Bank branches where you can get your passport and smart ID

There are currently 30 Department of Home Affairs (DHA) approved bank branches in South Africa where residents can apply for their passports and smart IDs.

With the DHA’s pilot deadline of 31 March 2024 fast approaching, it could soon expand these services to more bank branches nationwide.

In November 2023, Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, revealed his department had received confirmation from The Banking Association of South Africa that banks were ready to sign the partnerships.

“The signing of the partnership agreement will, therefore, increase the footprint of bank branches that will be activated, as the agreement comes with infrastructure and human resources from the banks,” the department said.

The pilot project launched in 2015, allowing South African residents an alternative to visiting DHA offices to renew their passports or apply for their smart IDs.

South Africans can use the eHome Affairs platform to submit the required documentation and book an appointment to capture their biometrics at a bank where they hold an account.

The booking process is relatively straightforward, with the platform auto-filling most of the required information. Users must fill in their country of citizenship, birth town, residential and postal address, and choose the bank branch they wish to use.

The DHA will send renewed passports and smart IDs to the same bank branch where the customer’s biometrics were captured.

Once fully launched, the number of DHA-approved bank branches could more than double, with Motsoaledi previously saying 43 bank branches were ready to roll out the services.

According to the department, over 3.5 million South Africans used the system in its eight years of operation.

An expiry date for the pilot was first set for March 2023, after which more bank branches would roll out passport and smart ID services.

However, this target was missed. Thereafter, it was first extended to September 2023 until the department announced that the pilot would again be extended to March 2024.

There are 30 DHA-approved bank branches currently offering passport and smart ID services. These are broken down per bank as follows:

• Standard Bank — 9
• FNB — 7
• Absa — 6
• Nedbank — 6
• Investec Bank — 1
• Discovery Bank — 1

Standard Bank customers have the most choice when it comes to branch bookings. However, its DHA-approved branches are concentrated mainly in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

The table below lists all the bank branches that offer passport and smart ID services in South Africa.