Julie's Boggle

A rather unwelcome discovery recently was that despite a number of changes to the rules and regulations in 2004, the South African government still take it rather personally if you don’t ask them before applying for a second citizenship.

When I started down the road to British citizenship, I was aware that I first needed to fill in a bunch of paperwork for the South African side – just in order to be allowed to hold two citizenships. I jumped through many hoops and got my hands on a precious letter from the UK home office (precious because it took two tries and the better part of two months to get it!), declaring that I was not already a British citizen.

(This letter was the document on which the South African application was founded.)

Not really knowing what they actually were going to do with it all, I thought I should hang onto all of the SA paperwork, and this letter, until I was about to apply for my UK citizenship. But then our trip to Australia was too close, I couldn’t risk sending off my passport, so it all went on hold for few months.

In the interim the letter from the home office expired (in the eyes of the South Africans) because it was more than 3 months old.

Round about that time there was much joy and merriment because some of the rules were being relaxed. It was no longer necessary for a South African to have a letter to use a UK passport. (NOTE: as long as any visits home were done on their SA passport.) I read all the pages on the SA consulate website and concluded that I was safe. The letter was no longer required. Shred the paperwork, and full steam ahead with the UK application.

Two years on, and one British passport later, it appears that it was all very misleading. You DO still need to apply to SA for a letter (another letter!) for permission to get ANOTHER citizenship. And if you don’t do this first, you automatically lose your South African citizenship.

Which puts me in a rather unfortunate position right now And complicated because travelling back to SA this week, I really need to know which passport I should rightly be using…

Thinking that I might not be South African any more feels kind of odd… The UK passport was for convenience, I didn’t actually want to say goodbye to my roots just yet. (I read you can claim citizenship back if you return to SA permanently, but let’s face it, that will be a lot of hassle.)

With the travelling and all, I battered on the SA Consulate’s doors (emails, phone calls and snail-mail) until I was curtly told to make an appointment. That wasn’t easy either – and there’s a real oddball there called Mr Boston who leaves the most confusing voicemails – but I have my appointment on Wednesday.

So let’s hold thumbs for Wednesday that the plea of ignorance works. Because as far as I’m concerned, it’s all been a ghastly mistake… and I want my citizenship back !