Major legal win for South Africans living abroad

Home Affairs has launched a new digital Citizenship Reinstatement Portal, enabling South Africans who unconstitutionally lost their citizenship to verify and restore it easily from anywhere in the world.

Xpatweb explained that this new, first-of-its-kind online platform allows affected individuals to verify and reinstate their South African citizenship through a simple digital process.

On Monday, 24 November 2025, Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber announced the launch of this platform.

In doing so, he fulfilled the commitment he made six months ago that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) would develop a portal to assist all South Africans who have lost their citizenship.

Many individuals have lost their citizenship under Section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act of 1995, which has since been unanimously declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

The previously enforced section caused South Africans to automatically lose their citizenship if they acquired another nationality without first obtaining permission from the Minister.

The judgment confirmed the earlier Supreme Court of Appeal ruling and restored South African citizenship to all individuals affected under this provision since 6 October 1995.

The court held that stripping citizens of their nationality without sufficient cause was unconstitutional and affirmed that affected individuals are now deemed never to have lost their citizenship.

The Home Affairs Citizenship Reinstatement Portal, which gives practical effect to the court ruling, is also a major step forward in the DHA’s commitment to using digital transformation to deliver Home Affairs @ home.

The platform is particularly beneficial for South Africans living abroad, enabling them to verify and confirm their status and, where necessary, complete the process of restoring their citizenship.

The process avoids queues and paperwork altogether. Instead, it uses facial recognition and machine learning to verify the user’s identity and securely update their records on the population register.

The DHA explained that this can all be done from the comfort of one’s own home, anywhere in the world, instantly.

“This not only ensures compliance with the Constitutional Court order but also positions Home Affairs at the global cutting-edge of biometric verification and machine learning technology to deliver digital public infrastructure,” Schreiber said.

“Very few countries offer digital citizenship services at this level of sophistication.” Over time, he said, the underlying technology that has been built for the platform will enable the DHA to deliver a digital ID.

It will also enhance immigration and citizenship law enforcement by eliminating reliance on paperwork and manual verification.

Using the platfrom

South Africans abroad can begin the process by visiting myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za. The website provides a step-by-step guide on how to apply, from registering to submitting.

After creating a profile and confirming their email, users can verify their citizenship status using their ID number and complete biometric verification.

Users can then proceed with a confirmation of the reinstatement application. If citizenship remains valid, users will be notified immediately. The portal provides –

• Secure digital authentication
• Advanced document and biometric verification
• Integration with the National Population Register
• An interface to track application progress

On the minister’s Instagram post announcing the portal, users praised the portal. Immigration experts also welcomed the development.

Xpatweb’s head of immigration, Jaco Brits, said that after the Constitutional Court ruling clarified the legal position, the Department has now delivered on its promise by developing a platform to administratively process reinstatements.

He noted that the judgment does not apply to individuals who voluntarily renounced their South African citizenship, nor to those who lost their citizenship through conversion before 6 October 1995.

Correcting a wrong

Since 6 October 1995, section 6(1)(a) has resulted in South Africans automatically losing their citizenship upon obtaining another nationality unless they first applied for retention.

Many only discovered their loss when applying for passports, IDs, or registering births abroad. The Court found that this was irrational, unconstitutional, and violated the right to citizenship.

Many of the nearly 2 million South Africans residing abroad may have been affected by this provision. This includes South Africans who formally completed their financial emigration through the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

Tax Consulting South Africa Team Lead of Cross-Border Taxation, John-Paul Fraser, urged these individuals to verify whether their citizenship had been unconstitutionally affected due to the defunct section in the act.

“It is often believed that officially emigrating requires you to give up your citizenship and identity as a South African, a very emotive issue,” he said.

“This is incorrect. Registering an official emigration with SARS and the SARB does not affect your South African citizenship but simply declares you a non-resident taxpayer for tax purposes locally.

Until such time as someone actively decides to relinquish their citizenship, Fraser said they remain a South African citizen and retain the right to return whenever they choose.

Schreiber reiterated that South African law permits dual citizenship and that there was no justification for depriving South Africans of their birthright in the manner previously done.

“We have now addressed this by creating a pathway for South Africans affected to correct this wrong,” he explained.

“At the same time, Home Affairs is building a digital service delivery revolution, storming into the future to transform South Africa into a world leader in smart government that delivers dignity for all.”