5 Tips to help you get a South African visa application right

SA Migration – 15 June 2022

Everyone in business know that time is money. Unfortunately, the South African visa application process is notorious for long waiting times.

The general work visa, for instance, could take up to a year to finalise.

The last thing you want is for delays to slow down the process even more. And you certainly don’t want a rejection and for the waiting to have been in vain!

What you want is to get a visa application right the first time. That’s how you ensure the process is smooth and give yourself a greater chance of success with the application.

Our pointers today will help you do just this:

1. Familiarise yourself with the requirements of the visa for which the foreign employee is applying

In the case of a general work visa, for instance, you are expected to advertise the position for which you are recruiting. There are further guidelines around what should appear in the advertisement and where it should appear. Meeting all the requirements is the only way to ensure that you satisfy the Departments of Home Affairs (DHA).

2. You should already be doing this – comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act

The DHA and the Department of Labour (DOL) expects South African employers to treat their foreign national employees the same as South Africans. There shouldn’t be any discrimination in the workplace based on the residency or citizenship status of an individual. It is for this reason that the Departments require you to comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

3. Know what paperwork to submit

This is knowing what documents are needed for the application as well as knowing in which instances copies or certified copies are required.

4. Establish a clear plan for the position the foreigner is taking up

Some visas require you to show what the foreigner’s duties will be while working for you. Other visas ask that you prove that the foreigner’s skills and experience are needed, and that you couldn’t find a South African to fill the position advertised. When you have a clear description of the role and/or objectives for the role, you’ll be able to satisfy the demands of the DHA and DOL.

Please note: the critical skills work visa is exempt from this requirement. You don’t have any obligations other than extending a formal job offer and ensuring that you’re employing someone with a valid visa.

5. Cross your i’s and dot your t’s. Literally

Spelling mistakes and typos have been cause for rejection in the past. Also triple check information such as area codes and dates. Simple mistakes such as a starting date on a contract that is dated before the general work visa has been issued can also be cause for rejection.

The best way to prevent delays when making a South Africa visa application?

You work with an immigration company who knows the ins and out of the South African Immigration Act.

Our team is highly experienced in making visa applications for corporate clients. We don’t only know the Immigration Act, we also understand the pressures and time constraints businesses are under.

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Hawks on the hunt for home affairs official linked to passport fraud

The Citizen – 15 June 2022

The official colluded with a Pakistani mastermind to facilitate that foreign nationals obtain South African passports fraudulently

Priority crime fighting unit the Hawks are searching for an official from the Department of Home Affairs for his involvement in fraud and corruption.

It is understood that 28-year-old Kagiso Ronny Maboa contravened the Immigration Act. 

Hawks’ spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said Maboa is sought following an investigation which started in April 2022.

“He allegedly colluded with a Pakistani mastermind to facilitate that foreign nationals obtain South African passports fraudulently. This was made possible by using South African citizens’ identity details when processing the applications. A warrant for his arrest has been issued, hence he is sought.”

Sekgotodi has urged anyone with information related to the whereabouts of Maboa to contact the police.

Last month, a senior Home Affairs official was dismissed after it emerged that he recommended the permanent stay of self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his family in South Africa.

The department said former Chief Director Ronney Marhule was found guilty of gross dishonesty, gross negligence and non-compliance with the Immigration Act when he recommended issuing the permits to Bushiri’s family, “which they did not deserve”.

The department said Marhule had also been charged regarding permanent residence permits issued to two other people, Mohamed Afzal Motiwala and Fatima Ebrahim.

Marhule’s dismissal comes after a year-long investigation.

Meanwhile, a Lithuanian actress has been deported after she also tried to abuse South Africa’s immigration laws.

Leva Andrejevaite, who was born in Russia, arrived at the Cape Town International Airport in a private jet without a visa on 28 April.

Home Affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said Andrejevaite sought to abuse South Africa’s refugee management regime when she fabricated a story of wanting to apply for asylum because of the “war in Ukraine.

“At no stage during her stay in the country did Ms Andrejevaite attempt to apply for asylum. As such, she became an illegal foreigner, as defined in the Immigration Act, because the five-day period lapsed.

“Instead, images of her attending a party in Cape Town hosted by Mr Rob Hersov surfaced on numerous publications and social media platforms.”

Andrejevaite is now prohibited from visiting South Africa for a period of five years.

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South Africans who sell their identities to foreign nationals lose their status in the country: Motsoaledi

The Citizen - 15 June 2022

Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi has warned South Africans against selling their identities to undocumented foreigners. .

Motsoaledi told parliament on Wednesday South Africans who do so lose their status in the country, to be replaced by foreigners.

Home affairs officials colluded with undocumented foreigners to they could fraudulently obtain SA citizenship.

He confirmed the suspension of four home affairs officials from the Maponya Mall branch in Soweto.

The officials were linked to the alleged Pakistani passport kingpin arrested in Krugersdorp in March. The department received tip-offs from the public who alerted it to corrupt branches in their communities. 

“Members of the public have come out in large numbers to tell us where corruption is taking place. We arrest, we don't stop. In the coming weeks we will continue to arrest more people, foreign nationals and South Africans involved in passport fraud and other forms of identity fraud.

“We continue to be concerned about those South Africans who are willing to sell their identities. Such acts mean that those South Africans lose their status in the country, to be replaced by a foreign national. We urge South Africans to stop selling their identities.”

Motsoaledi said the department would beef up its team of investigators and analysts responsible for tracking and investigating corruption and fraud in the department. 

“The success of this unit has given members of the public confidence

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Actress looking to party apologises for abusing SA asylum rules

Sowetan  - 14 June 2022

 

Lithuanian lied to home affairs about seeking asylum from war in Ukraine.
Image: 123rf

A Lithuanian actress has been forced to apologise to the South African government after she lied about seeking asylum from the war in Ukraine.

According to the department of home affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza, Leva Andrejevaite was deported after she tried to abuse SA’s asylum management laws so she can go partying in Cape Town.

Qoza said the actress was denied entry after she arrived at the Cape Town International Airport in a private jet without a visa.

“After that refusal of entry, she then lied to immigration officials making up a story of wanting to apply for asylum. As a result of our asylum seeker laws, immigration officials’ hands were tied and they were required to let her into the country so that she could apply for asylum within five days,” the department stated. 

Andrejevaite, who has since apologised to the SA government in writing, then failed to apply for asylum and was instead seen on social media partying up a storm in Cape Town hosted by Rob Hersov.

The department said failure to apply for asylum within the prescribed period rendered Andrejevaite an illegal alien. She apparently tried to challenge the department in the Western Cape High Court but was ordered by the court to apologise after her lies were exposed.

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“After being served with the department’s opposing papers, Ms Andrejevaite realised that she had lied to the immigration officials and then to the High Court and would face the possibility of criminal charges over and above the consequences and embarrassment stemming from her High Court application,” the department said.

In an apology letter addressed to SA citizens, home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi and employees of the department, Andrejevaite  claims that she had no idea that a visa was required to travel to SA.

“I was looking forward to entering South Africa and enjoying my time here and as such I was wrongly advised to allege that I was an asylum seeker and applied for an asylum transit visa. This was clearly a wrong and unlawful way for me to enter South Africa,” she stated.

Andrejevaite also apologised for making disparaging comments about SA and its department of home affairs. 

In closing Andrejevaite said she meant no harm and would love to visit the country again.

www.samigration.com

 

 

 

Australian visa backlog keeping engineers out of country amid skills shortage

14 Jun 2022 – The guardian

 

Wait time for 476 visa, for overseas graduates who want to work or study in Australia for up to 18 months, has blown out to 41 months

 

 

A recent freedom of information request showed the home affairs department had more than 6,000 applications for the 476 visa which it was yet to process.

Australia’s vast visa backlog is trapping engineering graduates out of the country for up to four years, compounding the skills shortages and causing heartache, frustration and depression among applicants.

The engineering job vacancy rate has increased 97% in 12 months, something the main industry body, Engineers Australia, fears could have a “catastrophic” impact, including by delaying major infrastructure projects relied upon for the nation’s economic recovery.

The wait times for the 476 visa – designed for recent engineering graduates who want to live, work or study in Australia for up to 18 months – has blown out to a staggering 41 months since 2018.

That has left people like Gurpreet Kaur, an engineer based in India’s Punjab state, stuck waiting for almost four years, having to submit and resubmit paperwork and evidence, but unable to speak to anyone directly within the home affairs department about her application’s status.

“I personally applied for this visa back in September 2018 and am still waiting for my visa grant,” Kaur told the Guardian. “Despite meeting all the criteria, paying the application fee, medical assessment fees, there are still a lot of applicants like me from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh and many more countries … about 6,000 applicants are waiting for their grant.

“Waiting for three to four years, it’s a really frustrating situation and I think it’s a moral duty of any government, because this is unfair to us. We have planned all our career plans, we are suffering, not only professionally but it is a mental depression also.”

It’s a similar story for Muhammad Altaf, who lives not far from Islamabad in Pakistan.

Chemical engineer Muhammad Altaf, based in Pakistan, has waited almost three years for his 476 visa to be processed by the Australian government.

Altaf applied for a 476 visa in 2019 and his career has been on hold since. He said he understood that Covid-19 had necessarily disrupted visa processing, but said, since the border reopened, the processing times had not improved in any way. Both Kaur and Altaf are in social media groups with a large number of other 476 visa applicants, who keep in constant contact about their progress.

“The last 10 days, they’ve only granted one visa,” he told the Guardian. “So if this process continues at this pace, then I think we will get our grants in three or four more years.”

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A recent freedom of information request showed the department still had more than 6,000 applications for the 476 visa, which it was yet to process.

India’s high commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, said visa processing delays were a problem.

“I believe it’s a problem, but only because of staff shortages and backlog built up because of the pandemic,” he said.

“It’s not a delay or a go-slow on account of policy.”

The comments come after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said visa processing delays had been raised during his visit to Indonesia this week.

“This is an issue that, upon coming to government without going into other issues, we have found it isn’t just in this area, we have a problem processing visas,” Albanese said in Jakarta on Monday.

“There is just an extraordinary backlog.”

Engineers Australia said that migration was only one component in addressing the acute workforce shortages in the sector, an issue it said was a “complex and long-term endeavour”.

Jane MacMaster, chief engineer of Engineers Australia, said skilled migration was crucial to fill the gap between what universities and the local market can supply, but once in Australia, only about 40% of higher overseas engineers end up working in an engineering role.

“Continuing large-scale intakes of qualified engineers will not significantly develop Australia’s engineering capability alone,” she said. “Better support and utilisation of the skills currently in Australia (both through migrants and those looking to re-enter the engineering workforce) must also be a priority.”

Engineers Australia is also concerned that falling rates of secondary students taking up Stem subjects is “setting the nation up to fail” and has called on the education sector and governments to do more to encourage students into Stem.

“If we don’t do something to address this significant skills challenge, the impacts could be catastrophic for many sectors,” she said. “We will see delays to infrastructure projects and implications for Australia’s strategic priorities, such as a lack of talent to help grow sovereign supply chain capabilities.”

On 476 visas specifically, the industry body says it is working to speed up its migration skills assessments process for migrant engineers.

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“For two decades Engineers Australia has performed migration skills assessments to ensure we bring the best talent and migrating workforce to Australia and is continually working to plug the engineering skills gap with policy makers, educators and industry,” MacMaster said. “Right now, we are working with government to accelerate the assessment process for migrant engineers already here.”

“We also recommend making visas and their requirements more easily understood by engineers and prospective employers.”

The home affairs department said engineering graduates were also often eligible for a range of other visas. A spokesperson said since November it had granted more than one million student, visitor, working holiday maker, temporary skilled and other temporary work visas, and that there were currently 1.61m people who held those visa types who remained offshore, despite being able to travel to Australia if fully vaccinated.

The department said it had also extended 3,000 476 visas in April for another two years.

The spokesperson said Covid had delayed the processing of many applications. Other applications had been affected by the “quality and completeness of those applications, applicants’ responsiveness to requests for information, and the complexity involved in assessing genuineness, character, health and security requirements”.

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