Every form and document, by application

Can you apply online?

This is the table to read first, because it decides whether an application is something we can complete for you remotely or something that needs you physically present.

The short version: anything to do with firearms means a trip to your Designated Firearms Officer. Everything else can be done from a desk. We can prepare and submit the online ones end to end; for the SAPS ones we prepare the application so that your one trip to the station is the only trip you need.

PSiRA business registration: ten documents

All uploaded on ePSiRA. Documents must be PDF and under 3 MB each. The uniform is the exception and goes up as a JPEG, as does your company logo.

1. CIPC documents. Company, close corporation, co-operative, partnership, trust or foundation papers. Enterprise status must read “in business”.
2. SARS tax clearance. A screen print from the SARS site showing the business as compliant. The compliance PIN is not accepted.
3. Proof of address. A municipal account if you own the premises, or a lease. Sub-leasing needs the head tenant's lease too. The address must match your Address tab exactly.
4. Business plan covering the first year.
5. PSiRA specimen resolution on your letterhead, downloaded from the Documents tab.
6. Second resolution, worded differently, confirming the business will begin rendering a security service within twelve months.
7. Uniform and insignia. Full uniform visible, logos visible, colours clear or written on the sketch. No blue, no camouflage.
8. Form PSiRA 24a on infrastructure. Completed twice: uploaded as a document and again digitally on the Infrastructure tab.
9. Suretyship. Signed by all directors, every page initialled by all directors and both witnesses, no deletions anywhere.
10. Proof of a phone number registered to the business or a director. A third party's number is not accepted even with an affidavit.

Before any of that: every director must already be registered with PSiRA in their own name and hold at least Grade B. The business registration guide covers why, and what each stage costs.

PSiRA officer registration

Per person, submitted on ePSiRA. The registration fee is R310 on the 2026/27 schedule.

• Certified copy of the identity document, or the permanent residence permit for a non-citizen
• Proof of the training grades completed, from an accredited training provider
• A prescribed clearance certificate if the person is a former military, police, security or intelligence member
• Passport size photographs to PSiRA's current specification
• Proof of payment of the registration fee

Screen the person before you spend anything. Section 23 disqualifies anyone who is not a citizen or permanent resident, anyone under 18, anyone convicted of a Schedule offence in the last ten years, and anyone currently in the permanent employ of the police, the defence force, Correctional Services or an intelligence service. Our free guard eligibility checker runs all of it.

Firearm competency: form SAPS 517

Handed in personally to the Designated Firearms Officer at the police station in the area where you ordinarily reside. SAPS lists the competency fee at R88.

• Certified copy of your identity document or passport
• Certified copy of your permanent residence permit, if you are not a South African citizen
• Certified copy of your firearm proficiency training certificate from an accredited training provider
• Two passport size colour photographs on a neutral background, no older than three months
• Certified proof of residence
• If you are under 21: compelling reasons, such as being gainfully employed or a dedicated sports person, plus a sworn affidavit from a parent or guardian

Applying for a further competency certificate uses form SAPS 517(a) and adds a certified copy of the previous certificate. Renewal uses form SAPS 517(g).

At the station the Designated Firearms Officer takes a full set of your fingerprints on form SAPS 91(a), issues a remittance advice on SAPS 523(a) and sends you to the financial office to pay. Payment is by cash or bank guaranteed cheque, you get a Z263 receipt, and you hand that back to the officer. You then receive a signed acknowledgement of receipt on SAPS 523.

Firearm licence: form SAPS 271

Only after competency is in hand, and again in person at the same Designated Firearms Officer. SAPS states that a licence applicant must be 21 or older and a South African citizen or permanent residence permit holder.

• Certified copy of your identity document, or your permanent residence permit if you are not a citizen
• Your original competency certificate, not a copy
• Two passport size colour photographs on a neutral background, no older than three months
• The letter of appointment of the executor, if the firearm was inherited
• A full written motivation, with documents supporting it

The motivation is the part that decides most applications. A licence is not granted because the paperwork is tidy; it is granted because you have shown a need the Act recognises under the section you applied under.

The safe comes last, not first. Once your application has been successfully considered, SAPS asks you to obtain and install a firearm safe meeting South African Bureau of Standards requirements within 14 days, then inspects your premises. Only on a successful safe inspection is the licence printed and handed to you against your signature in the SAPS 86 register. Do not buy the safe before approval, but do know what you are buying, because a fortnight is not long.

The SAPS firearm form index

Every form you are likely to need, with what it is for. All of them are published on saps.gov.za and all are submitted through your Designated Firearms Officer.

Two of those are worth knowing about before you need them. SAPS 540 is how you get written authorisation to hold more than 200 rounds for a firearm, and SAPS 536 does the same for more than 2 400 primers if you reload. Both are the formal route around the limits in sections 91 and 93, and both are decided on good cause shown.

Certified copies, and the small things that send people home

• Certification. Nearly every document above must be a certified copy. Certification is done free at a police station and is generally treated as valid for three months, so get them certified close to the date you submit rather than months ahead.
• Photographs. Passport size, colour, neutral background, no older than three months. This is the item most often rejected.
• Proof of residence. Must be certified, and must match the address on the application and the police station you submit to.
• Payment. SAPS takes cash or a bank guaranteed cheque at the station's financial office. Not a card.
• PSiRA uploads. PDF, under 3 MB, except the uniform and logo which must be JPEG.
• The suretyship. No correction fluid, no crossings out, no missing initials. PSiRA rejects more applications on this than anything else.

Frequently asked questions