Bad news about new smart ID card applications

Several permanent residents and naturalised citizens have reported issues when applying for their smart ID cards in the past week.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) opened up smart ID card applications to these individuals on Monday, 12 May 2025.

There are over 1.4 million permanent residents and naturalised citizens in the country who have not been able to apply for smart IDs until recently.

Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber explained that the lack of support for smart ID cards for these people was due to IT system deficiencies.

Department officials resolved the hurdles, and Home Affairs announced a phased approach for these previously unserved groups to get their smart ID cards.

At first, Home Affairs will only accept applications from permanent residents and naturalised citizens born in countries that have visa-free access to South Africa.

These include 106 countries or regions, including nearly all of Europe, many African countries, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

Home Affairs said it used a phased approach to manage the volume of applications.

Phase 1 will also focus on replacing green barcoded ID books rather than issuing new documents for first-time ID applicants.

The department said qualifying applicants would be able to apply at Home Affairs branches with Live Capture systems or bank branches with eHomeAffairs services.

“All applicants will undergo verification against the National Population Register at the Meeter-Greeter station to confirm the authenticity of their Green ID Book details,” the department said.

“Permanent resident permit holders will also be checked for their country of birth, which must be among the 106 countries. Those who do not verify positively may be accommodated during Phase 2.”

However, many permanent residents and naturalised citizens with green ID books born in the qualifying countries have reported that they were still unable to apply for a smart ID card.

One MyBroadband reader said when trying to apply for the smart ID card via eHomeAffairs, they were presented with an error stating “No ID application can be captured — Applicant is a Permanent Resident.”

Another reader who was also from a visa-exempt country alleged that an official at a Home Affairs branch said the functionality was not live yet and that the minister rushed the announcement.

“He also had no ETA, he just smiled when I asked him when he thinks I should apply again,” the reader said.

Additional documents needed for verification

MyBroadband forum members keen to apply for the card have also reported that the department requires a naturalisation or permanent residency certificate to process their smart ID card application.

“Kinda stupid really as in the last 40 odd years I’ve never had to produce anything when applying for a new ID book,” one said.

“I was naturalised in the 80s, that certificate is long gone, I think,” another said.

A third MyBroadband forum member said they could not register for eHomeAffairs to begin the online application process as the system told them they needed an ID number to register.

If an applicant cannot supply a permanent residence permit, they must fill out a BI-829 form to be issued a duplicate of the document.

Naturalised citizens without naturalisation certificates must also apply for a duplicate of their document before submitting their ID card application.

Bank-based DHA branches are limited to issuing smart ID cards and passports, which means those without the necessary certificates must visit a regular Home Affairs branch.

Those who have the proper documents and who have been successful in getting through the smart ID card application process face another problem if they want to do it at a bank branch — limited slot availability.

Even before the smart ID card became available to permanent residents and naturalised citizens, a number of banks participating in the eHomeAffairs confirmed a shortage of booking slots.

Several said that at least some of their branches supporting Home Affairs services had their slots fully booked several weeks in advance or had only a few slots available.

This has led to many customers getting frustrated with their banks, despite eHomeAffairs branch availability and booking functionality being managed by the department.

The number of branches offering the service stagnated at around 30 for several years, and over half of these are concentrated in Gauteng. Two provinces still don’t have any bank-based DHA branches.