# SA Birth Certificate for Permanent resident



## Jack14 (Oct 26, 2014)

Hi All

Does anyone know if Permanent resident holders can get SA Birth Certificate ?

I know for a fact that naturalized citizens can get SA birth Certificate printed at Home affairs but I am not sure about Permanent residents 

The personal information of Citizens and permanent residents are captured and stored in the same system (Hanis) Does this mean a birth certificate can be printed for PR Holders from the Hanis ?

Thank you in advance for your response


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## terryZW (Jun 26, 2017)

Jack14 said:


> Hi All
> 
> Does anyone know if Permanent resident holders can get SA Birth Certificate ?
> 
> ...


No. As a permanent resident you cannot get a birth certificate or a passport until you are a citizen.


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

Yes. If the child has permanent residence then the parents can apply for the SA birth certificate regardless of which country the child was born.
Both parent need to go to DHA local office and go to the citizenship counter (where you get IDs for PRP holders) and say you want to apply for the child ID number allocation.

You take the child passport, PRP, verification of PRP, home country birth certificate.
For parents you take SA IDs, Passports, parents birth certificates. 
They give u a form to complete. And it takes just under 2 months for the ID number to be allocated. There after you go to the birth certiificates section and they print u an abridged birth certificate free of charge


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

terryZW said:


> No. As a permanent resident you cannot get a birth certificate or a passport until you are a citizen.


Thats not true Terry. If the child is a PRP holder he/she can get an SA birth certificate. Its just a process most people are not aware of.


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## Jack14 (Oct 26, 2014)

jollem said:


> Yes. If the child has permanent residence then the parents can apply for the SA birth certificate regardless of which country the child was born.
> Both parent need to go to DHA local office and go to the citizenship counter (where you get IDs for PRP holders) and say you want to apply for the child ID number allocation.
> 
> You take the child passport, PRP, verification of PRP, home country birth certificate.
> ...


Hi Jollem

Thank you for the above explanation, it makes a lot of sense. I guess once the birth details has been captured on the HANIS system and ID Number has been allocated, it will be just a matter of printing a birth certificate from the system 

With regards to Passport we all know only citizens can get it


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

just forgot to add that they also need passport fotos for the child


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## Jack14 (Oct 26, 2014)

jollem said:


> just forgot to add that they also need passport fotos for the child


Thank you Jollem


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## papermania (Feb 3, 2017)

Just want to share My experience.

After reading Jollem's post I decided to apply for ID allocation of My Child (Age 3). I visited Cape Town city center DHA office. The inquiry counter sent me to first floor at counter 41 where Birth is recorded. After explaining why I am here , they sent me to the Citizenship counter. After waiting half an hour finally reached the officer who asked me now go to counter 43 where ID application is done. Now counter 43 again asked me to go back to Citizenship counter. No one had a clue on what to do. Everyone was rude and not interested in providing any advise. I almost decided to go back and come again only once child turns 16 years ( as per everyone in DHA office ) . Suddenly I spoke to one DHA employee at counter 43 who seem to have some knowledge. Another friendly lady came to the party and started helping me out after consulting couple of more collegues of her. She herself checked all originals , filled out application form, took fingerprints of My child and gave us a Receipt. She said ID number allocation would be done within a month.


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## Jack14 (Oct 26, 2014)

Hi guys

jollem was correct, Permanent resident permit holders can definitely get a South Africa Birth Certificate regardless of where they were born 

I got one for myself Yesterday and it was free of charge (First Issue)


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## mawire (Jan 27, 2018)

Jack14 said:


> Hi guys
> 
> jollem was correct, Permanent resident permit holders can definitely get a South Africa Birth Certificate regardless of where they were born
> 
> I got one for myself Yesterday and it was free of charge (First Issue)


 Unabridged birth certificate? Why? How old are you?


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## KGM (Aug 19, 2014)

Hi guys. Thanks to this thread, was at DUR Home Affairs yesterday to apply for SA birth certs for my 2 kids (PRP issued in 11/2014). After being posted from counter to counter, I asked to see a Manager who in turn advised 2 things:
1. Wait for next month and start the citizenship process
2. Wait for kids to turn 16 and apply for ID proper
I produced evidence from this thread that ID no allocation for PRP kids is possible and only takes 2 mths but all this landed on deaf ears. I give up!!


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## mawire (Jan 27, 2018)

KGM said:


> Hi guys. Thanks to this thread, was at DUR Home Affairs yesterday to apply for SA birth certs for my 2 kids (PRP issued in 11/2014). After being posted from counter to counter, I asked to see a Manager who in turn advised 2 things:
> 1. Wait for next month and start the citizenship process
> 2. Wait for kids to turn 16 and apply for ID proper
> I produced evidence from this thread that ID no allocation for PRP kids is possible and only takes 2 mths but all this landed on deaf ears. I give up!!


I wouldn't give up if I were you. But would ask people who did it, which offices did for them and go there! Facebook page is a good start.


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## KGM (Aug 19, 2014)

mawire said:


> I wouldn't give up if I were you. But would ask people who did it, which offices did for them and go there! Facebook page is a good start.


Thanks Mawire, which Facebook page are you referring to?


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## mawire (Jan 27, 2018)

KGM said:


> Thanks Mawire, which Facebook page are you referring to?


South African Visa Forum


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

What is DUR Home affairs. Which city are you? 

You need to go to the Citizeship counter (or the counter where people get IDs based on permanent residence)


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## KGM (Aug 19, 2014)

jollem said:


> What is DUR Home affairs. Which city are you?
> 
> You need to go to the Citizeship counter (or the counter where people get IDs based on permanent residence)


Hi Jollem

I went to Durban Umgeni rd Home Affairs. Started at the ID counter before being referred to the Citizenship counter which then posted me to Birth certificate section. Nothing worked on the day but I will give it another try when schools close.

I was very clear I needed to apply for ID no allocation for children below the age of 16 who are both PR holders with their PRs already verified for ID purposes. 

Regards


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## Princesskreationz (Jan 30, 2017)

papermania said:


> Just want to share My experience.
> 
> After reading Jollem's post I decided to apply for ID allocation of My Child (Age 3). I visited Cape Town city center DHA office. The inquiry counter sent me to first floor at counter 41 where Birth is recorded. After explaining why I am here , they sent me to the Citizenship counter. After waiting half an hour finally reached the officer who asked me now go to counter 43 where ID application is done. Now counter 43 again asked me to go back to Citizenship counter. No one had a clue on what to do. Everyone was rude and not interested in providing any advise. I almost decided to go back and come again only once child turns 16 years ( as per everyone in DHA office ) . Suddenly I spoke to one DHA employee at counter 43 who seem to have some knowledge. Another friendly lady came to the party and started helping me out after consulting couple of more collegues of her. She herself checked all originals , filled out application form, took fingerprints of My child and gave us a Receipt. She said ID number allocation would be done within a month.


Hi, did you manage to get an ID number and a birth certificate for the child? iam planning to do the same for my son


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## KGM (Aug 19, 2014)

Long walk to documentation. My 2 kids have been PR holders for just over 5 yrs. Still no SA id no allocated nor SA birth certificate. I approached Durban Home Affairs again yesterday and after lengthy consultations was told
1. Children of PR holders will not be issued with SA birth certificates. They will continue to use home country birth certs
2. Children of PR holders will only be issued with SA ID no upon turning 16
3. Since SA ID no is mandatory for Citizenship application purposes, children of PR holders can only start the citizenship by naturalization process at age 16

The supervisor says DHA is aware that some children of PR holders were issued with SA ID numbers, birth certificates or even passports in error and as such they have put in place a process to cancel these three documents the very next time such children or parents approach home affairs offices or border posts for any service.


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## Jack14 (Oct 26, 2014)

KGM said:


> Long walk to documentation. My 2 kids have been PR holders for just over 5 yrs. Still no SA id no allocated nor SA birth certificate. I approached Durban Home Affairs again yesterday and after lengthy consultations was told
> 1. Children of PR holders will not be issued with SA birth certificates. They will continue to use home country birth certs
> The supervisor is surely referring to children of PR Holder born in SA, they will not be issue with SA birth certificate with SA Citizen ID number upon registration of their birth
> 2. Children of PR holders will only be issued with SA ID no upon turning 16
> ...


Hi 

1. Children of PR holders will not be issued with SA birth certificates. They will continue to use home country birth certs
The supervisor is surely referring to children of PR Holder born in SA, they will not be issue with SA birth certificate with SA Citizen ID number upon registration of their birth

2. Children of PR holders will only be issued with SA ID no upon turning 16
the supervisor is very wrong, once ID number has been allocation, you can get a birth certificate from any HA office in the country 

3. Since SA ID no is mandatory for Citizenship application purposes, children of PR holders can only start the citizenship by naturalization process at age 16
Wrong, wrong and wrong, they are talking nonsense 

All what they told you is nonsense, the supervisor you spoke to doesn't know what they are talking about as usual, in their mind the word birth certificate means citizenship that is why they told you all that nonsense 

I suggest you go back or go to another HA office, go to the person that deals with ID Book application for permanent resident, tell them that you want to apply for ID Number allocation for a child who is a permanent resident holder, don't mention Birth Certificate because to some of them birth certificate means Citizenship 

Once the ID Number is allocated you can go to any HA Office and get a birth certificate printed free of charge 

At this point just ask for ID number allocation, make it clear to them that you want PR ID Number and not Citizens ID Number 

Good luck


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## KGM (Aug 19, 2014)

Hi Jack
Thanks for all the pointers. I will try a different home affairs branch when schools close. Officials at the main branch in Durban know nothing about PR id no allocation for children. Their default response is "wait till your kids are 16", a long wait since my kids are way below that age. Cheers


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## chris_mave (Jun 24, 2016)

agree with above, i got id number allocated and an sa birth certificate for my son. recently flew out of the country and present sa birth certificate and PR and foreign passport. Went out and back in no issues. I did all mine at DHA randburg. id no allocation took a few months but once i got it - birth certificate was printed same day i applied for free.


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## The Apostle (Mar 29, 2018)

Anyone can get a birth certificate (unabridged) from the DHA, but the birth details need to be registered on the system and a copy stored in the vault first. The DHA does not store your parents details (needed for an unabridged copy) linked to yours on the system.

It is very simple - unless your birth details (not just your ID number) are already registered, you won't be able to obtain the certificate.


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## chris_mave (Jun 24, 2016)

The Apostle said:


> Anyone can get a birth certificate (unabridged) from the DHA, but the birth details need to be registered on the system and a copy stored in the vault first. The DHA does not store your parents details (needed for an unabridged copy) linked to yours on the system.
> 
> It is very simple - unless your birth details (not just your ID number) are already registered, you won't be able to obtain the certificate.


How do you register birth details? Im assuming if i do it now but the time we apply for my sons we may get it?


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## The Apostle (Mar 29, 2018)

chris_mave said:


> How do you register birth details? Im assuming if i do it now but the time we apply for my sons we may get it?


Births must be registered within 30 days of the birth occurring (or within 12 months if the child is born outside SA). If not, a late registration of birth can be done, but this is very arduous as the DHA must have proof that the parents are actually the parents. (Many illegal foreigners abused late registrations of birth processes in the past to obtain citizenship fraudulently.)

We can't help with late registrations of births - I suggest you check with your local DHA what they will require.


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## papermania (Feb 3, 2017)

Sharing My Experience.

We both are Foreign nationals and hold SA PR and ID.

When our child received PR, we went to DHA office and applied for ID allocation. It took 3 months for ID allocation. We also obtained SA Birth certificate with Child's ID number mentioned as well as both parent's. When applied for ID allocation we submitted PR verified copy , Home country Birth certificate, both parents ID and birth certificates from home country.

For Birth certificate you just need to pay 75 rands at DHA. If you have home country birth certificate the SA Birth Certificate might not be of much use anyway however it is still great document to have since it shows your minor child's ID number. When Child turns 16 years it would be easy to obtain ID Book since ID number is already allocated.

I would like to Thank You Jollem who shared his experience here. Without him I never knew that Child can get ID number allocated.


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## Kolly_bright (Nov 18, 2019)

Good people,
Pls correct me if I'm wrong but the original post wasn't referring to children, but PR permit holders which include children I believe. 
Anyway, an adult with a PRP and ID book can apply for SA birth certificate.


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

An adult PRP holder with an ID book can get an SA birth certificate. You dont exactly apply for the birth certificate if you have an ID book. You just show up at DHA at the birth certificates section and they print one for you - same time. If it is the very first time you getting a birth certificate then its free. Any other times you pay some amount. But why would an adult with an ID Book want a birth certificate. Its totally useless.

Also, the birth certificate given to PRP holders is an abridged birth certificate and cannot get an unabridged birth certificate.


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