Lost PSIRA certificate? What it means, how to replace it, and what to carry meanwhile

Your registration lives in the register, not in your wallet. Replacing the card is routine. Stopping work or paying an agent is the mistake.

TenEight Team · 26 September 2026

A lost PSIRA certificate feels like a crisis at the moment you discover it (usually the night before an interview or the morning an inspector arrives on site) and it is less of one than it feels. Your registration is a status in PSIRA's register, not the piece of card in your wallet. Losing the card does not cancel the registration, and replacing it is a routine application.

The trouble starts when officers stop working, pay someone to "sort it out", or turn up to interviews with nothing.

Security officer signing a lost-document affidavit at a police station counter with the official stamping it — The police affidavit is the document PSIRA asks for with a replacement application.

What losing the certificate actually means

PSIRA issues two things when it registers you: a certificate and a registration card. Both are evidence of a fact that lives in the register: that you are registered, at a grade, until a date. Lose either and the fact is unchanged. An employer or inspector who searches the register with your ID number will still find you, active, with your grades, exactly as before.

What you have lost is convenience. On duty you are required to carry the card, and employers want to see the certificate at interview. Do the replacement promptly, but do not panic over it.

How to replace a lost PSIRA certificate

Make an affidavit at a police station stating that the certificate or card was lost or stolen, when, and where. If it was stolen, open a case and note the case number. The affidavit is the document PSIRA asks for.
Log in to the e-PSiRA portal and select the replacement or re-issue option, or go to a PSIRA regional office with the documents.
Submit the affidavit, a copy of your ID, a passport-style photo for the new card, and proof of payment of the replacement fee. The fee is small and listed on the PSIRA fee schedule.
Note the reference number and keep the proof of payment and affidavit.
Collect or receive the replacement. Timelines vary by office, from days to a few weeks.

If your details on the register are wrong (a misspelt name, an old ID number), fix them in the same application, because the replacement will be issued with whatever the register says.

Officer handing a dated printout of his register record and an affidavit to a site manager at an interview — A dated register printout, the affidavit and your ID keep you placeable while the card is reissued.

What to carry in the meantime

While you wait, you can show employers and inspectors that you are registered:

A printout or screenshot of your register record from the e-PSiRA portal, dated, showing status, grade and expiry.
Your affidavit and the application reference for the replacement.
Your ID.

An employer doing a proper check will search the register with your ID number anyway. The printout tells them what they will find. Most will place you on the strength of the register while the card is reissued, particularly if your current employer confirms your registration under the company.

For interviews, say it plainly at the start: "My card was stolen on the 3rd. Here is the affidavit, the application reference and my register record." Employers respect an officer who handled it properly far more than one who hoped nobody would ask.

If the certificate was stolen with your ID

Identity theft is the real risk in a stolen wallet. Someone with your ID and your PSIRA card can try to work as you, and an offence committed under your name shows up on your record. Do three things the same day:

Report the theft to the police and get the case number.
Report it to PSIRA with the case number so the register notes the card as stolen.
Report the ID to Home Affairs and apply for a replacement.

Then keep the case number with your compliance documents. If anything later appears on your record that you did not do, the dated report is your defence.

Security officer photographing his new registration card and certificate with his phone the day they arrive — Scan it and photograph it the day it arrives. The card can be lost twice without a missed shift.

Mistakes officers make with a lost PSIRA certificate

Stopping work. Your registration is intact. Tell your employer, get the affidavit, apply, and carry on.
Paying an "agent". Nobody can replace the certificate faster than the official application. Agents who offer to are the main source of fraud around PSIRA, and some supply forged cards that end your career the first time an employer checks.
Applying for a new registration instead of a replacement. That creates a duplicate record and slows everything down.
Not keeping a copy. A scan of the certificate and a photo of the card, stored on your phone and in an email to yourself, would have solved most of this.

Never lose it again

Scan the certificate and photograph the card the day they arrive. Keep the copies in your email, on your phone and on a printed copy at home. Record your registration number, grade and expiry date somewhere that does not live in your wallet, on your TenEight profile, for example, where employers looking for security jobs candidates see them and where your compliance page keeps the expiry date in front of you. The card can then be lost, replaced and lost again without a single missed shift.

Quick answers

What do I do if I lost my PSIRA certificate?

Confirm on the register that your registration is active, make a police affidavit, apply for a replacement on the e-PSiRA portal or at a PSIRA office with your ID, a photo and the fee, and carry a dated printout of your register record meanwhile.

Can I work without my PSIRA card?

Your registration is unaffected, and employers can confirm it on the register. Apply for the replacement promptly, since officers are required to carry the card on duty.

How much does a replacement PSIRA certificate cost?

A small replacement fee set out in PSIRA's annual fee schedule, plus the cost of a passport photo. Confirm the current amount before paying.

Sources

PSIRA, e-PSiRA portal, regional offices and fee schedule. Processes and fees change. Confirm the current position before relying on this summary.