The South African government has further extended temporary measures originally implemented in September 2022 to address delays in the processing of visa, waiver, and appeals applications.
Key Information
- Visa holders who have applied for a long-term visa or a visa waiver or who have appealed a negative decision on a long-term visa application, and the application is still pending as of June 30, 2024, are granted a further temporary extension until December 31, 2024, of their current visa status.
- Applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what their current immigration conditions provide for.
- Those who wish to abandon their applications and depart from South Africa will be allowed to exit at a port of entry before or on December 31, 2024, without being declared undesirable.
Visa holders who need to travel, but are awaiting the outcome of a waiver application, will be allowed to exit and re-enter at a port of entry up to and including December 31, 2024, without being declared undesirable. However, non-visa exempt applicants who travel out of the country with a receipt for a waiver, long-term visa or appeals application are required to apply for a port of entry visa which would allow them re-entry into South Africa.
All appeal applicants are required to produce a copy of the rejection letter with a receipt for the appeal application on departure and re-entry into South Africa.
Holders of short-term visas issued in terms of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2002 for 90 days or less, who have applied for a renewal, but have not received their visa renewal outcome by June 30, 2024, must make the necessary arrangements to depart from South Africa within 90 calendar days from the date of expiry of the principal visa, to avoid being declared undesirable.
The temporary concession applies only to foreign nationals who have been legally admitted into South Africa and to applicants who have submitted their applications via VFS Global and who can produce a verifiable receipt for such application against the VFS Global tracking system.
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.