How to check your visa extension status

All submissions are tracked online and you can access the login here.

You may collect your outcome once a decision has been decided and you have been alerted. You are allowed to collect in person or a representative may collect your outcome on your behalf. You must collect your outcome where you submitted your application and you will require to present your passport as proof when collecting your visa label or refusal letter.

What documents should applicants or representatives present when they collect?

• The same passport you used to submit your application.
• Original invoice cum receipt
• SAPS issued affidavit (if applicable) (Only applies if you have lost your original invoice cum receipt)
• Valid signed power of attorney (If applicable) (If a representative is collecting on your behalf)

Applicants may collect their outcome from Monday to Friday except for public holidays between 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Representatives must provide the following:

• Original ID photo
• Power of Attorney letter
• Applicants original passport
• Original invoice cum receipt. no photocopies allowed.

The power of attorney letter must state the following clearly:

• Name of the person collecting on behalf of you.
• Photo ID number of the person collecting on behalf of you.
• Your signature signed on the invoice cum receipt and passport are the same.

For more information, Please contact us on :

Tel No landline CT  :  +27 (0) 21 879 5560

Tel No landline JHB : +27 (0) 12 880 1490

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 - (Whatsapp messages only, No calls)

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 (Whatsapp messages only, No calls)  

Tel No admin : +27 (0) 64 126 3073 – (Whatsapp calls only – No Messages) 

Tel No sales : +27 (0) 74 0366127 - (Whatsapp calls only – No Messages)

Email:info@samigration.com

www.samigration.com

Where can I obtain the visa extension application for South Africa?

All applications being applied for in South Africa are completed online through the VFS website. No handwritten forms will be accepted.

You are required to complete the correct form for the type of visa you are applying for. You must use a valid email address to register your profile and schedule your online appointment.

These are the following forms available:

1. TRP DHA – 1738 form
2. Application for a change of conditions on existing visa or change of status (DHA-1740)
3. Application for renewal of existing visa (DHA-1739)
4. Application for a corporate visa (DHA – 1743)
5. Application for permanent residency status (DHA-947)
6. Appeals
7. Waivers
8. Exemption

The form you need to complete is the DHA-1739 for a renewal.

An extension must be applied for through VFS. The visa facilitation services act as the middle man, therefore collecting and handing over visas to the applicants. A foreign national is not allowed to directly go to a DHA office to submit their application, it will be refused and you will be directed to a VFS centre.

You might be wondering where can I extend my visa or read below to find a VFS office near you

For more information, Please contact us on :

Tel No landline CT  :  +27 (0) 21 879 5560

Tel No landline JHB : +27 (0) 12 880 1490

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 - (Whatsapp messages only, No calls)

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 (Whatsapp messages only, No calls)  

Tel No admin : +27 (0) 64 126 3073 – (Whatsapp calls only – No Messages) 

Tel No sales : +27 (0) 74 0366127 - (Whatsapp calls only – No Messages)

Email:info@samigration.com

www.samigration.com

Visa Extension - How to get it.

SA Migration |  06 Dec 2022

How soon can I apply for a visa extension?

As mentioned earlier, you may apply for a renewal 60 days before the expiry date if you received 90 days on your current visa and 7 days if you received 30 days or less. All temporary residence applications must be submitted 60 days before the time and no late application will be accepted.

The visit/tourist visa can only be renewed once per visit. If you are not sure whether you can renew your visa please speak to one of our consultants and we will gladly assess your situation.

How long does a visa extension take?

Home Affairs mentions that processing times are as follows:

1. Tourist visa – 16 weeks or less
2. Temporary residence visa applications for business and general work visas will be finalized within 40 weeks or less.
3. Temporary residence visa applications for critical work visa -40 weeks
4. All other TRP applications, renewals, changes of conditions and extensions will take 180 days.

The processing times have been impacted by Covid-19 and therefore applicants can expect 8 – 12 month delays if not longer. We would advise applicants to persistently follow up with Home Affairs until they receive their outcome.

Whilst awaiting the outcome of your visa, we advise that you do not leave the country as you will be declared undesirable and banned from the country.

South Africa visa extension fee

DHA Fee – R 425.00

Can I apply for a visa extension after expiry?

SA Migration | 06 Dec 2022

No, you may not apply for a renewal after it has expired. This means that you would be illegal in the country and declared an undesirable person when exiting the country. You must ensure that you apply for a renewal in advance before your visa expires as set out in the regulations.

The only applicants exempt from applying for a renewal after their visas have expired are foreign nationals whose visas have expired during the lockdown. These applicants have up to the 30th of September to renew their visas or else they would be declared undesirable.

If you apply for a renewal with an expired visa, officials from VFS will refuse to accept your application.

If you are in the country with an expired visa, the best option is to leave the country and upon exit, you will receive a letter stating that you are banned from South Africa for 12 months or 5 years depending on how long you overstayed. Once you received your letter, you may appeal the decision to lift the ban.

To appeal the decision, the applicant must submit the following documents to the overstay appeals department:

1. Written Representation
2. A copy of the declaration of undesirability (form 19) that was issued at the port of entry.
3. Copy of the relevant pages of the passport, including the bio page.
4. Acknowledgement of receipt (In cases where the applicant applied for a permit and the visa is still pending)
5. If the applicant overstayed due to medical reasons, then a medical certificate must be submitted.

Once you have all the necessary documents, then your appeal application must be emailed to overstayappeals@dha.gov.za and you can contact the IMS deportations department at 012-406 4985 to confirm if your application has been received.

For more information, Please contact us on :

Tel No landline CT  :  +27 (0) 21 879 5560

Tel No landline JHB : +27 (0) 12 880 1490

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 - (Whatsapp messages only, No calls)

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 (Whatsapp messages only, No calls)  

Tel No admin : +27 (0) 64 126 3073 – (Whatsapp calls only – No Messages) 

Tel No sales : +27 (0) 74 0366127 - (Whatsapp calls only – No Messages)

Email:info@samigration.com

www.samigration.com

What is ChatGPT: The new AI chatbot that can code, compose music, write essays, and more

Business Insider | 06 Dec 2022

• ChatGPT is a new chatbot that answers questions in a conversational, human-like way.
• People shared conversations with ChatGPT, showing it writing social media posts and explaining code.
• It reached over one million users in five days — but has its limitations.

A new artificial intelligence chatbot called ChatGPT is answering questions and taking instructions from users in a conversational, human-like way. OpenAI — the company that's also behind AI-art generator Dall-E — launched an early demo of ChatGPT last week and amassed over 1 million users in five days, according to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. ChatGPT is not only conversational, but well-versed in a large range of topics. It can create code, social media posts, and even scripts for television shows.

In its blog post about the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI said its "dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests." The AI language model "is a sibling" to InstructGPT, a model that also responds in detail to a user's instructions, and a newer version of  GPT-3.5, AI that predicts what words will come next after a user starts typing text. ChatGPT was trained with "Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback," according to OpenAI's website.  "We trained an initial model using supervised fine-tuning: human AI trainers provided conversations in which they played both sides—the user and an AI assistant," the website says.

The human trainers would rank and rate the chatbot responses, then feed those ratings back to the chatbot so it could learn what kind of responses were wanted. The company is now depending on user feedback to improve the technology.

Altman responded to Piantadosi on Twitter, telling him to "hit the thumbs down on these and help us improve!". The OpenAI CEO asked Twitter users what features and improvements they want to see with ChatGPT, then responded that the company would work on "a lot of this" before Christmas. "Language interfaces are going to be a big deal," he said on Twitter. "Talk to the computer (voice or text) and get what you want, for increasingly complex definitions of "want"! this is an early demo of what's possible (still a lot of limitations — it's very much a research release)."

www.samigration.com