Most passport applications that fail do not fail on the form — they fail on the documents around it. This page walks through what the Department of Home Affairs form BI-73 requires: the photographs, the fingerprints, the validity period, the two-month rule, and the consent rules that catch parents out.
The videos
These are the videos that go with this page. They are short, and every claim in them is cited on screen.
PASSPORT SA: The 10-Year Rule, the 2-Month Rule, and the Mistake That Doubles Your Fee
Watch on YouTube — published 2026-09-21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YHwF9eQIb0
What the video covers
- The Form Nobody Reads
- Who May Get One
- You Need An Id Number
- The Two Photos
- Fingerprints, 16 And Up
- How Long It Lasts
- The Two-Month Rule
- Where To Apply
- The Bank-Branch Trap
- Everyone Applies Separately
- Children: Both Parents
- When One Parent Is Absent
- Divorce And Sole Guardianship
- The Surname Rule
- Lost Or Stolen
- Hand In The Old One
- The Three-Month Trap
- The Dual-Citizenship Offence
- The Fee — And Why We Don'T Say It
- Where To Check
The questions this answers
- passport south africa
- birth certificate
- home affairs
- passport application
- passport renewal
- id application
Where the answers come from
Built from Department of Home Affairs — form BI-73 and My Home Affairs Online. Every point in the videos names the source it came from, so you can check it yourself:
- DHA · My Home Affairs Online
- DHA · form BI-73, fees §2
- DHA · form BI-73, instructions
- DHA · form BI-73, minor consent §C
- DHA · form BI-73, photographs §3
- DHA · form BI-73, validity §4
- DHA · partner-branch service
Watch and subscribe
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Independent guide. Not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs. Every rule here is transcribed from the department's own passport application form, BI-73 — fees are revised every April and are NOT quoted in this video. Confirm current fees, forms and office details on dha.gov.za or at your ne
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