South Africa - How To Apply for change of Sex Description

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To apply for changing sex description, the person who wishes to do should pay a visit to the office of Department of Home affairs which is nearest to the applying person’s location.
2. Please click on the following link for the contact details and address of the office of Department of Home affairs:Link Among the list of provinces, click on your province name and get the details accordingly.
3. Go to the office of the DHA and get the Application form to apply for changing Sex Description, from the concerned department.
4. Complete the application form as required and provide the personal details appropriately.
5. Ensure that you have all the documents listed in the “Required documents” of this page and attach all the documents with application form.
6. Submit the application and documents to the Director-General at the Department of Home affairs office and also pay the prescribed fees as directed.
7. After all the necessary processes, if the application form and all the documents are found in order, the Director-General will grant the request made through the application.
8. Then, the Director-General will make amendments to make the concerned alteration in the birth register.

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Required Documents

• Identification document
• Birth certificate of the applicant
• Medical report by a practitioner (in case of sex change operation)
• Medical report as second opinion by another practitioner for examining the sexual characteristics of applicant
• Report by a Medical practitioner as a proof of the applicant’s intersex
• Report by a Psychologist or social worker proving the stable life process of the applicant, for at least two months, in the concerned gender role

Office Locations & Contacts

Department of Home Affairs - Head Office
Physical Address : Hallmark Building,
230 Johannes Ramokhoase,
Pretoria,
Gauteng,
0001,
South Africa.
Postal Adress : Private Bag X114,
Pretoria,
0001,
Phone: 012 406 2500
Email: [email protected]
Website ,Link 2

Department Of Home Affairs Offices

Eligibility

• Any person, whose sex description has been recorded incorrectly in a birth certificate or identity document issued by the Department of home affairs, can apply.
• Any person who has undergone a transformation in their gender and wants to record their gender change officially.
• Any person belonging to intersex category may apply to the Director-General of the National Department of Home Affairs for the alteration of the sex description on his or her birth register.

Fees

• Please contact the officials at the DHA office for the fees details of the requirement that you opt for.
  

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

• Application form: Link
  

Sample Documents

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Processing Time

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Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
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Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
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e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• If the Director-General refuses the application, he/she must furnish the applicant with written reasons for the decision and the applicant may appeal to the Minister of Home Affairs against the decision taken by the Director-General.
• In such cases, the application must be lodged to the Minister within 14 days after the decision of the Director-General was made known and must be accompanied by the documents required and the reasons for the Director-General's refusal.
• If the application is refused again, the applicant may apply to the magistrate of the district in which he or she resides for an order directing the change of his or her sex description. The application must be accompanied by the documents required and the reasons for the Minister's refusal.
• On the date and at the time determined by the magistrate, the applicant must appear before the magistrate in chambers. The applicant must furnish such additional information at the request of the magistrate and proof as the magistrate may require.
• If the application is granted, the magistrate must issue an order directing the Director-General to alter the sex description in the birth register of the person named in the order.

Required Information

• Forename and surname of the applicant
• Address and email address of the applicant
• Date of birth
• Identity number

Need for the Document

• This process is required whenever a person has undergone any gender change artificially or by natural development or in cases where the Sex description has recorded incorrectly.
  

Information which might help

• If any information contained within a document issued by the Department of Home Affairs is incorrect as a result of a departmental error, the error will be corrected free of charge.
• However, if the mistake was on the part of the applicant, correction of the information will have to be applied for by completing Form BI-526 and the prescribed fee must be paid.  Submission of proof of the correct information is a prerequisite in such instances.
• An applicant may, on his or her appearance before the magistrate be assisted by a legal representative.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

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e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

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Others

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