Dear Mr Schreiber
I hope you are well today. in 2015 I renounced my SA Citizenship as Germany did not allow dual citizenship - now they do. At the time the DHA issued me with a new ID number and a letter stating that I automatically have the right to permanent residence as I am South African by birth.
In April this year (2025) I asked the Embassy in Berlin, Germany, for an appointment to reissue my ID. I explained my situation and was given an appointment for 25 June and also a list of documents to prepare. I arrived at my appointment last week and was told that they in fact could not process my application and that I had to wait for an 'online portal' and to contact them again at the end of July. They said they had not expected the constitutional court ruling and had therefore given me the appointment. You can imagine my disappointment as I prepared all the paperwork and travelled 5 hours to get to Berlin and also had hotel costs as I had to stay overnight. I would appreciate to understand why I cannot get my ID reissued as I already have an ID number. Also if you can shed any light on the online process and portal if that is the route I (and many others who are abroad) have to follow. I believe it will be very helpful and useful if Embassies have the most up to date information on the process and the timeline - that way they could better serve their clients. I am currently living in Germany and plan to return home to Cape Town in the near future. With many thanks for providing more clarity. Kind regards and thanks for all the good work which I have been keenly following. Marcelle Reichert