Qatari Citizens to Enter Schengen Zone Countries Visa-Free

Schengen Visa | 15 December 2022

Qatari nationals are now eligible to travel to the European Union’s Schengen Zone countries without being required to apply for a visa at first.

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Such a decision has been confirmed by the European Parliament, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

According to the Brussels Morning Newspaper, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs voted in favour of Qatar, while only 16 Members of the European Parliament voted against it. The new decision has been taken amid the World Cup 2022.

Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed delight over the decision that the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament made in order to exempt all citizens of Qatar from visa requirements when travelling to Schengen Zone countries.

Al Ansari also talked about the next steps, which, among others, include the beginning of deliberations in a commission representing the European Commission, the European Union, as well as the European Parliament in order to create a concrete plan for the Schengen visa exemption agreement between Qatar and the EU.

Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Malki, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the European Union and NATO, welcomed the decision considering it a fundamental step toward the finalisation of the exemption file.

He also stressed that the vote comes as part of the efforts of Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to care about the interest of citizens and expedite their travels to all countries worldwide.

In April 2022, the European Commission proposed the lifting of visa requirements for Qatar, stressing that these countries have already met all the needed conditions in order for this process to be completed.

“The final objective is to ensure regional coherence and ultimately achieve visa-free travel for all Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Together with our upcoming Joint Communication on the Gulf, this proposal will reinforce the overall partnership and strengthen the cooperation between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council,” the High Representative, Borell, stressed previously in this regard.

In addition, a press release published previously by the authority noted that the proposal follows a detailed assessment of irregular migration, as well as public policy and security and economic benefits and the Union’s relations with Qatar and Kuwait.

www.samigration.com

Few Zimbabweans in the queue for new visas 

Business Day | 15 December 2022 

Just 6,000 applications from an estimated 178,000 people had been received by September 

Only 3% of the estimated 178,000 Zimbabweans living in SA under the special exemption permit had applied for alternative visas by September, home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on Tuesday.

But in a written reply to a question by DA MP Angel Khanyile, Motsoaledi said “more applications are streaming in on a daily basis”

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Home affairs has dropped central adjudication of visas, after months of complaints 

Business Insider SA | 14 December 2022

The department of home affairs has reversed a decision to centralise the adjudication of long-term visas.

• That plan lasted for only a couple of months, and did not go at all well.

• Embassies – previously accused of sometimes endangering national security or harming the economy – are now back in charge.

As of 1 September, South Africa is no longer centralising the adjudication of long-term visas, the department of home affairs (DHA) confirmed on Tuesday.

That brings to an end a fraught six-month period for those who applied for such visas, previously handled by individual South African missions abroad, and makes consular officials responsible again for deciding who is let in to South Africa

Visa specialists Xpatweb first noted the reversal on the weekend, saying it expected an announcement from the department on the transitional arrangement for visas already in process.

The DHA told Business Insider South Africa only that it "did issue a new directive which came into effect on Thursday 01 September 2022". It did not provide a copy of the directive, despite repeated requests, and has made no public statement on the matter.

Extreme delays in issuing such visas – with delays facilitation companies described as unprecedented – have been a significant headache for foreign companies investing and doing business in South Africa, Business Leadership SA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso told the News24 On The Record conference on Thursday, the same day the reversal came into effect.

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Those affected have included companies that signed up to President Cyril Ramaphosa's investment drive, but have since said delays nearing a year in processing work visas for critical foreign staff meant they could not start work.

Some companies expressed acute frustration because they could find no way to reach a department official who could provide even a vague prediction of how long a visa would take – or who could even confirm that a visa application had been accepted as properly lodged – making it impossible to plan moves for employees who needed to secure places in schools for children and move their households across oceans. 

Until Thursday, all work visa applications with a duration of more than three months had to be sent to Pretoria for a decision by the director general of the DHA, in an effort to create consistency – and prevent corruption. Visa facilitators said missions were told the DHA was concerned about reports of arbitrary demands for documents, with the implication that these were subtle solicitations for bribes. They were also told that only central decision-making could balance the need for national security with the need to allow foreign investors to move with speed.

But centralisation was a disaster. Visas that previously took between four and eight weeks to issue suddenly took a minimum of 12 weeks – and consultants reported that the reality was closer to eight months.

Their clients, those consultants said, could not wait that long, and would simply take their business to another country.

Visa facilitation companies believe the consular service divisions of missions – still fully staffed to process visas – may now be able to bring turnaround times down to as low as two weeks.

www.samigration.com

Question NW4361 to the Minister of Home Affairs

PMG | 08 December 2022  

(a) What is the current backlog across all visa categories, (b) what has been the average response time for each visa category and (c) by what date does his department envisage to have cleared the current backlog with regard to all visa categories?

Reply:

a) The current backlog across all visa categories is 56543.

b The average response time varies for different visa categories; there are different turnaround times for applications listed in the departments APP and those that are not listed in the APP.

• The turnaround time for applications for critical skills visas is 4 weeks, as indicated in the APP. Currently the average response time is 4 to 10 weeks.
• The turnaround time for business and general work visas is 8 weeks, as indicated in the APP. Currently the average response time is 8 to 14 weeks.

c) The department envisages to have cleared the current backlog by June 2024 for all categories of visas.

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs is trying to clear a backlog of 56,543 visas – which may be done by June 2024 

Business Insider SA | 15 December 2022

• South Africa's Department of Home Affairs is struggling with a major visa backlog.

• The backlog includes more than 56,000 applications across all visa categories.

• Home Affairs hopes to have cleared these by June 2024.

• In the meantime, average turnaround times for visas have grown far beyond what the department's performance plan dictates. 

South Africa's Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is battling its way through a vast backlog of visa applications, which it hopes to have cleared by June 2024.

Home Affairs is drowning in outstanding visa applications. This backlog, made worse by the department's disastrous decision to centralise the adjudication of long-term visas, has led to longer processing times, frustrated foreign applicants, and missed work opportunities.

This seemingly never-ending backlog has caused the DHA to issue consecutive blanket extensions to visa and waiver applicants, with the most recent deadline given as 31 March 2023.

Under fierce pressure, the DHA has been accused, by IBN Immigration Solutions, of unjustly rejecting applications. "Now, it seems that Home Affairs officials have clear KPIs to adjudicate X number [around 20] applications per day," noted IBN Immigration Solutions' Andreas Krensel in November. "This leads to a very, very high number of rejections."

And according to a recent parliamentary answer given by the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, there's no quick fix to clear the visa backlog.

"The current backlog across all visa categories is 56,543," said Motsoaledi in response to a question posed by DA MP Thembisile Khanyile.

"The department envisages to have cleared the current backlog by June 2024 for all categories of visas."

In the meantime, the turnaround times for visa applications have grown far beyond those listed in the department's Annual Performance Plan (APP).

The turnaround time for applications for critical skills visas is four weeks, according to the DHA's APP. Currently, the average response time is four to 10 weeks.

Similarly, it should, according to the APP, take Home Affairs eight weeks to process business and general work visas. Currently, the average response time is eight to 14 weeks.

www.samigration.com