Proof of Permanent Residency ( PR)

Why does one do this 

Obtaining permanent residency is your ticket to securing a full-time residency in South Africa. This alleviates the headache of renewing your visa every few years while still enabling you to enjoy every moment of your stay in South Africa. This is why we call it “Permanent” residency. It is important to make sure that you look after your PR certificate. 

While obtaining your permanent residency is a joyous occasion, it is important to be able to produce a proof of permanent residency (PR) upon request.

A PR certificate is issued upon successful application for your permanent residency. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will only issue you this certificate once, therefore obtaining a certified copy and looking after your original copy is very important. The only time you will need to take your PR Certificate out of its safe place will be upon exiting South Africa and entering a new country. Obtaining a proof of residency letter can confirm your status and the legitimacy thereof. This can also function as a back-up if you lose your original copy saving you loads of stress if things don’t go your way.

If you happen to misplace your certificate, it is not the end of the world. Although you may only receive the certificate once, the application for “confirmation of status” solidifies your status as a permanent resident. This letter comes in the form of a permanent residency letter, which can be applied for before or after misplacing your original proof of permanent residency. You know the saying, better safe than sorry, as this letter can take upwards of 6 months to be approved. Try and obtain your confirmation of status letter as soon as possible!

Once you have obtained permanent residency certificate for South Africa, you need to make sure that you comply with any conditions listed on the bottom of the A4 page. If you are unsure about how to comply with the conditions on your permanent residency certificate, make sure to obtain legal advise so you do not invalidate all of the hard work that you have done to obtain your certificate. You also need to apply for your South African identity book and convert your driver’s license to a South African version.

To apply for naturalization as a South African citizen: If you are a permanent resident of South Africa and you want to apply for naturalization as a South African citizen, you will need to provide proof of your permanent residency status as part of the application process.

If you leave South Africa and do not return after three or more years, your permanent residency is at risk of being revoked.  It is strongly suggested to seek professional legal advice. This is only if you are leaving the country for extended periods at a time.

www.samigration.com

Govt to oppose order allowing 22 Afghan nationals into SA

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi believes a US Non-Governmental Organisation is trying to use the legal system to undermine and ambush South Africa’s sovereignty. Motsoaledi has reacted to an order by the High Court in Pretoria that government grants asylum to 22 Afghan nationals.

The order was issued on Friday after lawyers representing a United States-based NGO approached the court on behalf of the 22 Afghan nationals.

The NGO argued that the group might be victimised by the Taliban regime which took power in August 2021.

“On the 14th our officials in Beitbridge received a letter written by a firm of lawyers saying that they have clients that are coming, 22 of them. We are warning them that you must be given a transit visa to enter South Africa and apply for asylum, they never named the clients, they didn’t even mention where they came from. While the people there were still surprised, 22 people arrived and said they’re from Afghanistan and they want to enter the country, their lawyers have given us prior notice and they were carrying visa from Zimbabwe,” says Motsoaledi.

Government slams call to grant asylum to 22 Afghan nationals

Meanwhile, Motsoaledi says government will be opposing the court order.

“Yesterday they went to court to get an interim order that we must allow these people to come in, the return date is on the 7th of March but that court order has been granted that we must allow them in, but the judge realised that we were not in court. We were not in court because they manipulated the law and processes because they know that we are in Pretoria but they served a junior person in Beitbridge through an email and the person was in the field and only saw the email after 4 hours and after 4 hours they had already been in court and got the order but the judge realised that we were not there and allowed us that we can do something within 24 hours.”

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs, New bill will allow IDs from age 10

JOHANNESBURG - In South Africa, you may only apply for an identity document when you`re 16 and above but, that`s about to change.

Cabinet has approved a new bill that will allow citizens to get their IDs at the age of 10.

The National Identification and Registration Bill of 2022 is now open for public comment.

The Bill also seeks to lay out an integrated digital national identification system, to keep a record of both SA citizens and foreign nationals.

Home affairs, minister Aaron Motsoaledi said, ``what the bill seeks to do is bring a new system called NIS, doesn`t change your nationality, but records, change the age on which people acquire ID documents, we want to move it to 10-years.`

`The rationale is that police at crime scene, use finger prints, so criminals use children...when a young child dies, they don`t take death certificate, so they don`t go and sell it and they live as an South African child that has died, so bill seeks to criminalise [that].`

Zimbabwean jailed for 15 years for possession of commercial explosives

A 40-year-old Zimbabwean man has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars for possession of commercial explosives.

The Musina regional court sentenced Luckmore Harunashe on Friday.

Hawks spokesperson Capt Matimba Maluleke said Harunashe and Zorodzai Ignatius Mukonzamariro, 31, were arrested on the N1 between Musina and Makhado in September 2022. Maluleke said the Beitbridge police task team was tipped off about a blue Toyota Condor transporting explosives.

“The task team members immediately reacted and the suspicious vehicle with two occupants was spotted, stopped and searched. On searching the vehicle, police found commercial explosives including 247 blasting cartridges, 1,250 connector capped fuses and seven detonating fuses valued at R70,000.”

Harunashe and Mukonzamariro, who was driving, were arrested and their case was transferred to the Hawks.

“The accused weren`t granted bail. During their trial, the court heard that Harunashe hired a vehicle driven by Mukonzamariro to transport his explosives from Zimbabwe to South Africa without a permit,” said Maluleke.

“Apart from the 15 years` direct imprisonment that was imposed on Harunashe, he was also sentenced to six months` imprisonment or a R20,000 fine for entering South Africa without a valid passport.”

Mukonzamariro was handed a six-month jail sentence, with the option of a R20,000 fine, for entering South Africa without a valid passport.

Another loose thread left hanging in South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has again reaffirmed the government’s intention to introduce a remote working visa repeating a promise made a year ago to help solve South Africa’s growing skills crisis.

Despite the stated intention, however, the president has given no further details on the plan, nor any timelines associated with it. Meanwhile, repeated comments from the Department of Home Affairs on the matter show that zero progress has been made to make these visas a reality.

Responding to several parliamentary Q&As in 2022, Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi stated plainly that there are no provisions for such a visa in South Africa’s laws as such, there are no plans to launch one.

“The current visa categories are legislated by the Immigration Act No. 13 of 2002. In its current form, the Immigration Act does not make provision for digital nomad eVisa. Therefore, there are no plans to implement a digital nomad e-visa,” he said at the time.

This has become a sore point for those involved in South Africa’s tourism industry.

According to the City of Cape Town, it has been pushing for a remote worker visa since the lifting of lockdown, after the Covid-19 crisis wiped out the travel and hospitality sectors in the country.

“Since then, we have been lobbying for the introduction of a remote working visa because of its massive economic spinoffs for the industry. Our research shows that a special visa would help attract more international visitors, particularly ‘digital nomads’ who can work virtually from anywhere in the world,” it said.

The city said that working tourists tend to spend up to R50,000 during their stays and that over 40 countries around the world have already adopted these special visas to boost their own economies.

“If our visa system is not revised and improved, we stand to lose out to destinations with less arduous administrative platforms. Remote workers have exploded onto the travel scene and, according to one report of an incentive programme in Oklahoma in the USA, digital nomads generated nearly $20 million in additional local gross domestic product.

“With a special visa, South Africa stands to realise such gains,” it said.

In lieu of an actual plan of action from Ramaphosa, the city is proposing an amendment to Section 11 of the Immigration Act, which relates to an extension of visas beyond 90 days for specific activities.

Through an amendment, the Act could include the following requirements:

• An applicant must provide evidence of employment abroad, as well as a sufficient income from such employment or own business registered abroad;

• Prohibit the applicant’s work activities in South Africa;

• Allow the applicant’s dependents to accompany them on application.

“If South Africa were to implement such strategies, we could indeed create a tourism-related job in every home in the country. Whether you’re in aviation, logistics, transportation, boat-building, hospitality, retail, design, or clean energy, tourism relates to your work because it brings clients to your door,” it said.

While South Africa has made no forward movement on nomad or remote work visas, some measures to address the skills crisis in the country were introduced in the last 12 months.

Most notably, Home Affairs published an updated critical skills list and moved to fast-track critical skill visas in the country. An apparent collapse of visa processing in August 2022 led to a significant backlog forming by the end of the year, however.

The backlog is only expected to be cleared up by June 2023

www.samigration.com