[Woodie]

Unfortunately (for visa application purposes as it adds to the admin burden) I got caught in one of the last military intakes for National Service, which I did in 1992.

I have searched the forum and most of the posts relating to military records date back quite a while. Are there any of the recent DV winners who had to go through the process of getting your military service records? If so, any tips?

[oscar]

You will need to secure a clearance certificate from the SADF. I had the name of the contact lady on a old post, all you need is your force number, the period of your initial service , rank and unit /division you served. if you go direct to them in Pretoria you can get it issued within a hour. Well i got it done in an hour in 2004.

Her is a copy of my original post
Here is the info if you need a military clearance. It may also help people who are here on H1B visas who may eventually get a green card. (I am not sure if you need it when progressing from H1B status to GC / Permanent resident.)

I think its best to ask for the certificate before Mrs. Delport goes on retirement as she is the only sensible person in that department.


DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE
DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
PRIVATE BAG X289
PRETORIA
0001
TEL: 012 3394600
Fax :012 3394631


Send an email to sandfdoc[at]mweb.co.za for attention Mrs. Delport.
In the email asked them for:

* A letter stating that I did my national service (Certificate of Service)
* A letter of discharge stating that all of my obligations towards the Defence Force have been fulfilled.

It will take about 5-6 weeks.
Make sure that you give them your full names, address, contact numbers, email address, id number, force number (if you can remember it), and also important is the time that your service was and where it was.


I have personally met Mrs. Delport and managed to get the certificate issued within an hour. Driving in a Taxi and chatting to her on a cell phone, it was an amazing experience that I would not wish on anyone. As I did not have the correct paperwork from the SADF at my consular interview.
This post has been edited by oscar: 15 April 2007 - 10:52 AM

This post has been edited by oscar: 07 June 2010 - 04:03 AM

[Woodie]

Thanks Oscar.

I managed to get hold of the Directorate Personnel Separation (SANDF HR division) and they confirmed that they are responsible for issuing the clearance certificates. They also provided me with the sandfdoc[at]mweb.co.za e-mail address and asked me to submit a certified copy of my ID and my postal address details to this address.

Sent the e-mail off yesterday afternoon and received a reply from them confirming receipt of my request and advising the following:

"The Documentation Centre compiles a Service Certificate and forwards this together with the request for a Clearance Certificate to the Personnel Separation Division who issues the Military Clearance Certificate. The Directorate Personnel Separation will Dispatch the documents to you postal address. The process takes approximately a month to complete. "

I will be keeping an eye on the mailbox and will let you know what transpires.

[oscar]

No problem..

[Charles]

Hi Woodie
I also contacted the dir for personel and they actually advised me to contact the base from where i klaared-out as the dir didn't have any record of my service. So i called the hr dept of my regiment and they got my detail and promptly sent me a letter! but this being the army the name and mags-nommer was all wrong! Obviously just a template they used. Anyway before i got back to them about it a letter from the dir arrived in the post, out of the blue, all the info correct and all the i's dotted and all the t's crossed. And that was the letter i used for our interview.
So what i'm actually trying to say is you can also try your last posting base.

[Woodie]

Update - when I collected my mail from my PO Box on Monday, an envelope from the SANDF was waiting for me. One more item ticked off the list of supporting documents required.

FWIW - sent e-mail to SANDF HR on 7 June and received the certificate on 26 July, so (very) roughly in line with their "approximately a month to complete" indication.