Chrispy Posted August 6, 2018 Report Share Posted August 6, 2018 Has anyone done South African passports from Adelaide recently? I am a bit confused with how to get the fingerprints done. As I understand, fingerprinting done at the police stations in Adelaide are electronic, onto a card at a cost of $120 per person. According to the South African High Commission in Canberra the fingerprints must be done in ink on the DHA-9 form. Anyone had this done in Adelaide, at which police station & how much do they charge? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyK Posted August 6, 2018 Report Share Posted August 6, 2018 In South Africa they are also digital now, no more ink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted August 19, 2018 Report Share Posted August 19, 2018 good morning. I have had my fair share of experience with this. Even though in SA they use digital - if you do it via the embassy it MUST be done via ink. You have to mention to the police officer that ink is mandatory – regardless of what the form says. Here in Sydney, ink prints are about $40 at the police station. You’re wasting your $120 if you do it electronically here, it will be sent back by the embassy. If you’re able to – why not renew your passport in SA? Even though I queued for about 5 hours at the home affairs office – I got my SA passport in 5 working days . Compared to 8+ months via the embassy! Ten years ago I did it via ink, in January this year, I went to SA to get it renewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsta Posted August 21, 2018 Report Share Posted August 21, 2018 I just did I ink fingerprints in Sydney and it was free. Just had to give them a reason why I needed them. Our biggest issue was finding a police station willing to to do ink fingerprints. But, alas, it might cost in other states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted August 22, 2018 Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 $44 "personal use" thats what they charged me. The electronic ones were free but they charged me for ink. alas, different rules apply depending on the officers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrispy Posted August 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately it seems that the Adelaide police stations charge $130 whether it is electronic or ink fingerprints. We have to get our passports here since they are expiring & our 18yr old daughter needs to now do fingerprints as well so looking at $390 for fingerprints at the moment! Can’t understand why Justice of Peace can’t do it since that is a free service offered here in Adelaide. Anyone out there got fingerprints done in the Adelaide area - or even out of the city for less? It might be worth driving out of town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted August 22, 2018 Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 all the best - the embassy stipulate it be done by the police Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bretty2 Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 On 8/22/2018 at 11:48 AM, Chrispy said: Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately it seems that the Adelaide police stations charge $130 whether it is electronic or ink fingerprints. We have to get our passports here since they are expiring & our 18yr old daughter needs to now do fingerprints as well so looking at $390 for fingerprints at the moment! Can’t understand why Justice of Peace can’t do it since that is a free service offered here in Adelaide. Anyone out there got fingerprints done in the Adelaide area - or even out of the city for less? It might be worth driving out of town. Hi Chrispy, did you manage to get your fingerprints done? I have been trying to do mine but keep getting chased away at the Port Adelaide police station due to fingerprinting area being in the cells so when they have a prisoner in there its a no-go area. Have been trying all week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrispy Posted November 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2018 Haven't had fingerprints done yet. Queried cost of fingerprints with Minister of Police and eventually got a reply to say fee is gazetted and set to recovers costs. This is the fee for fingerprints and a full computerised police check - it seems the South Australian police don't understand the concept of us needing a policeman for half an hour to dip our fingers into ink onto a provided form for South African passports. Haven't gone with the forms yet to the police station to see what happens when we actually try and get this done. If we didn't have elderly parents to visit in South Africa who can't make the trip to Australia for health reasons, we wouldn't bother. Seriously thinking along the lines of renouncing South African citizenship and just going on Australian passports - might be easier and cheaper!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bretty2 Posted November 19, 2018 Report Share Posted November 19, 2018 I managed to get mine done at the Port Adelaide police station for free.They told me they only charge for the electronic cards, ink is free. The only hassle was getting in there, the fingerprinting is done down in the cells area so if they have prisoners in there you can't get it done. Took me about a week of phoning to see if I could get in there but eventually did. Late evenings or early mornings seem to be the best times. Take an extra form, they don't do ink ones very often and the rookie that was being trained smudged my first set a bit so I asked that they do it again. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted November 19, 2018 Report Share Posted November 19, 2018 I think we used Holden Hill police station once and didn’t pay, but that was many moons ago. Try and phone and ask first, you probably need an appointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeItOnTheChin Posted November 19, 2018 Report Share Posted November 19, 2018 On 11/18/2018 at 7:30 AM, Chrispy said: Haven't had fingerprints done yet. Queried cost of fingerprints with Minister of Police and eventually got a reply to say fee is gazetted and set to recovers costs. This is the fee for fingerprints and a full computerised police check - it seems the South Australian police don't understand the concept of us needing a policeman for half an hour to dip our fingers into ink onto a provided form for South African passports. Haven't gone with the forms yet to the police station to see what happens when we actually try and get this done. If we didn't have elderly parents to visit in South Africa who can't make the trip to Australia for health reasons, we wouldn't bother. Seriously thinking along the lines of renouncing South African citizenship and just going on Australian passports - might be easier and cheaper!!!! Just a word of warning based on my very recent experience. I applied for my children's passports through the High Comm in Canberra in May this year. My daughter is 9 and I got her new passport in 5 months, no big issue. However because my son is now 16 and will be getting his first adult passport it will take much longer because his info must go through the fingerprint department first back in good old RSA. So not sure how long that will take, possibly a year, no idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrispy Posted November 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2018 Thanks very much for the replies. This forum has proved more useful than finding the information out from the actual authorities. Will give Port Adelaide police a call and hope we can get the fingerprints done without it costing a fortune. We are expecting the whole passport process to take 6 - 12 months, hoping to get everything correctly done and hoping to be able to travel to South Africa Christmas next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pHumhrey Posted December 12, 2018 Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 They are digital and will be done without ink right in the office during the application process. The very tricky thing about such a procedure is with the papers. Consider to submit them electronically, find the third-party service offering so like this one for the US passports https://ds11.pdffiller.com/ and these couple of dollars you have to spend on them are absolutely worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanineFromMelbourne Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 Hi all, this has been a really helpful thread. Thank you for all the information and suggestions. I've just sent an email to request a DHA-9 fingerprint form by post from SA to Melbourne. Would love to get an idea on how long people typically wait to receive this form in the post? Thanks, Janine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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