SA NO longer has an immigration policy. This is not a criticism, but a
fact. On May 26 last year, when the Immigration Act was amended, an
entirely new paradigm of immigration regulation came into operation,
unprecedented in its inflexibility and in its exclusionism. This is
not a phenomenon that appeared out of nothing; it emerged from a
history of administrative corruption, the violation of SA`s borders
and the government`s frustrated response to it.


The foundation of this frustration lies in its realisation that
perhaps 15%-20% of SA`s permanent resident population are imposters.
These are foreigners who misrepresented themselves as offspring of at
least one South African citizen parent, or who acquired permanent
residence documents by fraud. It was a common practice for foreigners,
mostly from neighbouring countries, to falsely represent themselves by
affidavit as the unregistered offspring of South African parents and
thereby easily have their births registered with the Department of
Home Affairs. More stringent protocols making these late birth
registrations more difficult came much later.


It was also common to acquire the right to permanent residence through
misrepresentation, bribery and fabrication. These practices occurred
when decision-making was decentralised to the provinces.


Today, these impersonators use South African identity documents and
are accepted as native members of our population.


Added to this corroded landscape was the issue of false South African
passports. The British government imposed visa requirements on South
African passport holders in 2008 after concluding that our government
could not adequately resolve the lapses in passport securitisation.
As foreign affairs minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma bore the brunt of
British dissatisfaction with the corruption within the home affairs
directorate responsible for issuing passports. When she became home
affairs minister in 2008, she pushed to eradicate corruption and
restore law and order. In May 2010, all decisions on immigration
applications were centralised at home affairs` headquarters in
Pretoria, and a security cordon began to be spun around that hub.


Since the systems were not properly in place when the
centralisation project began, 60%-70% of all applications were lost.
This trend continued into 2011.


With a flood of litigation ensuing to resolve the paralysis, it became
clear how deep-rooted the administrative bungling was. By then the
conservative "old-style" public service had haemorrhaged from home
affairs, leaving a public administration largely uneducated and
inexperienced, which became a glaring deficit when more complicated
regulations came into force.


The amendments to the Immigration Act in 2011 made it clear that
immigration policy was rapidly evolving into a border security policy.
The cost of inefficiency within the department, coupled with an
increasingly intolerant administrative attitude, began to encroach on
foreigners like never before. This trend was reinforced by the
department`s inclusion into the so-called security cluster. Human
trafficking became a central focus of immigration control, distorting
and replacing home affairs` previous emphasis on facilitating the
entry of foreign workers, entrepreneurs and retirees.


The amended Immigration Act with its regulations were published on May
22 last year, with a commencement date of May 26, leaving the public
with one business day to prepare for the extensive changes the
amendments brought in. Once this regime commenced, it was not until
mid-June that applications could be submitted through the global firm,
VFS,

which had been contracted by home affairs to serve as its "front
counter". The new system has few redeeming characteristics, in terms
of either substance or the manner in which the department has applied
it. For example:


• It is no longer possible to engage directly with the department by
placing immigration applications before it. At a substantially added
expense, all foreigners are forced to submit their applications and
administrative appeals personally through VFS in SA, or at VFS and
consular offices internationally. The inconvenience and expense of
personal applications, especially in Asia and Russia, has caused a
loss of more than R4.4bn in tourism revenue.


• Foreigners, including foreign spouses of South Africans, can no
longer apply for visas in SA while on visitor`s visas.


• Foreigners can no longer apply for "general" work visas, or
extensions of existing visas, without obtaining clearance from the
Department of Labour, which does not support the employment of
foreigners. For this reason, the general work visa category is largely
paralysed. While the productivity of SA`s labour force has dwindled to
its lowest in 40 years, the Labour Department protects the South
African labour market from the entry of skilled foreigners,
contributing to SA`s increasing uncompetitiveness.


• The immigration system does not support work visas in the humanities
(including chefs, teachers, lawyers, philosophers, political analysts,
development consultants, business consultants, productivity analysts,
business and production managers), or exceptionally skilled foreigners
who do not have predetermined "critical skills".


• More than 50% of all immigration applications have been refused,
although many comply with the regulations, forcing foreigners to
appeal at a charge by VFS of R1,350 per submission. There are delays
of between five and 12 months in processing such appeals, rendering
the process nugatory. Foreigners awaiting the outcome of their
applications or appeals after the expiry of their visas cannot leave
SA without being declared "undesirable" and prohibited from returning
for up to five years. While they can appeal, these are generally
either denied or take up to six months to be adjudicated.


• The competence of consular officials at SA`s foreign missions is
generally low, and at many missions arrogance and xenophobia are
frequently encountered (including in Berlin, Moscow, Harare and
Nairobi).


• The immigration regulatory regime is too bureaucratic to entice
foreign skills and entrepreneurs in the international competition for
skills and foreign investment.


Prof Edmund Ferreira of Unisa has found that since 1967, "output per
worker per unit of capital in SA has fallen from R7,297 to R4,924 a
year — a decline of 32.5%. From its peak in 1993, this measure of
labour productivity has fallen by 41.2% … to the lowest level in 46
years.


"SA is now less efficient than many of its emerging market
competitors, its labour force is uncompetitive and labour productivity
is much lower than that of the rest of the developing world."


Until Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba realises that SA needs an
immigration policy that is flexible and encourages the inflow of
self-sufficient, entrepreneurial and skilled immigrants, we will be
unable to compete in the modern world. V.1458

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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