Desperate for a passport
07 Feb 2008
Michelle Nylander
I AM a South African living in Sweden.
I got married last year and changed my name here. In a matter of days, I was issued with a new Swedish identity card.
I contacted the South African embassy in Stockholm and filled out the forms to get a new passport in my married name. I was told by the immigration authorities in Sweden that as my visa is registered under my new name I will need a new passport as they cannot put a visa with a new name in an old passport.
I have had so many hassles with the South African embassy here since October last year. At first the officials could not find my application and then after finding it they told me that my application reached the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria in November and it will take at least six months to get back to me. I have stressed many times that I require my passport for my new visa and for travelling for work purposes.
It takes a Swedish citizen three to five days to get a new passport. It’s amazing what we have to put up with as South Africans: escalating crime, load shedding, a possible new government full of criminals, and horribly slow and inadequate public services.
This is why people are leaving the country: when will the people in power realise they are killing it?
MICHELLE NYLANDER
Karlstad, Sweden
