Can I apply for South African citizenship if I was born here to foreign national parents but left before I turned 16?

The long answer

According to Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, a high court ruling in 2023 confirmed that South African citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, or naturalisation. The basic principle of South African citizenship is that a child inherits their parents' nationality or citizenship.

As you probably know, if you were born in South Africa to foreign parents and you lived only there until you were 18, you could apply for citizenship through naturalisation in terms of section 3 of the Citizenship Act. But as you had to leave at 14, this cycle was interrupted. Given that you did not choose to leave South Africa, but were forced to do so by your mother’s death when you were 14 and needed to be taken care of by your family, it may be possible to address this four year gap with Home Affairs. You would need to prove that you were born in South Africa, your birth was registered, and that you lived there up to age 14, until you were forced to leave by the personal tragedy of your mother’s death. 

You could obtain a Determination of Citizenship from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to establish what your status is. You would need to gather supporting documents, including your birth certificate and any proof of your extended stay outside South Africa due to your mother's death.

You would need to submit the Home Affairs B1-529 form and other documents to Home Affairs, which would then verify your information against the National Population Register. This could take up to six months.

But before approaching Home Affairs, I would recommend that you get legal advice about how best to proceed. You could approach one of the following organisations that have much experience with Home Affairs to assist you:

•  Lawyers for Human Rights

Email: [email protected]

Tel: Musina: 015 534 2203

Durban: 031 301 0531

Pretoria: 012 320 2943

Johannesburg: 011 339 1960

Cape Town: 021 424 8561

• Legal Resources Centre

Email: [email protected]

Tel: Johannesburg: 011 836 9831

Cape Town: 021 481 3000

Wishing you the best,
Athalie