Since lockdown asylum seekers and refugees have been denied crucial services

Immigrants are struggling to document their status because of the continued closure of in-person services at Home Affairs refugee reception offices.
• Refugees and asylum seekers are facing a myriad of problems because Home Affairs has not provided crucial in-person services for two years.
• Despite a blanket extension of permits various government departments and private sector facilities are not accepting valid documents, not even some Home Affairs officers.
• There are numerous complaints of problems with the Home Affairs online system introduced for permit renewals.
Terrence is a Zimbabwean refugee in South Africa. He has tried seven times to renew his status through the Home Affairs online portal, but he has never received a response, he says.
His papers expired in October 2020, but Home Affairs announced that asylum seeker and refugee permits that expired after 15 March 2020 have been extended up to and including 30 April 2022. This was because Home Affairs had closed its refugee reception offices since lockdown.
Terrence wants to officially marry his customary law wife. So he went in person to the Regional Home Affairs office in central Johannesburg, only to be told by a supervisor to bring “a valid document” because his asylum document had expired.
He was told the blank extension is only to allow refugees to renew. “So I have to wait for the renewed status and then get married”.
But this is incorrect as the blanket extension clearly extends “the validity” of visas and permits.
“I do not understand how a Home Affairs office does not understand its own system … My wife is getting tired of waiting, not knowing if we will get married,” said Terrence.
He also said not having renewed documents in hand was affecting his employment contract and his child’s schooling.
Home Affairs launched its online renewal system for asylum seekers and refugees, but since its inception last year GroundUp has received emails and calls from asylum seekers experiencing difficulties with the portal.
With the closure of

in-person services at Refugee Reception Offices it has also not been possible for many refugees and asylum seekers to legalise or document their status, even though they have entered the country perfectly legally.
Also, people who have lost their documents, because of anything from carelessness to robbery to fire, have no way currently to verify their status.
An Ethiopian refugee, Abera, says he cannot renew online since he lost his refugee document and he cannot remember his reference number.
Another distraught refugee told GroundUp that his bank insisted his refugee status be verified. “The documents are given by the South African government … Do banks verify South Africans green IDs as well? This segregation needs to stop.”
The “family joining” process â€` granting refugee status or a similar secure status to family members accompanying a recognised refugee â€` has also ground to a halt.
Children who have been born in South Africa to refugees are sitting without birth certificates, because their mothers are undocumented.
Sharon Ekambaram of Lawyers For Human Rights (LHR) also confirmed that refugees have been reporting a breakdown of Home Affairs systems. She said the failure by Home Affairs to issue a directive that the “document provided to asylum seekers that has the Covid watermark is a legitimate document, shows the contempt” Home Affairs has for poor people.
Acting National Director of the Somali Association of South Africa Abdikadir Mohamed said the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) Pretoria local office was refusing to recognise refugee documents renewed online.
“Sassa officials punched holes in the documents that were renewed online to ensure they are not used again. They also threatened to arrest the refugees,” said Mohamed.
Sassa’s spokesperson Paseka Cornelius Letsatsi failed to respond to our questions.
We have also repeatedly sent questions to Home Affairs but received no reply.
www.samigration.com V.4056

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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.
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-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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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