South Africa’s new Minister of Home Affairs has announced temporary concessions for foreign nationals currently awaiting the outcome of visa, waiver and appeal applications, which may be good news for visiting sailors, according to Jenny Crickmore-Thompson of the Ocean Sailing Association of Southern Africa (OSASA).

Published 2 months ago

Visa Extensions – Hopeful News for Cruising Community

In the latest OSASA newsletter, Director Jenny Crickmore-Thompson said the recent announcement by South Africa’s new Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber, contained a  paragraph relating to Short Term Visa holders, which was of considerable interest to South Africa’s cruising community.  The paragraph is quoted below:

Short term visa holders issued in terms of section 11(1)(a)

Short term visa holders 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, 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 latter concession is in line with the provisions of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2002 which limits the duration of sojourn for visiting purposes to a total of 180 days.

“This visa category is the one affecting most of the cruisers visiting South Africa,” said Jenny.  “This paragraph seems to be stated in isolation from the other concessions in the announcement, which give extensions to other visa categories to 31 December 2024 if they were applied for by 30 June 2024, This paragraph seems to not feature that constraint and would appear to give an extension of 90 days provided that an extension has been applied for. Hopefully, this is the case, and is therefore welcome news for the cruising community.”

Minister Extends Temporary Concessions for Visa Holders

Source:  Department of Home Affairs – Republic of South Africa

In one of his first official acts as the new Minister of Home Affairs for South Africa,  Dr Leon Schreiber has extended the temporary concession for foreign nationals who are currently awaiting the outcome of visa, waiver and appeal applications.

This extension safeguards applicants – including those who are contributing to South Africa through their scarce skills – from suffering adverse consequences or being erroneously declared undesirable while they await the outcome of applications submitted to the Department.

The processing of some of these applications has been delayed as the Department works on reducing backlogs. While the Department has made progress in this regard since its previous communication on the matter, there is still a backlog in various visa and permit categories and Minister Schreiber has now moved to protect applicants while the backlog is reduced.

The decision to avert adverse consequences for applicants who seek to obtain lawful visas in order to contribute to South Africa, either through their skills or as tourists, signals the Minister’s commitment to improving the visa system to make South Africa a more attractive destination for international investment, tourism and job creation. While it will take time to achieve this vision in full, the decision to extend the temporary concession serves as a signal of intent to reinvigorate the Department of Home Affairs and position it as a vital economic enabler.

In order to build confidence in this new approach, Minister Schreiber further commits to avoiding a repeat of the current situation that has seen the previous concession expire prior to the extension being announced. While the Department is committed to eradicating the backlog as soon as possible, the Minister undertakes that any further extension, modification or amendment to the terms of these concessions will be communicated in writing prior to the new expiry date of 31 December 2024.

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Related Links:

• Ocean Sailing Association of South Africa (OSASA).
• Department of Home Affairs South Africa

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