Getting a Smart ID card
Applying at a bank branch or a Home Affairs office, what it costs, what to bring, and how collection works.
Offices change fees and rules without much warning. Check the official page linked below before you go.
The Smart ID card replaces the green ID book. Some bank branches can now do it, but only for some applications. Everything else still goes through a Home Affairs office.
At a bank branch
A bank branch can convert a green ID book to a Smart ID card, or re-issue a Smart ID card that was lost, stolen or damaged. That includes naturalised citizens and qualifying permanent residents who hold a green ID book. A first ID (for example at 16), a name change or a correction to your details still needs a Home Affairs office.
Home Affairs lists the participating branches on its banks page. According to that page:
- Capitec and Standard Bank take walk-ins without an appointment at participating branches.
- You apply in person, because your fingerprints and photo are taken.
- Home Affairs says you don't need to bring any documents to a bank branch.
- You collect the card at the same branch where you applied, and the bank lets you know when it's ready.
- The application itself takes about 15 minutes at the branch.
At a Home Affairs office
Some offices let you book a slot online through the Home Affairs website. Home Affairs' requirements list asks for:
- First ID, 16 and older: your birth certificate, a certified copy of a parent's or guardian's ID (or death certificates if your parents have died), and proof of address or your residential address.
- First Smart ID card, 60 and older: your green ID book (or an affidavit if it's lost), proof of address or your residential address, and your marriage certificate or divorce decree if either applies.
- First Smart ID card, everyone else: the same as for 60 and older, plus the R140 fee.
What it costs
- Home Affairs charges R140 for a Smart ID card.
- A first ID at 16 or older, and a first Smart ID card at 60 or older, are free according to the requirements brochure.
- Banks may add a convenience fee on top.
- If the card has a mistake that Home Affairs made, the replacement is free.
Before you go
Check the banks page for the current list of branches and whether you need to book. Fees and branches change.
Sources
- Home Affairs: Smart ID at banks (checked 8 October 2026)
- Home Affairs: Smart ID requirements (brochure) (checked 8 October 2026)
- gov.za: Apply for an identity document (checked 8 October 2026)
- gov.za: First bank branches go live under new partnership model (9 March 2026) (checked 8 October 2026)
Checked against these sources by the ZA Survival Guide editors.
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