• This is a long-standing issue. For years (since at least 2014), many South African passport renewals abroad have been taking six months… but now this has become the norm, and some renewals are taking around 12 months! The Covid-19 Pandemic has exacerbated this, and Embassies are struggling with a backlog.
• This is a crisis heading for a catastrophe. Many South Africans abroad are desperate â€` unsure when they’ll ever get their passports, and facing subsequent problems abroad regarding their healthcare and right to live and work in their new countries.
• Accessing embassy staff is near impossible for many South Africans abroad â€` phone calls and emails go unanswered for weeks on end, and direct visits to Embassies that should be open are futile as they turn out to be closed. In the UK, the SA High Commission’s website has been down for over a month. Many desperate expats have turned to SAPeople and the DA Abroad for help.
• The current process includes a manual application with photos and fingerprints which are then sent in a diplomatic bag to Dirco in SA (along with other documents). Dirco sorts the bag and sends the passport applications to Home Affairs where they handle the manual applications, before sending them back to Dirco, back into a diplomatic bag (perhaps waiting for it to fill) and back to the country abroad. Instead of taking a max of two months which could make sense, it’s taking an extra four months at least!
• According to Home Affairs the diplomatic bag is sent monthly, but it appears more like they wait until the bag is full.
• A woman in South America has been stuck since 2018, sending her photos six times! And each time it is only when it finally gets to Home Affairs in Pretoria that an issue with the photos is detected.
• In SA, for locals, applications have sped up with a turn-around of two weeks. Applications are conducted manually or digitally (in larger offices). Citizens are able to submit electronic applications where their photos are taken digitally and automatically encrypted and sent to the printer.
• If the larger embassies and commissions abroad could adopt the same digital system as the larger offices in SA, it would save a LOT of time, chopping out the need for any diplomatic bag to be sent to SA. It would dramatically improve matters with only the physical document needing to be sent back.
• Home Affairs says it doesn’t have the budget, but since March a new tax on some South Africans working abroad is asking them for up to 45% of their foreign income. It appears South Africans abroad are good enough to pay tax, but not good enough to get a decent service from the government.
• Comparing the situation for South Africans to other foreigners living abroad, many foreign expats wait only two weeks to a month for their country’s passport. India â€` which is also in the BRICS set of countries â€` recently announced a two-day turn around, and said if there are any problems, it may take up to two weeks!
• Communication has not been great with Home Affairs saying Embassies are open, when they’re closed. It’s difficult for many South Africans who don’t live close to their Embassy to travel, only to discover it’s closed. Accessibility needs to be improved â€` officials need to answer phones and emails.
• The system appears chaotic at the moment. People have been known to wait eight months and then go into the Embassy and pretend they received notification that their passport was ready â€` and sure enough, they are handed their passport. Months later they receive a notification that their passport is ready (despite them already having it in their hands for a few months)… which raises many

questions!
• While some embassy staff are very sweet and as helpful as they can be, some are frustrated and South Africans abroad have reported being treated badly by rude staff. Home Affairs’ motto is “we care” but the way South Africans abroad are being treated seems to say something different.
• South Africans abroad have a right to be treated with respect, and to be helped. A passport is a document that you are constitutionally entitled to and it is the government’s responsibility to ensure you have that right and to help you.
• There appears to be no understanding at Home Affairs in SA of what a nightmare South Africans abroad are going through. One retort from the office was that “they can just travel back to SA”, but not everyone can just afford a flight back to SA (over £500 from the UK) and travelling to SA is not the only reason a citizen needs a passport.
• Some desperate expats, who can afford it, are being driven to fly home to renew their passports in SA. The legality of this is unknown.
• Some South Africans who have had a bad experience with trying to renew their passports are giving up. This will have huge implications on SA. Each South African abroad is a walking advertising board â€` we’d rather they were saying something positive, and spending their dollars/pounds on holidays and properties back home. (In Australia alone there are over 680,000 South Africans!) There are also foreign investors and potential tourists who are also giving up on SA because of the lack of service at some missions abroad.
• The solutions seem so simple. It feels like there isn’t a “political will” to look at this challenge (which is why it’s imperative that we get 20,000 people to sign the petition!)
• The Petition aims to firstly: ask for the Minister to ensure that South Africans living and working abroad have an emergency extension to their passport, just to cover the 6 to 12 months average wait for renewals. This has been successfully done in other countries like Kuwait.
• The Petition aims to secondly: ask that Home Affairs co-ordinate with Dirco to ensure all the facilities are fully open for business and Covid-safety compliant so that South Africans can get access to renew their passport which is a constitutional right, and for which Home Affairs is responsible.
• In the longer term, the Petition would like Home Affairs and Dirco to liaise to reduce the unacceptable current turn-around times at many of the embassies and consulates abroad, with solutions like an electronic application process and courier services that applicants pay for, as occurs with other countries.
• The SA government could be breaking the law, since there is an international law that states a country cannot leave its citizens stateless.
• If you are absolutely desperate, the DA is able to assist through the Parliamentary process. Write to assist@da.org.za â€` although this is not a long-term solution.
• If you are affected, or know someone who is affected, please sign. And please get the whole family and all your friends to sign. Anyone can sign. We have to get 20,000 signatures to take this to Parliament to get a portfolio committee to spark a debate and formally drive this urgent issue so that it can be resolved. We have listened to desperate South Africans’ cries for help, and this is the best way to get the solutions they need.

www.samigration.com V.3252

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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