• Immigration-related fraud in South Africa is rife.
• A task team has found a raft of irregularities in issuing permits and visas.
• Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has reiterated the country is not for sale.
A probe of the Department of Home Affairs` visa and residency applications has revealed foreign applicants younger than 25 are approved for retirement and study visas in just one day.
Study visas were approved with vague, nonsensical or little information about the `learner`.
This emerged during Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi`s briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs.
On Wednesday, Motsoaledi, senior department officials, and a task team reviewing permits and visas presented their findings.
The task team was established to review all permits issued since 2004 - the year in which the Immigration Act came into operation.
Former top civil servant Cassius Lubisi, who chaired the task team, told MPs on average, 23% of all study visa approvals between 2014 and 2021 were for Zimbabwean nationals, which were done through a normal study visa, with the calendar year from January 2021 to December 2021 being 25%.
`Likewise, 11% of all approvals were from Nigeria, and 10% were from Congo. The three mentioned countries thus contribute to 44% of all study visa approvals by foreign nationals for the period. Some study visas were finalised in one day.
`On face value this is good, but if processes are followed, this seems suspicious and needs further investigation. Institutions of study peculiarities were detected where the course or institution descriptions were vague or nonsensical in the data. `Learner` and `N/A` classifications could be used to facilitate the approval of fake study visa applications.`
According to Lubisi, the review detected a spike in retired person visas and permit applications in 2018, but it was not clear what caused it.
The highest increase involved Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nigerian and Indian citizens.
`Seventy-nine percent of applicants applied for retirement before the age of 55, of which 53% were eventually approved. In 2018, 65% of approved retirement visas were for applicants 55 years old or younger.
`Applicants younger than 25 were approved to retire in the RSA. Retirement visas then changed to other visa types - people are applying and getting retirement visas granted, only to then apply for a change to this visa to work or to get married, indicating that the initial application for a retirement visa was only a ruse

to enter the [country],` he said.
The government has come under fire over its decision to terminate the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) at the end of the year.
Zimbabwean Permit Chaos
An average of 34% of all critical-skills visa approvals from 2014 to June 2021 are for Zimbabwean nationals, with the calendar year from January 2021 to December 2021 being 38%.
Evidence suggests a general trend of applicants changing from general worker to critical-skills visa applications and these then change from study to critical-skills visa applications.
In 2016, a waiver notice was issued whereby anyone studying towards a critical skill in South Africa was given the right to apply for a permanent residency permit even before they qualified.
The waiver was withdrawn by Motsoaledi in 2022.
In making its recommendations, the task team said several processes should be reviewed, including cohabitation agreements or notarial contracts that were being used to represent marriages.
The panel obtained evidence some of these were self-created.
The task team added fraudulent applications (with fraudulent documents) should be rejected outright
For a person to be given a retirement visa in South Africa, they needed to prove a certain income stream, it recommended.
The task team wants the department to conduct a detailed forensic investigation.
`Certain visas will have to be withdrawn, some people might have to be deported and criminal prosecution might have to be instituted. This will also include internal disciplinary action,` Lubisi said.
He added the review committee recommended mandating an independent multidisciplinary task team of attorneys, forensic investigators, specialist analysts, and ICT system experts to fully investigate all the anomalies, fraudulent applications, corrupt activities, systemic irregularities and maladministration identified.
Lubisi said this would help to make `appropriate recommendations` for criminal prosecution, disciplinary action, removal from the system, system improvements, recalling of visas, and the tracing of offending foreign nationals for deportation.
Motsoaledi reiterated the country is not for sale and corrupt official would be rooted out.
The committee also heard of the firing of six officials and disciplinary processes against four others.
www.samigration.com V.4342

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.

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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.

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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.

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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