Dual passport holders can face arrest if they enter SA on the wrong passport

CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit speaks with immigration lawyer June Luna.

Listen below:

The Constitutional Court’s recent judgment confirmed the Citizenship Act, which has led to some people with dual citizenship raising questions about the rules of travel.

In terms of the South African Citizenship Act, all adult South African citizens are legally required to enter and leave South Africa using the SA passport.

This is regardless of whether you hold dual citizenship.

If you enter on a foreign passport, you may face a fine or even jail time based on the Act, although arrest is unlikely.

Luna says she only knows of one case of a person being arrested while travelling on their foreign passport, who was a forensic investigator looking into the Guptas in 2017.

“Other than that, I have seen no one arrested, but I think people are scared.”

- June Luna, Immigration Lawyer 

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She says some people who live abroad are concerned about this as it can take as long as six months to replace their South African passport if it expires.

Home Affairs is aware of this problem and has launched a programme to expedite passports for South African citizens.

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