While passport renewal applications for citizens living abroad were resumed on 27 July (after being closed since late March), additional urgent action is required.
Dr Jubber says given the already massive backlog of applications, and that SA passport renewals abroad already take 6 to 12 months as well as new uncertainties around processing times due to the lockdown in South Africa, this is of little immediate assistance to those citizens.
DA Shadow Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Adrian Roos has therefore written to the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, to request that the passports of those working and living abroad, in need of urgent renewal, are stamped to remain valid for a period to cover the long waiting times of 6 to 12 months.

The DA Deputy Minister said in his letter that many South African expatriate citizens overseas “do not require the passports to return to South Africa under lockdown but rather to retain or extend the validity of their work and temporary residence visas. When the passport expires so does the visa. Roos offered up suggestions of procedures that are working in other countries.
Pakistan have implemented a system whereby expired passports were automatically extended for a certain period and whereby passports can also be extended manually for a period of one year at the Pakistani consulates and embassies for a small fee.
The Egyptian Government have also implemented an automatic validity extension and a system of stamping a validity extension in to passports of their nationals at their missions overseas.
He says this would ease the pressure on passport processing services at the Home Affairs back office.
Meanwhile Dr Jubber also said in a statement, what most South Africans living abroad already know: “The issue of the inefficiency and lack of timeliness in processing passports for those living, working and travelling abroad is not new, it is a decade old problem that both the DHA and their colleagues at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation have shown minimal interest in rectifying.”
Earlier this month, desperate South Africans abroad sent a letter to South African Ministers, Diplomats and even the Presidential Office… but received no response. In the letter they explained:
Many, many South Africans who are living and working abroad are in dire straights as passports expire and visas run out. Now, they say, it’s easy, just repatriate but it’s not that simple. WE have lives and homes here, kids are not allowed to be repatriated and we are now in a situation where we’ll be jobless, homeless, and unable to fly to South

Africa.
The letter revealed that:
Many families are losing homes and jobs due to expired passports! People who have lived in foreign countries for years, who have homes and businesses in South Africa, who have family and relatives depending on them for funds for food and life.
The South Africans abroad were frustrated by unanswered calls to the DHA. “According to human rights lawyers, this separation of families is a serious violation of rights!” said the writer, who wrote on behalf of “thousands of South Africans who are still stuck in foreign countries”.
The letter pointed out that SA’s economy would be in an even worse crisis if all these South Africans â€` who could no longer work abroad with expired passports â€` had to return home with no jobs, no homes and unable to pay tax.
The letter writer begged for help, saying: “I am at the end of the line and we need intervention and help! When I called my embassy yesterday I was treated with disdain and screamed at. We are all in this boat together, and right now, South Africans in foreign countries are lost and unable to feed families, both in South Africa and abroad:
Could you please look into opening the E-services for passports for those of us who are living in foreign countries. We can do biometrics at embassies which will take the pressure off the Home Affairs during this crisis. Many South Africas are trapped overseas without being able to travel to new jobs and are losing jobs because of expired passports.
The DA Abroad’s Dr Jubber says the SA Government “simply cannot blame the Covid-19 pandemic for these delays, as it has only worsened an already dire situation of poor service delivery. It is completely unacceptable that citizens abroad are left in a practical position of statelessness for an undisclosed number of months.”
SA citizen Ryszard Majewski‎, in Thailand, said: “I was amazed at the SA Embassy in Thailand yesterday when I was following up the renewal of my passport. The Embassy staff stated that Home Affairs is hopeless and inefficient, not responding to their heaps of requests from stranded SA citizens in Thailand, with various issues. Take my example â€` it will take more than 8 months+ to get a new passport. HELLO!!!”
Dr Jubber says the DA will continue to sound the alarm on the “inefficiencies” of Home Affairs in protecting the interests of South African citizens abroad. V.3161

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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