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Overstay / Declared Undesirable / VLIST Ban Issued for 5 Years . There is hope !!

Source: Samigration, 19/11/2018

Overstaying oneâ€™s visa is a common occurrence among people who
applied to extend their visa in South Africa and said visa not
issued in time for travel.
In recent months overstaying one visa has moved from being a minor
inconvenience to a possible criminal offence with potentially
serious ramifications. The changes brought about by the new
immigration laws have made overstaying ones visa a very serious
affair which needs a careful and smart approach to remedy.
Let us now explore the effect of overstaying ones visa and what
steps to take to correct this now serious matter.
Effect of an overstay
An individual who remains the republic after his or her visa has
expired is in violations of the Act. The immigration Act describe
such individual as illegal Foreigners. Illegal foreigner are dealt
with in terms of section 32 which provides:
32(1) any illegal foreigner shall depart, unless authorised to do
so by the director general as well as any illegal foreigner shall
be deported.
The seriousness of an overstay is clear from the section, anyone
who is considered an illegal foreigner must be deported and there
are no exceptions. In addition section 49(1(a) makes it a criminal
offence to remain in the republic in contravention of the Act and
on conviction the penalty is imprisonment for a period of not more
than 2 years or a fine. In addition section 30(1) (h) renders one
departing the republic on an expired status an undesirable.
Legalization of an Overstay
Section 32(10 read with regulation 30 provides for a mechanism to
cure an overstay a potentially avoid any sanction for the
overstay. This process is commonly referred to as legalisation and
is given expression in the following section:
(a)Demonstrate, in writing ,to the satisfaction of the Director
General that he or she was unable to apply for such status for
reasons beyond his or her control and;
(b)Submit proof to the Director General that he or she is in a
position to immediately submit his or her application for
status.Reg 30(2) The Authorization to remain in the Republic as
contemplated by section 32(1) of the Act shall be granted on Form
20â€¦.
In order to legalise an overstay 3 points must be complied with.
1.You must neither be arrested for purposes of deportation nor be
ordered to leave. Both instances occur when you have been detected
by Home affairs officials. Therefore you can only avail yourself
to legalisation if you have not been detected by immigration
enforcement officials.
2.Demonstrate in writing, commonly referred to a good cause. The
applicant must demonstrate that the overstay was not intentional
but a consequence of factors beyond the control of the applicant?
It is not enough to simply overstay for no justifiable reason and
approach the Director General where no good cause exists.
3.The applicant must show that he or she is in a position to
submit his or her application for a status immediately upon being
granted the authorisation.
Once the authorisation is given it will be issued to the applicant
on a form 20. The applicant then uses the form 20 to apply for the
visa.
If you require assistance with Uplifting the Overstay ban and or
Legalization and have any questions on the topic please feel free
to contact our offices for specialist advice.
www.samigration.com

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