• Receive and process all applications for South African birth, marriage and death certificates;
  
  
• Apply for Letters of No Impediment confirming the marital status of an individual on behalf of South African citizens;
  
  
• Receive, process and issue South African emergency travel certificates or temporary passports;
  
  
• Receive, process and forward applications for South African identity documents and passports to the Department of Home Affairs;
  
  
• Receive and refer various Home Affairs applications, including applications for name change and determination of citizenship to the Department of Home Affairs.

• Temporary Residence Permit applications: These applications include, but are not limited to visa applications and work & study permit applications. These permits are processed by the Embassy, but may in some instances need to be referred to the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa for approval;
  
  
• Applications for Permanent Residence: The Consulate receives process and refers all applications for Permanent Residence permits. This includes interviewing prospective immigrants. 3.1.2 You will be able to make use of these services by:

• In person, during consular hours only Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays 9:00 – 12:30;
  

• The applicable application form (can be obtained from our website at
  www.dirco.gov.za/sweden/);
  
  
• Application forms and lists of supporting documents to be submitted can also be obtained from this office;
  
  
• Depending on the type of service, supporting documents that may be required include, but are not limited to the applicant’s passport, fingerprints, passport size photographs, proof of provisional booking for return or onward flight and application fees.
  
  
• The Consular Section reserves the right to request additional supporting documents on any application as may be deemed necessary.

4. Our service standards:

The Consular Section at the South African Embassy in Stockholm is committed to providing an effective and efficient service to all our customers throughout the world, irrespective of national origin, age, gender or religious orientation. Our commitment is to service that can be clearly determined and measured at all times in terms of sensitivity, empathy, courtesy, speed, accuracy and fairness.

We commit ourselves to the principles of service delivery (consultation, service standards, access, courtesy, information, openness & transparency, redress and value for money) and will indicate to you as our customers what you can expect from us with regard to service delivery standards.

The services listed in the Schedules are meant to be generic and the listing is not intended as a definitive itemization of the range of requests that consular staff are expected to respond to. The listings will be reviewed from time to time in order to keep it current with changing conditions. The reaction times provided in the minimum operational standards are targets based on best efforts and existing conditions. Our ability to meet the stated times in the Service Delivery
Standards are, in many instances, governed by factors that are beyond our control. Notwithstanding, we will make every effort to meet the stated standard. When it is not possible to do so, we will explain to our customers the reasons for not being able to meet the required standards.

It is very important to note that during times of emergencies and disasters these matters will receive preference. During such periods all other consular services rendered may be limited and the timeframes set out in the standards may not be met.

• Serve all customers in an unbiased, polite, helpful and impartial manner;
  
  
• Dress appropriately and professionally, respecting our customers;
  
  
• All members of the public are treated as customers who are entitled to receive high standards of service;
  
  
• Are punctual in the execution of our duties and are committed to timely service;
  
  
• Co-operate fully with other employees to advance the public interest. We share information, work as a team to maintain the standards and to achieve our objectives;
  
  
• Execute all reasonable instructions by persons officially assigned to issue them;
  
  
• Execute our duties in a professional, competent and accountable manner;
  
  
• Honour the confidentiality of matters, documents and discussions;
  
  
• Take responsibility for our own work and the work and workflow of the Embassy as a whole;
  
  
• All services rendered shall be communicated to customers in English or the official language(s) of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Latvia. If a South African customer wishes to be served in any of the other official languages, every attempt will be made to find an employee in the Embassy to assist in customer’s language of choice;
  
  
• All effort is made to avoid error. Accuracy of at least 90% is guaranteed;
  
  
• The Consular Section is in continuous consultation with relevant role-players to ensure that information provided to the public is correct and up to date. Information provided by this section is reliable subject only to the accuracy and timeousness of data received from outside agencies;
  
  
• In order to provide the best possible service to our customers, an employee deal with one customer /case/telephone enquiry at a time, giving the customer his/her full attention during this period;
  
  
• Our consular hours are from 9:00 to 12:30, Mondays to Fridays (excluding Wednesdays and public holidays). These restricted hours do not apply to South Africans requiring emergency services. Members of the consular staff will respond to persons telephoning the emergency telephone number requesting emergency services, regardless of the time;
  
  
• The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 includes corporate customers within its ambit. As such, South African corporate legal entities are entitled to consular services in the same manner as individuals, exclusive of intervention in commercial, civil or criminal disputes where recourse to recognized legal recourse is available.