Mom's deportation fear after Home Affairs blunder

Source: – Cape Times, 30/08/2016

A FISH Hoek woman, born in Denmark but married to a South African,
fears police might deport her because the Department of Home Affairs
bungled her application for permanent residency.


Mitte Kirsten has lived in South Africa for five years after
relocating from Denmark with her husband and two children in
2011.


She arrived in South Africa on a tourist visa in 2011 and then applied
for a spousal 
visa, while at the same time seeking permanent
residence.

Her latest visa expired on May 15, 2015.


Two weeks ago her application for permanent residency was rejected by
the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria due to an incomplete "good
cause letter", which should have been filed by Home Affairs officials
dealing with her application at the department`s Barrack Street
branch.


A marketing executive who runs her own business connecting Danish
investors with South African partners, Kirsten has been unable to work
due to her unresolved immigration status.


"I need to work to support my children. They are well integrated into
South Africa, are getting distinctions in school and my son has been
accepted into SACS. Before they arrived they couldn`t speak English or
Afrikaans," said Kirsten.


She has also been unable to return to Denmark to visit her family, as
she risks being banned from re-entry because she had overstayed her
visa.


And the cloud hanging over her head has been "super stressful" for her
husband, Lloyd Kirsten.


Kirsten said: "We`ve sat down as a family, deciding whether we would
return to Denmark, but my husband hated it there."


Her fear of SAPS is not without merit. She was arrested two months ago
and spent four hours locked up at the Cape Town Central police station
until her lawyer managed to get her released.


"The case against me was thrown out when it came before a magistrate
at the Cape Town Magistrate`s Court," said Kirsten.


Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete said they
were aware of Mitte`s case and that she would not be arrested.


"We are trying to help her. The provincial office doesn`t have all the
information that we have," said Tshwete.