On December 12, 2025, the Minister of Home Affairs encouraged South Africans to submit written comments on the newly-published Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. The period for public comment will be open until January 31, 2026.
The Draft Revised White Paper outlines a vision for the most fundamental reform to South Africa’s citizenship, immigration and refugee protection frameworks in a generation.
The Draft Revised White Paper updates the existing White Paper. It reviews and enhances certain policy propositions and adds the necessary detail to proposals contained in the original version.
Key reforms proposed in the Draft Revised White Paper include:
Refugee management reforms
The refinement and implementation of the “First Safe Country Principle,” which states that asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status or lawful protection in another country, or who pass through safe third countries to reach South Africa, are ineligible for asylum in South Africa.
This is designed to combat the phenomenon of applicants “picking and choosing” South Africa as their preferred destination to claim asylum, while passing through other safe countries on the way. In order to mitigate the risk of refoulement, this reform will require the Minister of Home Affairs to, on an annual basis, designate safe third countries that have ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and to withdraw such designation as and when the need arises.
Citizenship reforms
These reforms introduce merit-based criteria for naturalization and an annual window period for the submission of applications to prevent backlogs, a Citizenship Advisory Panel (CAP) to objectively consider and advise on applications, and a point-based system for economic pathways to citizenship.
This is a new, merit-based approach to the granting of citizenship, as opposed to basing qualification solely on the number of years a foreigner has resided in the country. This new system will operate in parallel to the existing principle that a child with at least one parent who is a South African citizen at the time of birth automatically becomes a citizen, while a child born to non-South African parents has to apply for naturalization.
Immigration reforms
Reforms to the immigration system are designed to ensure alignment of the visa system with the recommendations of Operation Vulindlela (OV) and to the department’s digital transformation agenda. This includes the introduction of new visa categories for remote-work, start-ups, skilled workers (which combines the existing critical skills and general work visas into one category), sports and culture, and the replacement of corporate visas with sectoral work visas for specific industries. It also introduces a new, merit-based points-based system for certain visas and permanent residency and supports the rollout of the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to record biometrics for every foreigner in South Africa.
Civil registration reforms
Civil registration reforms are anchored in the transformation of South Africa’s National Population Register (NPR) into a modern, digitally enabled Intelligent Population Register (IPR) as the foundation for a Digital ID system. Unlike the existing NPR, which simply records basic information, including names, births, and deaths, an IPR uses advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, biometrics, interoperability and real-time data integration, to improve governance, integrated service delivery, and national planning. Further detail on key elements and the functionality of the IPR will be covered in a standalone policy on Digital ID that is under development by the department.
The priorities of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the visa review done through OV, and the Department of Home Affairs’ digital transformation agenda have all been incorporated into the revised version.
Erickson Insights & Analysis
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions.