More Africans countries to benefit from SA VISA relaxation

Source: Southern Times, 08/10/2018

Pretoria - South Africa’s department of home affairs has said more
African countries are set to benefit from its visa waiving programme.
The development was announced by the Minister of Home Affairs Malusi
Gigaba in Pretoria last week.
Gigaba told the media that there will be some changes in the visa
architecture aimed at boosting tourism and easing business travel.
He said the reforms will include amendments to regulations applying to
foreign minors travelling to South Africa, visa waivers and relaxation
of visa requirements for certain countries.
Minister Gigaba said his department will be reviewing the visa regime
for most African countries in line with the African free movement agenda.
“South Africa already waives visas to a number of countries. In line
with our Africa-centred foreign and immigration policies, ordinary
passport holders of 15 of the 16 SADC countries do not require visas
to visit South Africa, with the exception of the Democratic Republic
of Congo.
“As called for by the 2017 White Paper on International Migration, we
are reviewing our visa regime for other African countries in line with
the African free movement agenda. Where we are unable to waive visas
for objective risks, we will implement other measures to ease travel,”
said Gigaba.
The home affairs department also announced that more countries will be
included in the Visa waiving programme for the benefit of the tourism
industry.
The department is finalising Visa Waiver Agreements for ordinary
passport holders with several countries, including Algeria, Egypt,
Morocco, Sao Tome & Principe, Tunisia, Saharawi-Arab Democratic
Republic and Ghana.
In the Middle East are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar,
State of Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. In
Eastern Europe are Belarus and Georgia as well as Cuba in the Caribbean.
The department is also simplifying visa requirements for countries
such as China and India saying it will make provision for taking
biometrics on arrival in South Africa, allowing visa applications via
courier and issuing five-year multiple entry visas.
“We will consider easing, similarly, travel restrictions for certain
categories of visitors for other countries, including Nigeria, Kenya
and Uganda,” Minister Gigaba added.
Long-term multiple entry visas have also been implanted in order to
further ease the movement of travellers, for purposes of tourism,
business meetings and academic exchange, we have implemented long-term
multiple entry visas for frequent travellers.
These, include a three-year multiple entry visa for frequent trusted
travellers to South Africa, and a ten-year long-term multiple entry
visa for business people and academics from Africa.
According to the amendments, business people from BRICS countries who
require visas, China and India will be issued a 10-year multiple entry
visa within five days of application.
The minister also said the requirements for travelling with minors
would be reviewed for the convenience of travellers.
“Home Affairs requires that minors travelling in or out of the
Republic do so with the consent of both parents as required by Section
18 (3) (c) of the Children’s Act.
As indicated by the President, we are simplifying the rules on
travelling minors who are foreign nationals to minimise disruption to
legitimate travellers without compromising the safety of minors and
the rights of their parents.
To this end, we will issue an international travel advisory before the
end of October 2018, after consultation with the Immigration Advisory
Board.
The key changes will be that rather than requiring all foreign
national travelling minors to carry documentation proving parental
consent for the travelling minor to travel, we will rather strongly
recommend that travellers carry this documentation,” said minister
Gigaba.
The minister added that his department will put in place other options
to assist travellers who might fail to present the required
documentation instead of denying them entry.
“Rather than denying entry where documentation is absent, travellers
will be given an opportunity to prove parental consent. South African
minors will still be required to prove parental consent when leaving
our borders,” he added.
He said the changes will be implemented in good time before the
festive season for the convenience of travellers with children.
Consultations are also being finalised with other government
departments, academics, business and organised labour, to implement a
reviewed critical skills list by April 2019.
The minister said this will help in attracting and retaining critical
skilled labour best to enhance economic development and advance our
country’s new path of growth, employment and transformation.
“In order to retain critical skills, foreign students who graduate at
South African institutions of higher learning within critical skills
categories, are offered an opportunity to apply for permanent
residence upon graduation. Those who do not opt for permanent
residence are issued with critical skills visas,” he added.
The changes are expected to contribute to the stimulus and recovery
plan that was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the 21
September 2018.