South Africa Visa Rejected
by the Department of Home Affairs?
SA Migration | 06 Dec 2022
We understand that
navigating the complex immigration system of South Africa is a daunting process
and can cause your anxiety levels to jump through the roof. The process alone
is frustrating and being notified that your visa application was rejected will make
you panic.
There are many reasons why
your visa application has been refused and 9/10 times the reason for rejections
is because of a document which could have been omitted by you.
There are many visa
rejection reasons why your application could have been rejected but below are
some of the reasons we could think of:
- Crucial
documents omitted from your application
- A
criminal record
- A
medical illness
- You
do not qualify for the visa you are applying for
- You
have overstayed your visa in South Africa and submitted with an expired
visa
- Attempting
to change your status from a visitors’ visa to a temporary residence visa in South Africa
- Submitting
forged documents
- Lack
of evidence to convince the Department of Home Affairs to issue you the
visa
These are just some of the
visa rejection reasons we could think of but there are many reasons why your
visa or permit could be rejected.
Every visa application is
unique to every applicant submitting a visa in
South Africa. Therefore all visa applications are assessed on a
case-by-case basis. There is a visa appeal
process for South Africa you need to follow.
Applicants planning on
visiting South Africa can find out if they fall under the visa exempt countries for South Africa.
Is it possible to get visa
after rejection?
In most cases yes, if you
are in a position to provide a strong reason why they should overturn their
decision.
Missing documents are one
of the easiest appeals but some become more complex and might not lead to you
not being issued the visa.
There is a specific
timeframe in which you have to submit your appeal. Missing that time frame
would mean that you are accepting the refusal and that you plan not to overturn
their decision.
If you plan not to appeal,
please ensure that you leave the country before your visa expires.
What happens after your
visa gets rejected?
The Department of Home
Affairs in South Africa will notify you through VFS of an outcome via their
portal which you need to login in to. The notification will not reveal the
outcome but will notify you to collect your outcome at the VFS centre you
submitted through.
Once you get to VFS you
will collect the outcome and if your application has been refused, they will
then include the refusal letter stating why your visa has been denied.
At a South African embassy
abroad, you will have to either call or walk in to find out if your application
has been processed.
Can you appeal a rejected
visa?
You will have 10 business
days (which does not include weekends) to submit an appeal.
That means that you have to
submit an appeal before the 10 days are over. This includes finding the
necessary refusal reason evidence to overturn the Department of Home Affairs
decision.
Protip: You only have 2 chances to
submit an appeal, meaning that if both appeals are refused you have no grounds
to appeal again and that you perhaps you would have to leave the country to
avoid being illegal here which would have serious consequences.
We, therefore, advise that
you satisfy the required refusal and ensure that what you are submitting is in
the correct format as per Home Affairs requirements, including supporting
evidence, including a letter of support to convince them to overturn it.
What to do if my visa got
rejected?
There are two ways you
could approach the situation in:
Do it yourself:
If you are confident enough
to appeal it yourself, then by every means do so.
- Find
out the reason for the refusal by collecting outcomes at VFS
- Obtain
supporting documents to overturn the refusal
- Assess
the entire visa application for any possible errors that could lead to
further refusals
Let an immigration
consultant assist you:
An immigration consultant is experienced and
will know what to do in the case of a refusal. They are fast to act and can
advise you on what to do when you are on board with them. They have experienced
different visas which have been refused.
Sometimes important
documents have not been included with your application but sometimes you could
have a complicated refusal which perhaps cannot be overturned. In this
scenario, it’s best to assess if you should leave the country or apply for an
alternative visa.
They will assess your
application and can immediately rectify the situation if it’s a minor error.
However if supporting evidence will take weeks or months to obtain, they can
give you the best advice to follow.
Immigration consultants charge a service fee to assist you and you are paying for
the experience.
Remember that you need to
rebook an appointment with VFS and repay the R1550.00 to submit your appeal.
If the South African
embassy abroad is not contracted to VFS then you can apply without having to
book an appointment on VFS, however, you might have to book an appointment with
the South African embassy.
What is the South Africa
Visa Rejection Rate
Applicants who are applying
for a visa on their own, stand a higher chance of refusal. Applicants are not
familiar with the immigration system and each case is unique.
Applicants do not
understand the different requirements and tend to interpret requirements for
not what they are.
Due diligence is not
applied and many applicants tend to skip 3rd party processes which are an
integral part of particular work visas.
Immigration consultants or
immigration lawyers on the other hand have a better understanding of the
different types of visas. They have experienced thousands of submissions if not
more and will have the knowledge to guide applicants to a higher chance of
approval.
Countries marked as a high
risk in South Africa by Home Affairs, these applicants will have a higher
refusal rate as their applications are scrutinized more closely. Often, the
South African embassy will include extra requirements when applying for a visa.
So the rate of refusal will
be depending on the country and whether you have satisfied all the
requirements. In different countries, SA embassies may change the requirements
to make it stricter for applicants to apply for a visa.
Applying for a fake work visa will
have dire consequences for employers and employee’s.
How long does a South
African visa appeal take?
In South Africa, at the
moment in 2022, Home Affairs has closed its doors for 2 years. When they
renewed, the number of applications received was overwhelming and thus affected
the processing times.
On average now it make more
than 10 months to nearly 24 months to receive your outcome.
Remember that whilst
awaiting the outcome of your appeal, do not leave the republic of South Africa
with an expired visa. You will be banned from the country check with us about
the consequences “What is the penalty for
overstaying in South Africa on an expired visa“.
We understand it’s
frustrating but one thing you could do is navigate to the Home Affairs website
and find the email address for the temporary residence visa appeals section and
email them to find out about updates for your
visa.
Sa Migration can assist you
to appeal a refusal, we can arrange a meeting to discuss your refusal,
understand why you were refused and work out a custom plan to assist you.
www.samigration.com
