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Registration of South Africans Abroad
- ROSA
Background
During the past few years, the Department has assisted a growing
number of our people who had become victims of crime, accidents,
illness, death, natural/man-made disasters or civil unrest abroad.
To this end the Chief Directorate: Consular Services in cooperation
with the Chief Directorate: ICT within the Department of Foreign
Affairs of South Africa , developed unique software termed ROSA,
which is the acronym for the ‘Registration of South Africans
Abroad’. The software programme allows both individual and
group travellers to register, update their profiles and de-register
their profiles on-line. ROSA is only available to South African
citizens who are travelling, living, working and studying abroad.
(Note that South African citizens with dual nationality may register
if they are not travelling to the country of their second nationality.)
Registration assists the Department and/or Mission in determining
how many South African citizens are abroad in a city, town or region
in a particular country at any given time. The primary objective
is to facilitate contact for consular purposes in the event of any
number of potential emergency situations.
As with all consular data, information supplied during the registration
process on ROSA is for the exclusive use of the Department and shall
be confidential. No information shall be divulged to any outside
party, institution or authority without the individual’s express
consent. Registration on ROSA is a free and voluntary service.
The following objectives will be met with ROSA, provided that South
African citizens take the time to register:
• consolidation of a standard registration process for Head
Office and the Mission;
• an on-line registration tool for South African citizens
travelling, living, working and studying abroad;
• information available in the event of assistance to be rendered
to South African citizens; and
• registered South African citizens may add attachments, such
as copies of travel documents, identity documents etc., for record
purposes in the event of loss etc.
What is ROSA?
ROSA is the acronym for the ‘Registration of South Africans
Abroad’, a software programme developed by the Department
of Foreign Affairs allowing travellers to register on-line.
The information travellers register on ROSA allows the Department
of Foreign Affairs to assist South African citizens in event of
an emergency. The registration is a free, voluntary service provided
by Government (through the Department of Foreign Affairs). ROSA
is only available to South African citizens who are travelling,
living or working abroad.
Why should I register?
Vast numbers of our people who travel abroad every day do not encounter
any difficulties. However, through our missions abroad, we have
assisted a growing number of South Africans who have become victims
of crime, accident/s, illness, death, natural/man-made disasters,
civil unrest, or whose family and/or next-of-kin needed to contact
them in an emergency.
Registration through this website is NOT considered proof of South
African citizenship. If you apply for any service from an Embassy,
High Commission or Consulate General (mission) while abroad, you
will be asked by staff to provide proof of South African citizenship,
such as a passport or bar coded ID book.
By registering your trip on-line with ROSA you assist the Department
of Foreign Affairs to locate you during an emergency, verifying
your status and liaising with your next-of-kin. Registration is
voluntary and free of charge. We encourage you to consider registration
as an integral art of your travel planning and security.
.
How do I register?
The ROSA software is an on-line registration process available
on the Department of Foreign Affairs’ web-site. The address
is http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/index.html
Click on the button and follow the easy steps.
.
The ROSA software is unique. The software allows for a traveller
to:
• register as an Individual Traveller;
• register as Group Travellers;
• register multiple destinations;
• update their profiles (Individual or Group); and
• de-register their profile from the system.
How can the Embassy or Consulate assist me while I am abroad?
The Chief Directorate: Consular Services in the Department of Foreign
Affairs, in close collaboration with the Consular Sections of South
African Representatives abroad, provides consular services to South
African citizens who work, live and travel abroad.
Consular Services operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On weekends
and after hours, assistance is rendered in co-operation with the
Department's Operations Room in Pretoria. The Operations Room supports
our 121 Representatives in 105 countries affording services that
cover the entire world.
A detailed list of services is available at http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/services.htm
How will my information be used?
ROSA will be utilised by Consular Officers at Head Office or at
a South African Mission abroad in the event of a disaster, emergency
or other crisis as outlined above.
Only authorised officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs have
access to the information which will only be used in the event of
an emergency. This will enable the Department of Foreign Affairs
to e.g. react by contacting the next-of-kin to verify the status
of the South Africans travelling abroad that might have been affected
by the emergency.
Registration and Privacy
The Department of Foreign Affairs is committed to ensuring that
any personal information received through the ROSA on-line registration
process is safeguarded against unauthorised disclosure.
The Department will not disclose the information you provide through
the registration application to any third parties (this includes
family members) unless you have first given it written authorisation
to do so. In the event that family members make enquiries about
your whereabouts, such requests will be forwarded to you. You may
choose to inform the mission of your decision to respond or not.
This internet site uses secure encryption to safeguard your privacy
and therefore any unauthorised interception by third parties of
the information you send via the internet is unlikely. The Department
does not accept responsibility for any such interception.
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