Dear Mr. Schreiber,

As a South African citizen I am truly at a loss at how the Home Affairs department does not service its citizens.

I am a South African citizen residing in UAE due to being employment. My passport is due to expire in September 2025. I have completed an application at the South African Embassy in UAE in April 2025 and to date I have not received my passport. As my current residency and work employment is directly linked to me having a valid passport - I am now facing the possibility of losing my employment.

In the hopes of fast tracking and expediting the process, I have returned to SA for the school holidays and had made an online application and booked for a visit to an FNB branch (Sandton). However - on arrival I was told by the assistant/agent that they cannot submit my application as there is a block on my application due to my application via the Embassy still showing as not collected. Allegedly, only the Head Office is able to close an application and I have tried on numerous occasion via email and telephone to reach them but have been unsuccessful. I have also been turned away from the head office as apparently they do not take walk ins.

I have contacted the SA Embassy in UAE and have been told that they have not received any passports for the past 3 weeks.

I am now sitting in an unenviable position of having no passports, stuck in South Africa and in all likelihood will lose my employment in UAE.

Please may you assist and escalate this issue.

Best,
Nur’ayn