# passport stolen



## somsom2011 (Mar 31, 2011)

I have a residence permit in south Africa ,however i have been in UK for a visit but my passport got stolen there , now i would like to return to south Africa , i have applied for a new passport which i have now . can i travel by using the old passport along with copies of the old passport and permits ?.


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2011)

I would suggest that you contact the South African High Commission and try to have the permit re-issued before you come to South Africa.

When you come back to South Africa and present the copy of your permit at border control, you may be issued with a visitor's visa (which in theory would replace the residency permit you held). 

A further potential problem may be that Home Affairs here may ask why you did not approach the embassy before coming back to South Africa.

There has been a lot of fraud in the past, and so if you enter South Africa with only a photocopy of the permit, Immigration will be extremely suspicious. 

Thus, I would seriously advise you try to have this sorted before coming back to South Africa. This will prevent a lot of problems!


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## somsom2011 (Mar 31, 2011)

Joaschim said:


> I would suggest that you contact the South African High Commission and try to have the permit re-issued before you come to South Africa.
> 
> When you come back to South Africa and present the copy of your permit at border control, you may be issued with a visitor's visa (which in theory would replace the residency permit you held).
> 
> ...


many thanks for your reply i really appreciate it , i contacted the embassy and they said that i can apply for a visitor visa then i can replace the old visa to the new passport after being in south Africa .but i am worried regarding the new amendment bill that prevent people with visitor visa to apply for further permit within south Africa . does that apply to my case ?will they ask me to come back to my origin country to replace my old permits?.and i f i apply for a visitor visa how long does it take?
Regards
.
.


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2011)

It depends on what nationality you are. Some nationals do not need to apply for a visitor's visa as they receive them upon entry at the airport.

The new Immigration Bill would not have an affect on your situation as you are not applying for a new permit, but would request that the current permit be re-issued.

I would, however, still advise caution. The South African High Commission and the Department of Home Affairs rarely agree on proecdures, and both try to avoid any work and are too happy will to have the other deal with it and do the work. 

The ultimate decision is yours, but in our experience, the more you can get done at embassies the better your chances of avoiding complications. 

Unless you get the recommendation in writing from the embassy that they advise you to deal with it once back in SA, they will deny ever having advised you in the first place should Home Affairs give you problems.


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## somsom2011 (Mar 31, 2011)

Dear Joaschim,
i applied for a visitor visa and when i went to collect it they said to me that i have to wait because they said my application for the head office . i have provided copies of my stolen passport /permits to them . so i really confused why they sent to the head office and don't they have system in the embassy to check this permit?and why they make unnecessarily difficult and waste our time ?.thanks in advance .


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