On March 30, 2026, the Department of Home Affairs issued an extension of its temporary concession granted to foreign nationals affected by delays in the processing of applications for visas, waivers and visa appeals. The concession is now extended until June 30, 2027.
The following measure apply under the newly extended concession from April 1, 2026.
Pending visa waiver applications
- Visa holders who have applied for a waiver, and whose waiver application is still pending as of March 30, 2026, are granted a further temporary extension until June 30, 2027, to enable the Department to process the applications, as well as to allow for applicants to collect their outcomes and submit applications for the appropriate visas.
- Those applicants who wish to abandon their waiver applications and depart from South Africa should be allowed to depart before or on June 30, 2027, without being declared undesirable.
- A visa holder who needs to travel but is awaiting the outcome of a waiver application should be allowed to depart and re-enter the country at a port of entry up to and including June 30, 2027 without being declared undesirable. undesirable.
- Non-visa exempt applicants who travel out of the country with a waiver application receipt are required to apply for a port of entry visa before returning to the country, in order to re-enter.
Pending visa applications
- Visa holders who have applied for long-term visas in terms of sections 11(1)(b) to 20, including section 22, of the Immigration Act, who are still awaiting the outcome of their applications as at the date of signature of this Directive, are granted a further temporary extension of their current visa status until June 30, 2027. Applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what the current visa conditions provide for.
- Visa holders who need to travel, but are still awaiting the outcome of their long-term visa application, will be allowed to depart from and re-enter the Republic at a port of entry up to and including June 30, 2027 without being declared undesirable
- Non-visa exempt applicants who wish to depart from the country with a long-term visa application receipt, are required to apply for a port of entry visa before returning to the country in order to re-enter.
Pending visa or permanent residence appeal applications
- Visa holders who have appealed a negative decision on an application for a long-term visa, who have appealed a negative decision on a permanent residence application, are granted a temporary extension of their current visa status until June 30, 2027. Applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what the visa conditions provide for.
- Appeal applicants who need to travel but are awaiting the outcome of an appeal application for a long-term visa should be allowed to depart from the country and re-enter up to and including June 30, 2027, without being declared undesirable
- All appeal applicants are required to produce a copy of the rejection letter, together with a receipt and/or confirmation indicating that such a person has submitted an appeal application, on departure from and re-entry into the country. Non-visa exempt appeal applicants who travel out of the country with an appeal application receipt and/or confirmation, are required to apply for a port of entry visa, which would allow them re-entry.
The above temporary measures will apply only to those foreigners who have been legally admitted into South Africa. This concession is also only applicable to applicants who have submitted an application via VFS Global and who can produce a verifiable receipt for such application against the VFS Global tracking system.
Any other person from the categories not listed in this Directive who might not have received his/her outcome and the application was made before March 07, 2024 and remains pending is advised to urgently inquire with the Home Affairs Contact Centre
Applicants awaiting the outcome on an application for a permanent residence permit are required to ensure that their residential status in the Republic remains valid at all times while awaiting such outcome. Therefore, the above temporary measures are not applicable to applicants who have submitted applications for permanent residence permits.
Exclusion
Applicants with pending appeal applications relating to a rejection of an application for the
renewal of a visitor’s visa submitted in terms of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, where such appeal has been pending for longer than three months, are excluded from this
concession. Such applicants are required to depart the country at a port of entry on or before April 30, 2026 and will not be declared undesirable. The outcome of the appeal will be communicated to the applicant via the online portal through which the application is tracked.
Erickson Insights & Analysis
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