{"id":1647,"date":"2025-04-03T07:44:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T07:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/?page_id=1647"},"modified":"2025-06-12T09:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T09:06:04","slug":"emergency-travel-certificate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency travel certificate"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"1647\" class=\"elementor elementor-1647\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"aux-parallax-section elementor-element elementor-element-8ab6295 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8ab6295\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-129e990 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"129e990\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Emergency travel certificate<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"aux-parallax-section elementor-element elementor-element-b6437a6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b6437a6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-77e7456 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"77e7456\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em><strong>Processing time: 5 \u2013 10 business days<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fee:\u00a0<span class=\"has-inline-color\">C<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"has-inline-color\">$11<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"has-inline-color\">(Effective from 01 NOV 2022)<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p>Emergency Travel Certificates are issued to South Africans who has to travel back home (one way to South Africa) urgently for reasons of death, sickness or any other emergency.\u00a0 It is in a 1 page form and is valid for 9 months from date of issue. It cannot be used to go to other countries except when transiting on your way to South Africa.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Emergency Travel Certificates cannot be issued to people aged 16 and older if they have never applied for ID book. Home Affairs will need to receive the ID Application first. We advise that both applications for Emergency Travel Certificate and first time ID be submitted by people under that category.<\/h2><h3>Kindly Note the following:<\/h3><ul><li>Applicants for Emergency Travel Certificates are now required to come collect their certificates from The South African Consulate General or the South African High Commission in person.\u00a0This applies to all applicants aged 16 and older.<\/li><li>Applications and money orders can be mailed in to start the process to obtain approval from the Department of Home affairs.\u00a0This takes about 10 business days.<\/li><li>Applicants will receive an email to inform them when to come to collect certificates after The Consulate or The High Commission has received the approval. The Consulate or the High Commission will administer final fingerprints required to authenticate the Travel Certificate.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Requirements:<\/h2><ul><li>Written motivation for the issuing of the Emergency Travel Certificate, along with any proof of the urgency of the trip (e.g. confirmation of funeral arrangements, doctor\u2019s letter confirming sickness, police report, etc.)<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2025\/04\/bi73.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">BI 73<\/a>\u00a0Passport Application form; with signature and left thumb print of people 16 years and older. Section B to be certified by an official who will take your left thumbprint. You have to sign section \u2018signature of the applicant\u2019 in the middle of the signature box if you are 16 and older. Page 2 is to be signed by ages 18+. Parents for 17 and below must sign page 2 including declaration. The address section is to be completed with your Canadian residential address and your telephone numbers.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>BI 9 \/DHA-9 FORM (COMPULSORY FOR ALL PEOPLE 16 YEARS AND OLDER)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Full set of fingerprints. This form must be submitted by applicants 16 years old and older. Complete in full and sign. Include email where possible. Fingerprints can be taken at the nearest police station, fingerprints taking centers or notary public office. Electronic fingerprints on police cards are not accepted.\u00a0<strong>This form is not downloadable. Please send a self-addressed stamped envelope with a request for BI-9 to receive this form<\/strong>. Please note that BI-9 is A-4 (30x21cms) size form, which may not be folded. Your stamped envelope should be able to fit unfolded page.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2025\/04\/BI-529_Determination_Citizenship.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">BI 529<\/a>, Determination of citizenship; Compulsory for all applications. When fully completed please ensure that your form is signed and dated. Page 1 is about the applicant and when they left South Africa. Question 9 is important and the reason why you left. Page 2 is about the applicant parents. Complete the information to the best of your ability even if parents are deceased. Don\u2019t forget to sign and write your Canada residential address.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>CONFIRMED FLIGHT ITINERARY PREFERABLY NOT GOING THROUGH COUNTRIES THAT REQUIRE VISAS. REMEMBER: ONCE CERTIFICATE IS ISSUED YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE ROUTE BUT YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR DEPARTURE DATE<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Divorce decree. To be submitted by divorced female applicants who wish to retain their maiden name. Those applicants who wish to change their surname to their new married surname should include a decree of divorce and their current marriage certificate;<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Certified copy of marriage certificate. To be submitted by married women irrespective of whether they will or will not change their surname;<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Certified copy of South African ID book and\/or Birth Certificate;<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Certified copy of Canadian Citizenship Certificate, PR card, study or work permit;<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Notarized certificate of naturalization. To be submitted by applicants who are naturalized South Africans.<\/li><\/ul><div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\"><ul><li><strong>Two\u00a0<\/strong>passport size photos with white background which must comply with the description below:<ul><li>Two identical colour photos<\/li><li>Be taken with a\u00a0<strong>white<\/strong>\u00a0background<\/li><li>35mm in width and 45mm in height also called immigration size in Canada<\/li><li>A close-up of your head and top of your shoulders so that your face takes up 70 \u2013 80% of the photograph<\/li><li>Of high quality with no ink marks or creases and not damaged<\/li><li>Show you looking directly at the camera<\/li><li>Have appropriate brightness and contrast<\/li><li>Be printed on high-quality photo paper<\/li><li>Show your natural colour<\/li><li>Show your eyes open and clearly visible \u2013 no hair across your face<\/li><li>Show you facing square onto the camera, not looking over one shoulder (portrait style) or tilted<\/li><li>Show both edges of your face clearly<\/li><li>Be taken with uniform lighting and not show shadows or flash reflections on your face and no red-eye<\/li><li>Show you alone (no chair backs, toys or other people visible)<\/li><li>Please click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2025\/04\/Passport-ID-Photo-Standards-Flyer-23-April-2009.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" data-featherlight=\"image\">here<\/a>\u00a0to read more about photo specifications<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><ul><li>Certified copy of your current passport front page<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Money order for\u00a0CAN $ 11.00\u00a0made payable to the \u201cSouth African Consulate General\u201d in Toronto\u00a0or\u00a0to the \u201cSouth African High Commission\u201d in Ottawa.\u00a0No\u00a0cash;\u00a0no\u00a0personal cheques please.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>In case of medical emergency we require a letter from the Medical Practitioner in South Africa.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Death emergency must be supported by Death Certificate from Home Affairs<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Please ensure that you submit\u00a0<strong><span class=\"has-inline-color\">two\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>sets of the application:\u00a0<span class=\"has-inline-color\">(a)<\/span>\u00a0the original application forms with supporting documents, and\u00a0<span class=\"has-inline-color\">(b)<\/span>\u00a0a copy of the complete set.<\/li><\/ul><p>All forms to be completed in\u00a0<strong>BLACK<\/strong>\u00a0ink.<\/p><p>Do\u00a0<strong>NOT<\/strong>\u00a0to write \u201cN\/A\u201d or draw lines through the form if the question does not apply, leave blank space.<\/p><p>Do\u00a0<strong>NOT\u00a0<\/strong>use wite-out.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emergency travel certificate Processing time: 5 \u2013 10 business days Fee:\u00a0C\u00a0$11\u00a0(Effective from 01 NOV 2022) Emergency Travel Certificates are issued to South Africans who has to travel back home (one way to South Africa) urgently for reasons of death, sickness or any other emergency.\u00a0 It is in a 1 page form and is valid for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1647","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Emergency travel certificate - South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emergency travel certificate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emergency travel certificate Processing time: 5 \u2013 10 business days Fee:\u00a0C\u00a0$11\u00a0(Effective from 01 NOV 2022) Emergency Travel Certificates are issued to South Africans who has to travel back home (one way to South Africa) urgently for reasons of death, sickness or any other emergency.\u00a0 It is in a 1 page form and is valid for [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T09:06:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/emergency-travel-certificate\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/emergency-travel-certificate\\\/\",\"name\":\"Emergency travel certificate - South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-03T07:44:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-12T09:06:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/emergency-travel-certificate\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/emergency-travel-certificate\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/emergency-travel-certificate\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Emergency travel certificate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/\",\"name\":\"South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dirco.gov.za\\\/ottawa\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Emergency travel certificate - South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Emergency travel certificate","og_description":"Emergency travel certificate Processing time: 5 \u2013 10 business days Fee:\u00a0C\u00a0$11\u00a0(Effective from 01 NOV 2022) Emergency Travel Certificates are issued to South Africans who has to travel back home (one way to South Africa) urgently for reasons of death, sickness or any other emergency.\u00a0 It is in a 1 page form and is valid for [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/","og_site_name":"South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada","article_modified_time":"2025-06-12T09:06:04+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/","url":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/","name":"Emergency travel certificate - South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-03T07:44:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-12T09:06:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/emergency-travel-certificate\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Emergency travel certificate"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/","name":"South African High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1647"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2375,"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1647\/revisions\/2375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dirco.gov.za\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}