South African Retirement Visa

A retirement visa can be granted for 4 years to someone with a monthly pension, irrevocable annuity or retirement account of R37 000 from a net worth/combination of assets realizing R37 000 per month and wishes to retire temporarily or permanently in South Africa.

A South African Retired Person's permit is ideal for people want to retire in South Africa temporarily or permanently subject to the financial criteria or parameters being satisfied. This South African visa category is designed for those intending to retire in the country or wishing to have a long stay in South Africa with the need to renew the visa or permit. This retirement visa is not based on age but rather on assets, rental income and / or bank accounts generating income. It is based upon foreigner provide proof that such foreigner has the right to a pension or an annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment for the rest of his or her life from the country of his or her origin; or a minimum prescribed net worth generating income for life.

This South African immigration visa is a popular option for seasonal visitors, i.e. those visiting the country for a period of six months or more. An important point to observe is that successful applicants are under no obligation to apply for permanent residence.

The temporary grant may be renewed indefinitely so long as the requirements continue to be met. However, permanent residency does bestow additional benefits upon its holder. In South Africa, immigration through the retired person's route can be either a temporary visa permit or a permanent residence visa as outlined in the eligibility criteria summarized below.

1. The temporary route is granted for four years and is renewable indefinitely for four-year periods.
2. The permanent route offers permanent residents the same rights and privileges as those with South African citizenship, with a few key exceptions, most notably the right to vote.

In both the temporary and permanent residence category the, South African Retired Persons Visa is based upon financial criteria and unlike a South African Work Visa, no prior job offer needs to be in place before an application can be made. Although unlike temporary South African visit visas, retired people can permitted to work if they wish, provided they apply under the correct visa category – Retirement plus Work Visa We wish to stress that the category “retired person", does not confer a maximum or minimum age limit for this class of visa for South Africa. Retired person's visas may be awarded to people of all ages, proving that the eligibility requirements below are met.

1. A pension, retirement account or irrevocable annuity which has a value of at least R37, 000 per month. This requirement applies to each person making an application.
2. Alternatively, candidates may obtain a South African visa of this kind by demonstrating a "net worth" through a combination of assets which equates to a minimum of R37, 000 per month. Once again, this criterion applies to each person making an application.

Work Conditions
The nature of this type of immigration to South Africa is such that no specific stipulations are in place regarding a candidate's ability to work in South Africa. In most cases, it may be assumed that people embarking upon this route, based as it is upon a steady income from a source other than employment will not be entering the country to work. However, each case will be considered individually and candidates may be able to work during their time in the country.

Applicants wishing to work will need to submit an employment contract and demonstrate that no South African citizen or resident is available for position. If candidates were to achieve permanent resident status then as with other routes to settled status, working in South Africa would be permitted.
Accompanying Dependents
Spouse immigration and dependent immigration are now provided through temporary South African Retired person's visas. This route to South Africa is based upon the financial security of each applicant and unlike work permit visas or business visas, the dependent family members of retired applicants automatically qualify for visit visa status to accompany the principle applicant and does not have to meet the same criteria for temporary residence but for the purposes of permanent residence they are treated as one family unit.
However, in cases where an applicant successfully obtains permanent residence as a retired person, their spouse and/or dependent children, i.e. those aged under 21 will also qualify for permanent residency.
Financially Independent

An alternative route exists in the financially independent visa for which candidates would need to be able to demonstrate a net asset value totalling not less than R12 million.
In addition, it would also be necessary to demonstrate proof of payment of R120,000 as a non-refundable sum to the Director General of Home Affairs. The application for a financially independent visa will lead to permanent residence.

1. A retired persons visa may be issued for a period exceeding three months to a foreigner who intends to retire in the Republic, provided that the foreigner provide proof that such foreigner has the right to a pension or an annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment for the rest of his or her life from the country of his or her origin; or a minimum prescribed net worth.
2. The Department may authorise the holder of a retired person permit to conduct work under terms and conditions as the Department may deem fit to determine under the circumstances.
3. A retired person visa may allow its holder to sojourn in the Republic on a seasonal or continuous basis; and not exceed a four-year period, at the expiry of which it may be renewed one or more times.

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Asylum seekers placed in ‘unsuitable’ Blackpool hotel despite council protests

The Guardian – 07-11-2021

Local authority accuses Home Office and Serco of trying to beat court hearing and frustrate justice system

Blackpool council has accused the Home Office and Serco of deliberately acting to frustrate the justice system after placing asylum seekers in a hotel, despite objections that the accommodation was wholly unsuitable.

About 140 people, mostly families, have moved into the Grand Metropole on Blackpool promenade. Blackpool council had said using the hotel for temporary accommodation required planning consent and it had been going to seek a court injunction on Monday in an attempt to stop the arrangement.

The seaside resort is particularly busy at present. The Blackpool Illuminations light show runs until 3 January and the town is also hosting the World Fireworks Championships near the hotel, likely to cause disruption and noise to the hotel’s vulnerable residents.

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Blackpool is the latest council to express concern about the suitability of housing asylum seekers in hotels. Earlier this month, a report documented the deterioration in the mental and physical health of asylum seekers in Glasgow when housed in hotels.

Lynn Williams, the Labour leader of Blackpool council, said the local authority was promised it would be informed in advance of any arrivals, and that nobody would be placed in the hotel before Monday at the earliest. However, people were moved in overnight on Sunday and in the early hours of Monday morning, with more expected this week.

Williams said the council had received no official notification until Monday lunchtime, despite the assurances sought on behalf of local health leaders, who said services were facing unprecedented demand.

The council leader said she was “further disappointed” that the Home Office and Serco had made the move after being informed the council was seeking an injunction, with a court hearing scheduled for Monday. “I am saddened that they have acted in a way that smacks of a deliberate move to frustrate the justice system,” she said.

Williams urged Blackpool residents to show compassion and understanding to the “very vulnerable families and children who have arrived with us here in Blackpool”. She said the council would work to ensure that the “appropriate support” was in place for the families, and would be reviewing its legal position.

Serco and the Home Office have been criticised for placing asylum seekers in Britannia hotels in Wolverhampton and Wigan this month. Lisa Nandy, the town’s MP, said that the hotel, which has been targeted by a far-right group, had previously been deemed “completely unsuitable accommodation” for asylum seekers.

The leader of Wolverhampton council, Ian Brookfield, also accused Serco of lacking humanity, when 200 Afghan families were placed in the city without warning. “Some of them have arrived here in a terrible state, there’s people with no clothes, no nappies for the kids,” Brookfield said. “We know Serco are running this, but they could at least put a little bit of humanity into it. As a council, we are left out of the whole process.”

Serco was one of the three outsourcing firms awarded the contract to house asylum seekers in 2019, despite having been fined nearly £7m for previous failings. The firm, which has the contract for housing in the north-west, the Midlands and the east of England, said hotels were used only as a “last resort”.

“With the significant increases in the number of people arriving in the UK we have been faced with no alternative but to temporarily accommodate some asylum seekers in hotels”, said Jenni Halliday, Serco’s contract director for asylum accommodation services.

According to Home Office statistics, there were 31,115 asylum applications in the UK in the year ending June 2021, 4% fewer than the previous year. The government has promised to allow 20,000 Afghan refugees to settle in the UK, with 5,000 expected to arrive by the end of 2021.

The Home Office said that the “unprecedented demand” meant temporary accommodation such as hotels has had to be used “to manage demands on the asylum estate”. It said the Home Office had met local police, public health providers and officers from Blackpool council, and that all hotels used by the Home Office met health and safety legislation.

www.samigration.com

South Africa: Migrants Live in Fear After Raid By Home Affairs

7 November 2021 – All africa

River Valley has resulted in deportations and increased hostility towards those who cannot get valid documents because refugee offices remain closed.

Two months after her husband was deported to Zimbabwe by South African authorities, Chipo Munetsi, 39, of Moses Mabhida township in Kirkwood, Eastern Cape, is still struggling to come to terms with his absence. She is battling to cope with running their hair salon, which is based in a shipping container.

In addition, Munetsi, says, the deportations have created tensions in the area, with some South Africans blaming migrants for the high levels of unemployment and poor municipal services. But Munetsi says there are several migrants who are creating jobs for local people. She herself employs two South African women - one as a domestic worker and the other as an assistant in the salon.

The Department of Home Affairs, with its health and labour counterparts, held an operation in the Sundays River Valley area in September. Munetsi's husband Simon was among the 71 migrants without documentation who were arrested during the raids in Addo, Kirkwood and Paterson.

"This is after Simon had made several trips in 2019 to the refugee reception office in Gqeberha in a quest to renew his asylum documents that had expired," said Munetsi,. "He eventually gave up after he continuously found the system not working. He was then told that he had to pay R2 000 as a fine for defaulting."

Munetsi, who has a valid asylum seeker's permit, says since the blitz many migrants are living in fear of some South Africans, who call them derogatory names. She also blames some political parties for stoking the flames with election campaigns exploiting xenophobia. This has led to divisions between residents who prefer migrants to stay, saying they boost their businesses, and those who blame migrants for the collapse of infrastructure and want them gone.

"I have been operating this hair salon business for several years without any problem with the local community. They are my clients and I also assist them when they have financial problems. The situation changed after people were arrested by home affairs officials. We now meet some people in the streets who are hostile towards us," said Munetsi.

"I didn't take anyone else's job. In fact, I have created jobs for the local community. I take South Africa as my second home."

Hunted down

Most of the migrants who were deported are from Zimbabwe and Lesotho. But residents say migrants who have wanted to get an asylum seeker's permit have been hamstrung because the home affairs office in Gqeberha has been closed since the Covid-19 hard lockdown started in March 2020. According to the department's website, it is still closed to new applications.

Martin Denhere, whose brother was one of those arrested in Kirkwood, says migrants without documents were "hunted like wild animals".

"Undocumented immigrants were accosted at shops and some were rounded up from their workplaces," he said. "There was no respect for human life. People were bundled and dumped at the local police station. They were not allowed to get food from outside. They were only allowed to collect their belongings when they were being deported after they had spent days in police cells.

"People are living in fear because there is no indication when the refugee offices in Gqeberha will open."

Tshepo, a migrant from Lesotho who did not want to disclose his surname, says his asylum seeker's permit expired during the lockdown. He could not be arrested because the government had extended the validity of documents that expired during the pandemic until 31 December.

"One friend of mine [who was deported] was in the business of buying and selling fresh vegetables. He also raised pigs. He promoted local people by buying leftover food from them to feed his pigs. He even donated his vegetables to local preschools," said Tshepo.

No alternatives

The Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network says home affairs is to blame for causing tension in the area by arresting migrants without valid documents while refugee reception offices are closed.

Secretary general Shelton Chiyangwa said, "Our people are forced to remain in the country without documentation because home affairs' refugee department has remained closed since March 2020 and we don't know when they wish to open.

"I have had an opportunity of visiting the farming areas and meet with our people, who lamented very sad stories. Many have their permits expired while new applicants cannot apply for asylum seeker's permits because the offices are closed," he said.

Apart from the arrests, the operation resulted in a handful of employers being fined for various labour transgressions. Department of Employment and Labour spokesperson Ziphozihle Josefu said, "The blitz inspection saw a total of 296 employers inspected, with 81 in the farming sector, 137 in the wholesale and retail sector, 25 in the hospitality sector and 53 in miscellaneous [sectors]. Seventy-one illegal immigrants who are nationals of Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe origin were apprehended."

Community activist Hansie Brander claims that the tension is created by employers who prefer migrants to South Africans.

But not everyone is unhappy about migrants living in the area. James Rungah, a resident of Moses Mabhida, says his life has improved a lot since he started renting out 10 cottages to migrants in 2017. Each cottage accommodates four people who each pay R500 a month.

"I am not employed, so I decided to build these backyard rooms after discovering that there was a shortage of accommodation during the harvesting season. I have developed a good relationship with my tenants. Most of them are immigrants from our neighbouring countries. They don't hesitate to pay me my money at the agreed time," said Rungah.

Ghanaian citizen Atta Owusu, who raises broiler chickens in a shack at his house in Valencia township, Addo, says he does not experience xenophobia.

"I have developed a good relationship with local residents. At present I have 600 chicks and I employ three local youths to assist me. I often hire more people when there is demand for more labour," said Owusu.

www.samigration.com

Refugees who arrived after lockdown have no way to apply for asylum

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-11-07-refugees-who-arrived-after-lockdown-have-no-way-to-apply-for-asylum/

The closure of Refugee Reception Offices (RRO) since the Covid-19 lockdown last year has left asylum seekers vulnerable to arrest and deportation. The offices remain closed for new asylum applications and in-person renewal of permits that expired prior to March 2020.

“Many newcomer asylum seekers are therefore at risk of arrest, detention, deportation and are struggling to access basic services due to their lack of documentation,” said Attorney Jessica Lawrence, of Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR).

Lawrence said that during a recent meeting, a Home Affairs official said that newcomer asylum seekers should all have been issued with an asylum transit visa at the border, which would normally be extended by an immigration officer later.

“Asylum transit visas are only valid for five days. Though he did not say this, it was clear that he therefore deemed this as appropriate documentation for newcomer asylum seekers pending the re-opening of the RROs,” she said.

GroundUp was unable to get clarification from Home Affairs on asylum transit visas, when its RROs will reopen, and when it will start assisting new asylum seekers.

According to a 30 September circular sent to refugee organisations by the UN Refugee Agency South Africa Multi-country Office (Samco), Home Affairs has resumed permanent residence permit appeal applications from 1 October, and it will start processing permanent residence permit applications only from 1 January 2022.

www.samigration.com

 

Illegal immigration | Motsoaledi says arrest of Home Affairs officials looming

ENCA - 7 November  2021 -

Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi says some Home Affairs officials involved in this may face legal consequences.

JOHANNESBURG - Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says there's been progress in dealing with illegal immigration.

Motsoaledi says some Home Affairs officials involved in this may face legal consequences.

He was speaking at a media briefing to provide an update on the truck drivers' protest.

"In this 12 months period, the number of undocumented people which were found in 23 road operations was 28," he said.

"We are hoping, once the border management authority comes into operation, very few people will be coming in illegally.

"We have established an anti-corruption which is doing well almost every day."

www.samigration.com