Want to visit, live, work, or study in the rainbow nation? 

SA Migration | 16 Jan 2023

We explain how to apply for the correct visa for South Africa based on your situation.

South Africa is a beautiful and culturally diverse country that offers unique experiences and exciting opportunities for all. However, many tourists and migrants wanting to cross her rugged shores must first apply for a South African visa if they are planning to visit, live, work, or study in the country; or perhaps join a relative or partner there. Furthermore, your nationality and reasons for coming to South Africa will dictate what type of visa you need.

Luckily, this guide is here to explain the conditions of each type of visa for South Africa to help you choose the correct permit. But before we delve into that, it’s important to know that this information serves only as a guideline. Ideally, you should seek specific advice from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) or its official immigration partner, VFS.Global, which manages all visa applications and visa facilitation centers of the DHA. Just note that only the DHA can issue visas and permits for South Africa and VFS.Global do not influence the outcome of the application.

The guide includes the following information on permits and visas for South Africa:

• Immigration in South Africa

• Who needs a South African visa?

• Types of South African visas

• Temporary Residence Visa (TRV)

• Non-immigrant South African visas (short-term)

o Visitor’s Visa (Holiday/Tourist Visa)

o Other types of long-term visitor visas

o Business Visa

• Non-immigrant South African visas (long-term)

o Study Visa

o Exchange Visa

o Work Visas

o Relative Visa

o Medical Visa

o Retired Person’s Visa

• Asylum seekers and refugees in South Africa

o The process for seeking asylum or refugee status in South Africa

o Requirements for applying for a Permanent Resident Permit (PRP)

• Permanent Residence Permit (PRP)

• Citizenship in South Africa

• Arriving in South Africa

• Appeals and complaints

• Useful resources

SA Migration

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Immigration in South Africa

South Africa is the most industrialized economy in the region with a culturally diverse population of over 60 million people and 11 official languages. According to a survey conducted by HSBC in 2019, 62% of expats who moved to South Africa saw an improvement in their quality of life compared to their home countries. Furthermore, 55% planned to reside in South Africa for more than 20 years. 

The county’s attractive climate, thriving outdoor lifestyle, and general quality of life were among the reasons for wanting to remain there longer. In 2020, South Africa also ranked as the 38th most appealing country for expats in HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, based on living, aspiration, and mindset criteria.

Read our Guide on the cost of living in South Africa

However, as a society, South Africa does have its problems. Indeed, general safety, security, and racial tensions remain the biggest concerns among expats living or considering moving to the country. You can gain a better understanding of South Africa by reading our guides on where to live, the society and history, and the cost of living in the country. Furthermore, these may help you make a more informed decision about whether to move there.

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Section 10 of Births and Deaths Registration Act 'impairs dignity of unmarried fathers' - ConCourt 

Groundup | 16 January 2023

Section 10 of Births and Deaths Registration Act has been declared unconstitutional. 

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• The Constitutional Court has declared a section of the Births and Deaths Registration Act unconstitutional.

• The section does not allow an unmarried father to register his child's birth under his surname, unless the mother gives consent or is present.

• A ConCourt judge says there is no justification for differentiating between married and unmarried fathers.

The Constitutional Court has declared section 10 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act - which does not allow an unmarried father to register his child's birth under his surname, unless the mother is present or gives consent - unconstitutional. 

In a judgment by Justice Margaret Victor on Wednesday, which was read out by Justice Steven Majiedt, the court found there was no justification for differentiating between married and unmarried fathers.

"Section 10 of the act impairs the dignity of unmarried fathers, whose bonds with their children are deemed less worthy than the children of married parents," Majiedt said. 

The apex court confirmed a 2020 ruling by the Eastern Cape High Court, which found the act invalid and inconsistent. 

Father Menzile Lawrence Naki approached the court after the Department of Home Affairs refused to register his child under his surname because the mother was an undocumented Democratic Republic of Congo national.

Consent

The department would also not allow him to register the birth, without the mother's consent.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng was one of two dissenting justices. He acknowledged that the act discriminated against unmarried fathers, but held the discrimination was reasonable, justifiable and fair. 

"The chief justice holds that children are vulnerable and their best interests are of paramount importance in issues that concern them have to be addressed. 

"The chief justice further reasons that they must be protected and not exposed to the risks of being easily claimed and adopted by people, whose relationship with them or subsequently to be in their lives, has been established," said Majiedt.

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Couple wins legal battle to have rule in Births and Deaths Registration Act declared unconstitutional 

News24 | 16 January 2023

A couple has won a court battle to have a regulation in the Birth and Deaths Registrations Act declared unconstitutional and invalid. 

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• A South African woman and her Bulgarian partner have won an application to have a regulation in the Birth and Deaths Registrations Act declared unconstitutional.

• Judge Mbulelo Jolwana in the Eastern Cape High Court found that it imposed discriminatory conditions for fathers who are unmarried and may be undocumented foreigners.

• The home affairs minister and department were ordered to pay the costs of the application.

A couple has won a court battle to have a regulation in the Birth and Deaths Registrations Act declared unconstitutional and invalid, after their son was not allowed to have his father's name on his birth certificate because his father was in South Africa illegally.

In the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha, Judge Mbulelo Jolwana came to the "ineluctable conclusion" that Regulation 12(2)(c) imposes discriminatory conditions in the recordal of fathers who are unmarried and who may be illegal foreigners in the children's registration of birth.

The parents, Ms U and Mr V, sought legal recourse after their attempt to register Mr V as the baby's father at the Department of Home Affairs.

Officials refused to make the entries in their records and issue an unabridged birth certificate for their infant because Mr V, a Bulgarian national, was in the country on an expired visa and, therefore, illegally.

According to court papers, they are not married but live as husband and wife.

A paternity test was required to prove fatherhood because he was not a South African citizen, and the couple was told that a court order declaring Mr V as the father, in addition to proof of paternity, would be required. 

Section 11 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 provides for the amendment of the birth registration details if the father wishes to acknowledge himself as the father of a child born out of wedlock, subject to the submission of a conclusive proof of paternity.

The Minister of Home Affairs and the head of the provincial department's office initially opposed the application, citing that the father was in the country illegally.

During the court proceedings, however, they made an about-turn and conceded to the relief sought without an explanation.

The applicants' legal team, however, persisted with a constitutional challenge, referring to the "considerable distress" the regulation had caused them and "continues to bedevil those children born in similar circumstances".

"The respondents cannot plead ignorance about which regulation or subregulation is applicable and in which circumstances. The regulations are theirs and theirs alone, and the [minister's] predecessor must be presumed to have known what he intended when he issued them and the [minister], likewise, when he enforced them," Jolwana said in his judgement.

The department must be assumed to have consistent rules and policies and deal with people in similar circumstances as the couple, making the inquiry into constitutionality a matter of public importance, he added.

"Besides the issue of the rights of the affected minor children, even the parents of the children, must be attended to both professionally and competently by government officials, and mixed signals are totally unhelpful and utterly confusing. Their own rights to dignity and to an efficient public service are implicated and are not without significance."

The contested Regulation 12(2)(c) reads: "The person who acknowledges that he is the father of the child born out of wedlock must… have his fingerprints verified online against the national population register. Provided that in the event of the father being a non-South African citizen, he must submit a certified copy of his valid passport and visa or permit, permanent resident's, identity document or refugee identity document."

The couple contended that their child was prejudiced and discriminated against irrationally by the regulation because of the circumstances of his birth.

Jolwana agreed.

"There cannot be any cogent justification for such discrimination, and none was advanced. This is hardly surprising. If there was a proper basis for the discrimination on the basis of the illegality of this child's father's presence in this country, it escapes me why the [minister and department] have agreed to the amendment of the child's registration records. 

"After all, the father is still illegally in the country," he said.

"It baffles me how the respondents, especially the minister, can consent to this child's father's details being entered into the birth registration records of this child and still argue that Regulation 12(2)(c) is valid and should remain extant.

"This would have the inevitable consequence of its continued enforcement by hapless officials of the department, a situation of total chaos, confusion and inconsistent application of the regulation. 

"This surely should not be countenanced."

Jolwana found the regulation to indeed be "clearly unconstitutional and irrational".

"On the respondents' submissions, the event of the expiry of a visa must determine if the child who is born should be allowed to have a birth certificate with full details of his or her father. This defies all sense of logic," he said.

"In this case, the father was not able to renew his visa for reasons that obviously had nothing to do with the child. As a result, his continued stay in this country became illegal. 

"None of that has anything to do with the child and his right to have the identity of his father officially recognised, not for the father but most importantly, for the child."

According to Jolwana, the irrationality of the regulation becomes more pronounced if regard is had to the fact that recognising, protecting, respecting and fulfilling the rights of the affected children does not in any way curtail the minister and department's ability to deal with the fact of the illegality of the presence of their fathers in South Africa.

"For instance, the respondents are entitled to deport [Mr V] in the normal course or deal with him in any way they decide within the framework of the law as they should with any other illegal foreigner. 

"Therefore, the entry of his details in the child's birth certificate does not limit any of that. In fact, it only prejudices the child and does so unjustifiably and irrationally, without serving any useful purpose."

The minister and department were ordered to pay the costs of the application.

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Free SAMI Immigration Newsletter – Be informed.

16 Jan 2023 | SA Migration

Newsletters are always the best way to keep our clients informed of the rapid changes in the immigration world and we can update you in this regard by you subscribing to our free newsletter.

SAMI issues a monthly Newsletter to update you on topical immigration and related matters that we believe you should be aware of especially with regard to the procedures and rules pertaining thereto. These newsletters will provide you with useful information on any aspect of life related to immigration and possible relocation challenges you may experience . If you are interested in a visa or just to visit you should subscribe to the Free Newsletter service of SAMI.

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'I want to be in school but... we have no papers': Undocumented children struggle to find schools

News24 | 16 Jan 2023

It is 10:00, and 9-year-old Michael is begging at a set of traffic lights in Johannesburg. Most children his age are back at school after the holidays. But Michael is undocumented.

He has not been in school since 2021, when he used to attend a private school. His family could not afford to keep him there, and the school also gave him notice that he should provide some documentation if he wanted to continue classes, GroundUp reported.

His two siblings and their mother, a widow, sometimes join Michael at the traffic lights to beg from motorists. They usually spread out to increase their chances of getting something.

Michael and one of his sisters were born in South Africa. The younger one was born in Zimbabwe and came to South Africa as a baby. The older sibling used to attend school but the younger one has never been to school.

"Why are you not in school?" motorists have asked. The children don't know how to answer. They want to go to school.

"I want to be in school, but my mother says we have no papers. Standing at the robots is boring, but we have no choice because we need food," said Michael.

Michael's mother said: "Not being able to send my children to school is heartbreaking. My children have neither Zimbabwean nor South African papers because we have been in Johannesburg for a long time."

The online school placement system requires documents for registration, so parents go to schools in person, door to door, only to be turned away. Michael's mother tried several public schools, but they insisted she provide documents.

The online school placement system requires documents for registration, so parents go to schools in person, door to door, only to be turned away. Michael's mother tried several public schools, but they insisted she provide documents.

Some private schools will take undocumented children, but charge fees ranging from R500 to R1 500 a month. Most undocumented immigrant parents do not have a sufficient or stable enough income to cover this.

Smangaliso, from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe but originally from Mozambique, only acquired Zimbabwean citizenship a few years ago. She brought her grandchildren, aged 9 and 11, to Johannesburg three years ago after their father died. She has not found a public school that is prepared to take them without documents.

"It's not easy back home in Bulawayo. At least here (Johannesburg) I can buy food with the money I make from selling sweets… My grandchildren need an education… I don't know what to do," she said.

Rudo, a secretary by profession, lost her job because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her children have been at home for the past year because she cannot afford the R950 a month she was paying to keep them in a private school.

Zimbabwe Isolated Women in South Africa (Ziwisa) has compiled a database of children living in the inner-city of Johannesburg who are in this predicament.

"There are close to 1 000 migrant children from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Congo and Lesotho [who] we have registered so far, who are not going to school due to lack of documentation," said Ethel Musonza from Ziwisa.

"While some [children] might be lucky enough to be enrolled into primary school, it's difficult to get placed in high schools," she said.

The matric certificates of immigrant children are missing the 13-digit South African ID number, and their validity is often doubted.

"In Johannesburg, there are a number of private schools offering the University of Cambridge high school system to allow migrant children to have usable certificates, but such schools are expensive," said Musonza.