Zimbabweans living in South Africa are set to feel a pinch in their wallets as their government has raised the passport application fee.
The Zimbabwe Consulate in Johannesburg announced that all e-passport applications will be treated as express or emergency. This means that Zimbabweans in South Africa applying for a passport at the consulate will have to pay US$250 plus an application fee. In Zimbabwe, an ordinary passport application, which takes seven days, costs US$150, with an additional $20 application fee.
In a surprising announcement, Zimbabwe’s embassy in South Africa stated that the option for a regular passport application would not be available to Zimbabweans living there.
Also read: Johannesburg Zimbabwe Passport Centre To Open This Month: Here Is What You Need To Know
Why Zimbabwe Increased Passport Fee For Citizens Living In South Africa
According to the Zimbabwe Consul General Eria Phiri, the Ministry of Home Affairs has directed this change, though no explanation has been provided for the decision.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed that all e-passport applications that are processed at the consulate in Johannesburg shall be handled as express/emergency applications,” Zimbabwe Consul General Eria Phiri said in a statement dated 26 July.
Zimbabwe recently began processing passport applications at its consulate in Johannesburg, which serves a large Zimbabwean population in South Africa estimated to be between one to three million people.
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The passport application fee increase comes at a time when South Africa’s new Home Affairs Minister, Leon Schreiber, has launched an intensified deportation campaign.
Zimbabwe’s passport is already the most expensive in the Southern African region. An adult passport costs R600 in South Africa, P260 in Botswana, and R400 in Namibia.-iharare
