Zimbabwe reverts to hard lockdown measures amid COVID-19 surge

Zimbabwe reverts to hard lockdown measures amid COVID-19 surge

03    January 2021 - APA-Harare (Zimbabwe)

Zimbabwe reverted to some of the stringent lockdown measures first imposed in March 2020 as the government moved to contain a surge in COVID-19 infections.

Announcing the measures on Saturday night, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said all non-essential businesses would be closed for 30 days and curfew would be extended from the current 11pm-4am (2100-0200 GMT) to 6pm-6am starting on January 5.

“People must stay at home save for buying food and medicines or transporting sick relatives,” said Chiwenga who is also minister of health.

Only essential services are to remain open such as hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets, “with only essential staff allowed to come to work,” he said.

In addition, key commerce services are allowed to operate such as mining, manufacturing and agriculture.

However, these services would now operate between 8am and 3pm.

Public gatherings such as weddings and churches services are now banned except for funerals where only 30 people would be allowed to attend, down from 100.

Inter-city travel is now restricted only to essential services and commercial services, the vice president said.

However, air travel remains open with strict enforcement of COVID-19 health protocols to screen people coming into the country.

The new measures come as Zimbabwe has lately witnessed a surge in infections, which has overwhelmed the country’s already stretched health system.

The country has so far recorded over 14,000 cases and 377 deaths since last March. 

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Life Partner Visa

Life Partner Visa

Life Partner visa is issued to someone in a long term relationship.

This type of South Africa life partner visa is available to people in either heterosexual or same-sex relationships and can apply for a life partner temporary residence visa or a permanent residence depending on the length of the relationship in question.

An application for temporary residence life partner visa requires that the partners are in a proven relationship for 2 years. Foreigners who are life partners of South African citizens or permanent resident holders may apply for permanent residence if they have been together for 5 years or more in terms the Immigration Act.

To obtain permanent residence, you would have to have been living with your partner for more than 5 years. This came about with the new regulations.

The life partner visa is very similar to the spousal visa but accommodates same sex partnerships. You will have to prove financial and emotional support and may be called upon to be interviewed by the department.

SA Migration Intl will guide you through the entire process and make sure that your application is fully compliant with the immigration law to ensure a successful outcome. Once your application has been submitted we ensure you will be able to track the progress of said application either directly via VFS or via our followup processes via our application tracking system and be kept fully up to date with the progress of your application.

Once we confirm that you will qualify for the visa we will ensure you have a successful application.


To foil foreigners, govt wants to ‘reregister’ every SA child when they turn five

To foil foreigners, govt wants to ‘reregister’ every SA child when they turn five

Business Insider SA

 Jan 03, 2021

 

  • Foreigners buy the birth certificates of dead SA children to gain South African citizenship, the department of home affairs says.
  • To prevent that, it is considering "reregistration" of children at age five, and capturing fingerprints and photos of the iris then.
  • It may also want photos of the ears of babies.
  • Allowing South Africans to apply for a full ID at age 10 will reduce the risk of matriculants trying to write exams without a smart ID, the DHA says.

When they turn five years old, South African children should be "reregistered" with the government, with a comprehensive set of biometric data captured, the department of home affairs (DHA) has recommended.

That, it says, is the way to stop foreigners stealing the identities of dead children.

The department on Thursday gazetted its draft Identity Management Policy, laying out its thinking on how to update South Africa's system of identification, under legislation now 20 years old.

It has proposed a system of random ID numbers, or at least replacing one digit with an "X" to make provision for people who do not fall into the male/female binary.

South Africa's system of registering people is fundamentally flawed, the department says, and that will require changes to how children are registered.

"Any child can lay claim to the identity of another child and such instances have been recorded. For instance, there is a practice, especially in borderline communities, where birth certificates of deceased children are sold to foreign nationals. This happens when the death of a child is not reported to the DHA."

The plan is to capture biometric data at birth, to prevent such instances, and the DHA has called for "stronger cooperation" between it and the department of health in that regard.

"However, not all biometric traits captured from children shortly after birth can be used to verify their identities later in life."

It is considering photographing the ears of children to help, but also wants to capture biometrics again during childhood.

"Children must be reregistered when they reach age five with ten fingerprints and iris and facial photographs," the DHA says.

It then recommends that the legal age for applications for an ID be dropped from 16 to the age of 10. 

This, and the capture of biometric data at that point, will "curb identity theft", the department says. It will also "mitigate a risk of having matriculants who write matric examinations without smart ID cards.".

www.samigration.com


South African Spousal Visa

South African Spousal Visa

This type of South Africa Spouse or life partner permit is available to people in either heterosexual or same-sex relationships and can be applied for as either a spouse temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit depending on the length of the marriage or relationship in question.

Foreigners who are spouses of South African citizensor permanent resident holders may apply for permanent residence. To obtain permanent residence, you would have to have been with your partner for more than 5 years.

Being one of the most progressive countries in the world in recognizing same-sex couples and affording them equal rights to that of heterosexual unions South Africa grants spousal permits to life partners in both same-sex and heterosexual relationships.

  • The spousal permit is classified under the relative’s visa category and is renewable.
  • The spousal visa is issued for a period of 36 months at a time. An added factor is the expiry date of the passport , ie the visa cannot be longer than expiry date of passport.
  • It is a temporary residency visa and is only issued to foreign nationals who can prove a committed relationship with a South African citizen or person holding permanent residency.
  • The couple must be able to prove a relationship longer than two years

If you would like to study or work while in the Republic you may do so but you would have to apply for working rights to be added to your visa. Persons on a spousal permit may also only apply to have either study, or business or working rights added to their visa, but not all three. This means that if you added a working rights endorsement to your visa you may only work for an employer.

www.samigration.com