consulate if you are abroad if you lost your birth certificate, want a new unabridged copy, or need further copies.
- BI-154 form
- ID or certified copies of your ID
- Application fee
In South Africa, a copy of a birth certificate costs R75. But you have to apply for it at the Department of Home Affairs yourself, and it can take up to six months before you receive it.
If you’re looking for a copy of a birth certificate, there must be a reason for doing so. Planning to travel abroad with a minor? Or perhaps you need it to apply for immigration? It’s not an option to wait half a year to address these circumstances. In this situation, you can apply through an agent such as Doc Assist, but it will cost a little extra. With document procurement agents, the entire process takes less time, effort, and frustration.
How Much Does an Unabridged Birth Certificate Cost in South Africa?
In South Africa, anything related to the Home Affairs Department is a challenge. Because we need the documents for practically everything, we are at their mercy. The process will be faster and easier if you work with an agent like Doc Assist.
Doc Assist provides free quotes, and the amount you’ll pay will depend on the route you take and the number of documents you’re applying for. By taking care of all the work, we make it our job to make it easy for you. There are two ways to apply for a birth certificate through DocAssist:
You apply directly to DHA, and we expedite the process.
We will obtain your birth certificate for you and mail it to wherever you are located.
In the case of option 2, we will apply on your behalf at the Department of Home Affairs and collect the documents when they are ready. If your documents need to be apostilled, we will send them to Dirco and collect them once ready. All documents will be sent to you via DHL, so you won’t have to do anything.
How much does it cost? I’m sure you’re wondering. Short answer: It depends on the number of documents you apply for. Once we have all the details, we can give you a quote. Navigate to REQUEST A QUOTE, fill out the form, and we will contact you with a quote. You can also contact us by email or phone.
Even though making your own application might be cheaper, it will take much longer. However, the frustration of standing in line all day and the possibility that something might go wrong and you may have to go back a second time still exists.
We don’t have any set timeline for how long it will take. However, we can assure you that you won’t have to wait several months as you would if you applied directly to the DHA. Get in touch with DocAssist to learn more or to apply for your birth certificate.