Relief for visa hopefuls

• Home affairs tackles backlog going back as far as 2016

The home affairs department has given relief to applicants for long-term visas or waivers awaiting the outcomes of applications by extending the blanket concession to December 31.

The department is trying to address the backlog in processing waiver and visa applications of foreign nationals. The backlog runs into the tens of thousands and extends back to 2016. It is due to lack of staff in the department and long processes in processing applications.

This extension is in addition to one issued in September, to March 23. The decision means that long-term visa or waiver applicants are allowed to remain legally in the country until December 31, pending finalising of their applications. Those using passports issued by countries that are not visa exempted, are required to apply for a visitor’s visa to return to SA until their applications have been finalised.

This concession applies only to applicants who have submitted applications via Visa Facilitation

Services (VFS) before or on March 31.

All visitors on short-term visas valid issued for fewer than 90 days are excluded from the concession, and are required to depart before or on the date of expiry of their visas.

The decision relates to applicants whose waiver application outcomes are pending. These are long-term visa holders (work, business, study, relative and accompany spouse) who applied for waivers. The extension will give the department time to process applications and for applicants to collect them and submit requests for appropriate visa renewals.

In terms of the extension, applicants with pending visa applications that are in the backlog will not be allowed to engage in any activity other than what their visa conditions provide for.

For those who wish to abandon their visa or waiver applications and depart SA when able to do so, they will be allowed to exit at a port of entry before the end of December without being declared undesirable. “Nonvisa-exempted applicants are required to apply for a visitors visa, which will allow them entry into the country,” said the department’s director-general, Tommy Makhode, in a circular to the department of international relations and co-operation, visa facilitation centres and consular services.

The circular says that shortterm visa holders valid for fewer than 90 days who have not received their visa extension outcomes by March 31, would be required to arrange to depart on or before April 30 to avoid being declared undesirable.

Earlier in March, departmental officials said they were attending to clearing the backlog of applications for permanent and temporary residence permits dating back to 2016, which had frustrated people wanting to settle in the country. But it said it expected to have cleared the backlog only in 15 months’ time.

Acting director of immigration services Yusuf Simons told members of parliament’s home affairs committee that with the use of additional personnel, the backlog would be eliminated by June 2024. Organised business has repeatedly raised concern about the delays in processing visas, which it says harms investment and economic growth.

Deputy home affairs minister Njabulo Nzuza said that 70% of the backlog of applications for permanent and temporary residence visas were by spouses and family members, which did not affect investment and the economy.

The total backlog for permanent residence permits in the system amounted to 49,529,

with 40,340 of those at end-May 2022 being outstanding for more than eight months. Of these, 3,524 date back to 2016, 5,187 to 2017, 7,303 to 2018, 10,621 to 2019, 2,968 to 2020, three to 2021 (when the world was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic) and 10,759 to 2022.

With regard to temporary residence permits, the backlog of applications now totals 75,814, with 23,988 having been received within eight weeks by March 1.