Nigerians explore Egypt, Morocco, others after Dubai visa ban

Daily Trust Saturday  | 04 January 2023  

Hundreds of Nigerians are now exploring other destinations after Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slammed a total visa ban on them in October.…

Hundreds of Nigerians are now exploring other destinations after Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slammed a total visa ban on them in October.  

Daily Trust Saturday reports that before the ban on Nigerian businessmen, Dubai had first tightened visa requirements for applicants from Nigeria.

For now, only Nigerians with diplomatic passports and few others have easy access to Dubai.

Dubai was hitherto the destination of choice for many Nigerians for many purposes, including business, education, leisure and medical tourism.

But following the ban, many Nigerians are now travelling to Egypt, Morocco and other countries.

While there is no official statement from the UAE on the reason for the ban, some people are suggesting the untoward attitudes of some Nigerians.

Before the ban, there were many reports about Nigerians being arrested in the UAE for alleged theft and cybercrime. Some were tried and incarcerated while others were repatriated back home.

The near official statement on the ban was from a Destination Management Company (DMC), licensed to issue electronic visas in the UAE, which announced in a statement that Dubai immigration had stopped approving visas for Nigerians.

In a statement, the DMC said: “All previously submitted applications are currently on hold. Kindly note this is beyond our control. We will update once visas start getting approved.”  

Declining business fortunes

Following the declining load factors, most airlines, including Emirates and Air Peace, suspended flights to Dubai.

Many travel agents said they had lost business due to the development, even as findings by one of our correspondents revealed that the travel agents are now advertising Egypt, Morocco, and Seychelles, among others, to holidaymakers, businessmen and women and the sick.

President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye, said many Nigerians were now exploring other destinations for tourism.

She said, “Nigerians are already changing plans to go to Egypt and Morocco, but then these two countries require visa processes, but Egypt has made it a bit easier now.

“If you have a valid US or UK visa, you can also get your visa on arrival in Egypt.”

She noted that Dubai would be losing huge revenue generated from Nigerians, especially during the yuletide.

But the Director of Corporate Travels, Zenith Travel, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said Dubai was not losing anything for not admitting Nigerians.

He said, “The UAE has nothing to lose. They have massive investments and massive structures in tourism and travel. It is not a problem if they are not admitting Nigerians.

“The UAE has developed its tourism beyond looking at only one route; beyond Nigeria, that is what they have done to their aviation and tourism.”

A Nigerian businesswoman, Mrs Khadijat, said she had not been able to travel to Dubai since the visa ban, noting that her suppliers usually sent her goods through another country which cost more money to clear.

She said, “This is the only option we have now, but it is really not easy when you look at it. Most of these abayas (flowing gowns for women) we buy from Dubai, we don’t really get enough profit from them. And sending our items through another country has added to the cost of logistics.”

Official trade balance

According to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) in 2020, Nigeria exported goods worth N134bn ($321m) to the UAE.

OEC said the main products that Nigeria exported were gold ($217m), crude petroleum ($53.5m) and oily seeds ($16m).

On the other hand, the UAE exported goods worth N489bn ($1.14bn) to Nigeria. These included broadcasting equipment ($152m), refined petroleum ($119m) and cars ($118m).

This shows that the trade balance favours the UAE as more of its goods entered the Nigerian economy.  

An importer of clothes and a variety of other things in Kano, Abdullahi Ibrahim, told Daily Trust Saturday that the hardship in getting a visa to Dubai had forced most importers in Kano to visit Turkey to get their goods.

Ibrahim explained that this was coupled with the increase in taxes by authorities in Dubai thereby making the import of goods more costly.

On what he thinks led to the ban on Nigerians, he said, “Nigerians are doing drugs and other social vices there. That was why they came up with the law to restrict Nigerians because they felt Nigerians will bring bad things into the country.”

He, however, noted that Dubai was also losing a lot because it used to generate a lot of revenue from Nigerians.

He said, “The effect now is that there is low patronage of goods from Dubai because most Nigerian importers go to Turkey or Qatar.

“Also, shop owners in Dubai are mostly from India, Bangladesh and others, but due to heavy taxation, we have mostly opted for Turkey because sales there will make us get more profit.”

Sarki Arabii Muhammad, who owns babies’ clothes shops across the country, often travelled to Dubai for business before the ban.

He explained that Dubai had many advantages for business people over other countries as one could buy different types of goods during a single trip.

He said, “I was purchasing the majority of my goods from Dubai because of the many advantages, including the fact that your goods will arrive within two days, unlike other places where your goods can spend over two weeks.

“One of the alternatives we have now is to buy online, but that is not as effective as being there physically. The other alternative is to try other countries, but the goods are not available as they are in Dubai.”

He further said, “I came back from Indonesia a few days ago, but I doubt if I will gain anything. Also, I didn’t get as many goods as I wanted.”

He, therefore, called on Nigerian authorities to intervene and ensure that the issue was resolved.

A businesswoman, Aisha Jajere, said the ban on Nigerian visitors by the Dubai authorities had affected many businesses in the Arab country.

She said, “It is negatively impacting the businesses of hoteliers and tourism destinations in Dubai.”

A travel agent in Kano, Dr Jamilu Umar, said China had replaced Dubai for Nigerian businessmen and women, noting that the ban had really affected their fortunes and praying that the stalemate would be resolved soon.

He added that: “One of our alternatives now is travelling to Saudi Arabia for Lesser Hajj and using the opportunity to buy goods.”

www.samigration.com

Kenyans can now visit SA without a visa for three months

News24 | 04 Jan 2023

• Kenyans can now visit South Africa visa-free for up to three months.
• The agreement was reached when SA President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Kenyan President William Ruto in November last year.
• Previously, Kenyans could only visit South Africa visa-free for a month.

Kenyans can now live in and enjoy South Africa without a visa for three months a year at most, thanks to a new law that came into effect on 1 January.

This was revealed in a statement by the High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya to the Republic of SA, Kingdom of Lesotho and Kingdom of eSwatini, Catherine Muigai Mwangi.

She said the move was a "concrete demonstration of the deep bonds of friendships and a commitment to nurturing closer ties."

Kenya and South Africa have found themselves linked when it comes to regional and international matters.

The cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia's Tigray civil war brought together envoys from South Africa and Kenya, supported by former South African deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Kenya's former president, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Talks were held in Pretoria in November and a continuation took place in Nairobi, Kenya in December.

South Africa is the biggest economy in southern Africa and Kenya is the biggest in the East African Community (EAC).

However, trade between the two nations isn't big. South Africa exports vehicles, fruit, food and beverages and imports include coffee, tea, edible fats and oils, cut flowers and chemical products.

Talks for the visa-free movement occurred last year and in November 2022, the agreement was reached.

Mwangi said: 

The conclusion of the longstanding negotiations on the visa exemption further reflects conscious efforts and political will by the leaders of our two countries to eliminate any barriers to building greater business, cultural and communal relations.

In the past, Kenyan nationals were exempted from paying visa fees if their stay in South Africa was less than 30 days.

If they intended to stay longer, visa fees of R 661 were required.

The visa-free movement dovetails with the African Union (AU) 2018 policy of "free movement of persons protocol."

The initial announcement of the visa-free movement was made in Nairobi on 9 November last year when SA President Cyril Ramaphosa made his first state visit to the EAC country at the invitation of the President William Ruto.

Coincidentally, it was a year after then-outgoing president Kenyatta's visit to South Africa.

South Africa and Kenya have agreements in the field of correctional services, meaning they can exchange jailed persons, cooperation in housing and resettlement, multi-media and many other fields.

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Groundbreaking judgment offers relief for foreign parents of children born in SA

News24 | 04 Jan 2023

Pretoria - The court has delivered a groundbreaking judgment which opens the door for foreigners working in South Africa who have children born on local soil.

Previously, they had to leave the country after breaking up with their spouses.

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In terms of sections of the Immigration Act, foreigners’ spouse visas terminated once their relationship with their South African spouses ended.

This meant that they either had to leave the country, even if it meant leaving their children behind, or they had to reapply for a visa to remain in the country. However, they could only do so from outside the country.

Various applicants, who come from countries such as France, Switzerland, Germany and Zimbabwe, turned to the Western Cape High Court to have the relevant sections of the act declared unconstitutional.

They all had children with their South African spouses, but their relationships had soured. Some are already divorced, while others are in the process of doing so.

In other cases the couples were not married, but lived together with their children, who are South African citizens as they were born here or had acquired citizenship on the strength of their parent’s citizenship.

All the applicants have been living and working in South Africa for many years and they have been supportive parents and caregivers to their children, sharing parental responsibilities with their partners both during and after the termination of their spousal relationships.

According to them certain sections of the Immigration Act, read together with the regulations, were inconsistent with the Constitution, to the extent that they required foreigners who are parents and caregivers of South African children to cease working here and to leave the country when their spousal relationships with their South African spouses come to an end, or they no longer cohabit together.

In one of the applications, a man who is facing being sent back to Kenya by the Department of Home Affairs said he and his ex-wife contribute equally to the maintenance of their son, who spends 50% of his time with him. He has a close relationship with his ex-wife and enjoys a strong bond with his son.

He would find difficulty in obtaining employment in Kenya where he would be compelled to return.

He has been working in South Africa for 14 years and considers this country to be his home.

The act regulates the admission of foreigners and their residence in South Africa, which may be temporary or permanent. The visa which is in issue in this matter is the so-called “spousal” visa, which includes spouses who are in a permanent heterosexual or homosexual relationship, but are not formally married.

The applicants asked the court to declare that a spousal visa shall remain valid and shall not expire after the termination of the spousal relationship, which constitutes the basis on which the visa was issued in the first place.

But Judge Mark Sher said this was not a solution, as such a visa would expire in time and they would then still be compelled to leave the country and would be unable to discharge their parental responsibilities and rights.

He said he could also not rule that these spousal visas should simply be extended, as this would, for example, allow “deadbeat foreign parents” who are not contributing to their children’s maintenance or care, to continue living and working in the country.

The judge said in his view the solution was to enable a foreign spouse who was the parent of a South African child citizen or permanent resident to apply for a fresh status.

This can be by means of a visitor’s or relative’s visa, depending on their circumstances.

This, he said, would allow them to reside and work in the country, in order to discharge their parental responsibilities and rights.

He, among others, ordered that certain passages should be read into the act, to allow for a foreigner who meets these requirements to apply for a change of status, to do so from within South Africa, due to the person’s exceptional circumstances.

The judge meanwhile gave Parliament 24 months to remedy the act so that it did provide an option to these parents, without them facing deportation.

www.samigration.com

Vetting foreign nationals tedious but necessary

SA Migration | 03 Jan 2023

With a spotlight on corruption at immigration level, in the form of falsified visas and bribery, this has only made the topic more sensitive.

With unemployment figures at an all-time high and South Africa facing numerous economic challenges, the department of home affairs (DHA) and the department of labour are again taking steps to curb the employment of illegal foreign nationals living in the country.

With a spotlight on corruption at immigration level, in the form of falsified visas and bribery, this has only made the topic more sensitive.

Consequently, the DHA has taken action and established an anticorruption unit comprised of immigration experts, lawyers and forensic investigators, in the hopes that employment practices towards foreign nationals will be put under scrutiny.

Companies turning a blind eye to the validity of employee visas are putting themselves and their businesses at risk.

The Immigration Act 13 of 2002 and the Employment Services Act 4 of 2014 both clearly state that no one shall employ foreign nationals whose status prohibits them from being employed in South Africa.

However, there are still companies who employ candidates without doing the necessary checks ensuring they adhere to the regulations put forth in both amended Acts.

This will not only result in the immediate deportation of the foreign national, but it can also leave the South African employer facing a hefty fine or even imprisonment – not to mention the bill for repatriating the individual to their home country.

As sobering as all this is, the employee, regardless of being a foreign national without a valid working visa, is still afforded legal protection from an unfair dismissal under the Labour Relations Act, especially if they can prove negligence on the part of the employer.

In other words, besides already facing penalties or imprisonment, if the act of deporting the foreign national results in them being unfairly dismissed, the employer can still be drawn into a lengthy legal dispute with the employee through the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

For small to medium enterprises, one such exercise could possibly cripple their business and force closure. For larger corporates, the full weight of the decision would be cast on the human resources (HR) department within the organisation, as they are tasked to ensure compliance and adherence to all regulations.

It could also lead to the DHA and the labour department conducting regular audits on the company’s employment records, which is akin to constant surveillance from both regulatory bodies.

The question will always be what HR departments can do to protect their company when employing foreign nationals. It is imperative to incorporate updated vetting processes when employing foreign nationals.

Fine-combing each job applicant is a tedious, but necessary, task, which forms part of the HR duties and obligations.

Understanding permit and visa types, which categories they belong to and what the accompanying regulations say about employment on that permit or visa, is just as important. While it is a challenge to stay current with legislation, it is not impossible.

There are numerous platforms and resources available to HR departments. Teachings and subsequent implementation of changes to legislation regarding the employment of foreign nationals should be a company standard.

The onus rests on the employer and the HR department in a company to provide the relevant assurances that their workforce is fully compliant in all regards. For large corporations, this can be a daunting hurdle to overcome.

Calling on the experience of an immigration specialist with a sound knowledge of immigration and employment laws, as well as permit and visa requirements, will provide the necessary peace of mind that employees have been vetted accordingly.

An immigration provider that is well versed on the specifications and requirements from the governmental stakeholders, will know the best course of action to eliminate any risk to the company. Failing which, make sure they offer specialist legal services, should there arise any legal dispute.

For more information, Please contact us on:

Tel No landline CT  :  +27 (0) 21 879 5560

Tel No landline JHB : +27 (0) 12 880 1490

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 - ( Whatsapp messages only, No calls )

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 ( Whatsapp messages only, No calls )  

Tel No admin : +27 (0) 64 126 3073 – ( Whatsapp calls only – No Messages ) 

Tel No sales : +27 (0) 74 0366127 - ( Whatsapp calls only – No Messages )

Please email us to info@samigration.com

www.samigration.com

Client illegal for many years – Legalization not an option / Asylum New Comer how to do 

There are instances where clients jumped the borders and entered South Africa illegally which means there is no record of them entering South Africa legally which in essence means that the immigration system or movement control system .

Alternatively the client had a valid visa and is illegal say more than 1 year and they dont have a valid reason  , the legalization route or Form 23 option is very slow and with Covid19 many of the Immigration Inspectorate Offices closed and if open which means the client is stuck , if he goes home via a land border he will be banned for 5 years .

The obvious solution would be the Asylum Seeker – New Comer route but the Refugee Centres are all closed for new comers as walk-ins and all extensions for current asylum seekers are done online taking forever to get  .

We have a solution and  have found a way to overcome this problem with an asylum transit permit obtained at a land or air border where they are given 14 days to submit an application for asylum as newcomer . We can assist people to apply for asylum as a new comer online .

The section in the Act is marked below :

  Application for asylum

8. (1) An application for asylum in terms of section 21 of the Act must―

(a) be made in person by the applicant upon reporting to a Refugee Reception Office or on a date allocated to such a person upon reporting to the Refugee Reception Office;

(b) be made in a form substantially corresponding with Form 2 (DHA-1590) contained in the Annexure;

(c) be submitted together with―

(i) a valid asylum transit visa issued at a port of entry in terms of section 23 of the Immigration Act, or under permitted circumstances, a valid visa issued in terms of the Immigration Act;

(ii) proof of any form of a valid identification document: Provided that if the applicant does not have proof of a valid identification document, a declaration of identity must be made in writing before an immigration officer; and

As per 8 (1 ) a where AN Applicant must appear IN PERSON  to renew , but is now done online , the same argument can be used to lodge a new comer asylum application an dwe provide provide proof of such email application , client will be legal in SA and we can do a waiver or exemption to change to temporary residence resolving the matter of the legalization .

Section 12 (2) c) a requirement for the applicant to appear in person for each scheduled appointment; and

Section 12 ( 8) Any extension of an asylum seeker visa must be made at the Refugee Reception Office where the application was submitted.

So if you are undocumented and illegal we can assist you to be legal and renew expired asylum documents

How can we help you , please email us to info@samigration.com whatsapp message me on:

 +27 82 373 8415, where are you now? check our website : www.samigration.com

 

For more information, Please contact us on :

Tel No landline CT  :  +27 (0) 21 879 5560

Tel No landline JHB : +27 (0) 12 880 1490

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 - ( Whatsapp messages only, No calls )

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 ( Whatsapp messages only, No calls )  

Tel No admin : +27 (0) 64 126 3073 – ( Whatsapp calls only – No Messages ) 

Tel No sales : +27 (0) 74 0366127 - ( Whatsapp calls only – No Messages )

Please email us to info@samigration.com

www.samigration.com