A Christmas Miracle!

This is a long review for anyone who needs peace of mind, so in short: you should have become an EDS client YESTERDAY!

Early this year, I planned to be home in June for a wedding but also to renew my passport, which I knew would be expiring in December. Needless to say, the pandemic threw a big spanner in the works.

I knew from the horror stories of other expats, that the Embassy of South Africa in Washington could take a year to renew passports, if not more. I also found myself incredibly angry that their website says the following; The Mission is committed to inculcating the spirit of Ubuntu and the “Batho Pele” (People First) principles, in the provision of its services; which is reflective of our country’s values of putting humanity central to all that we do.

Yet when expats were in a time of desperate need, the embassy was completely closed - an essential service that should have been available electronically. No phone calls were answered. No response on emails. Nothing.

I had no idea if a legitimate procurement service existed in South Africa so I began searching for help and found the lifesavers at Essential Document Solutions. I became a client in October with the same reservations that you might have - at the time I was unemployed. Wiring my last savings to people who I have never met in person, was a huge risk.

They over delivered and held my hand through every step. Not all the steps were easy - I still had the responsibility to get the correct paperwork from the embassy through DHL but when the embassy was unresponsive, EDS stepped in to get the necessary response. I trusted the journey with blind faith, not expecting to have any results before next year.

My passport expired on the 12th of December but at least the ball was rolling. On the 14th December, DHL finally delivered my passport documents to the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria - a journey which started in the Cayman Islands. EDS kept me updated on everything and had my passport in their hands on the 23rd of December.

I was blown away to receive the news on Christmas Eve. I also know that there’s a 7 hour time zone difference. That means that Edd was chatting to me close to midnight! If that’s not Batho Pele, then I don’t know what is. A thousand times thank you for proving a quality service, EDS!!!