Home affairs grief

[Monz]

Hi there,

Sorry this half sounds like a rant but it's beyond frustrating. I have had a guts full of Home Affairs over the years, since around 2008 I've been trying to get my documents together and I just don't know what to do anymore.

Backstory: I'm trying to apply for an EU passport through the Portuguese embassy and they gave us a list of documents to get. I initially had all of them but the problem is that on my vault copy of my birth certificate it has my dad's surname. My mom changed my surname to her maiden name when I was a minor. So my ID is in my current surname and the vault copy reflects my old surname.
This will be an issue with the application process so the embassy advised either an amendment to the vault copy (which I've been told is not possible) or to apply for confirmation letter of the change of a major's forenames and/or surname as supporting documentation so that they don't mess up my surname.

Problem: I applied for that confirmation letter on the 19/08/2014 and I haven't received it yet. I opened up a case with them and everything, still nothing. So I paid an immigration practitioner to help me out through a reference as apparently she had contacts in the department in Pretoria. She's been particularly bad with communication and I think she's just ignoring me now. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere with this at all and I want to give up

Question: has anyone had a similar issue and managed to resolve it? Or, do you happen to have any contacts for people/companies who handle applications on behalf of you that would be able to expedite the process.

TL;DR: Having trouble getting a document from home affairs, does anyone have contacts that could help or have you faced a similar issue and know how to go about solving it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RyanPCMR]

Normally these things get sorted out just before a major election. Best of luck though. :erm:

 

[Monz]

Er thanks lol, maybe I should just reapply in hopes I get lucky this time around *sigh*

 

[HavocXphere]

Just keep trying

 

[Beachless]

From past experience the systems that store these documents go down for large periods of time, SARS even started maintaining some of the systems at their offices. You can try and log a case once in a while and hope for the best.

 

[deweyzeph]

The Portuguese embassy are being difficult too. There's no reason they shouldn't accept a standard unabridged birth certificate. Asking for a vault copy of your birth certificate is ridiculous.

 

[Monz]

Thanks deweyzeph - I hadn't thought of it from that perspective actually, I'll try get in touch with their head office in Joburg for more info. If that is the case then I could already apply

 

[Chadstick]

Eish, that sounds hectic. I'm also trying to register as a Portuguese citizen since my mom is a citizen. Did you apply for your vault copy via home affairs yourself or through an agency? And how long did it take to get?

My advice try contact the people at bunnyhop.co.za. They help with certificates and maybe they can help out. Worth a try. I've applied through them for my vault copy (been a month only) and tomorrow going to apply for my mom and dads unabridged birth certs and marriage cert.

 

[Monz]

I have got my vault copy birth cert but it did take a while. I had applied on my own & had to open up a case probably took around a year of battling with them but I got it in the end. I'll get in touch with them and see if they can help the person I'd paid to help me seems to have no interest in my case any longer so I've pretty much ruled her out.