If you are unlawfully present (i.e., "illegal") in South Africa and wish to regularize your status, the process is complex and requires careful planning. South Africa’s immigration laws, governed by the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 and its regulations, are strict, and overstaying or entering illegally can result in severe penalties, including deportation, bans, or being declared a "prohibited person". Below is a detailed, step-by-step guide to navigating this situation:

1. Understand Your Current Legal Status

• What Makes You "Illegal"?

o Overstaying your visa (e.g., visitor, work, or study visa).

o Entering the country without a valid visa (if required for your nationality).

o Violating visa conditions (e.g., working on a tourist visa).

• Risks of Being Illegal:

o Arrest, detention, or deportation.

o A re-entry ban (1–5 years) under Section 30 of the Immigration Act.

o Difficulty applying for future visas.

2. Immediate Steps to Take

a. Do Not Ignore the Situation

• The longer you overstay, the harsher the penalties. Act promptly to avoid criminal charges or bans.

b. Consult an Immigration Practitioner

• A Immigration Practitioner can:

o Assess your eligibility for regularization.

o Advise on risks (e.g., deportation if you approach Home Affairs unprepared).

o Represent you in dealings with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

3. Pathways to Regularize Your Status

There is no general amnesty in South Africa for undocumented individuals, but you may explore the following options:

Option 1: Voluntary Departure

If you cannot regularize your status in South Africa, leave voluntarily to avoid harsh penalties.

• Process:

1. Depart South Africa before being detected as illegal.

2. Apply for a new visa from your home country (e.g., visitor, work, or study visa).

• Advantages:

o Avoids a re-entry ban (unless you overstayed by more than 30 days).

o Preserves future visa eligibility.

• Disadvantages:

o Requires starting the visa process from scratch.

Option 2: Apply for a Visa or Permit

If you qualify for a visa/permit, you may apply to regularize your status without leaving South Africa, but strict conditions apply.

Submit a good cause at Immigration Inspectorate with reasons why you became illegal

a. Apply for a Visa/Permit in Good Cause

• Eligible Categories:

o Spousal/Partner Visa: If married to a South African citizen/permanent resident.

o Work Visa: If you have a formal job offer and the employer complies with labor laws.

o Study Visa: If enrolled at a registered institution.

o Business Visa: If investing R5 million in a South African business.

o Relative’s Visa: If dependent on a South African citizen/permanent resident.

• Requirements:

o Passport valid for 30+ days after visa expiry.

o Police clearance (from South Africa and home country).

o Proof of financial means.

o Medical and radiology reports.

• Key Challenge:

o Home Affairs may refuse to process your application if you are already illegal.

If you overstayed due to exceptional circumstances (e.g., medical emergency,), request a waiver to bypass penalties.

• Submit:

o A letter explaining your reasons for overstaying.

o Supporting evidence (e.g., hospital records, flight cancellation proof).

• Outcome:

o If approved, you can apply for a visa without leaving South Africa.

o If denied, you must depart and face potential bans.

Option 3: Asylum/Refugee Status

If fleeing persecution, apply for asylum at a Refugee Reception Office (e.g., in Pretoria or Cape Town).

• Process:

1. Submit an asylum application (Form RAD-1).

2. Attend an interview with the Refugee Status Determination Officer.

• Advantages:

o Legal stay while your application is processed.

o Access to a refugee ID and work permit.

• Risks:

o Asylum is not a pathway to permanent residence unless approved as a refugee.

o Fraudulent claims lead to deportation and bans.

Option 4: Ministerial Intervention

In rare cases, the Minister of Home Affairs may grant discretionary relief for:

• Humanitarian reasons (e.g., critical medical treatment for a child).

• Compelling economic contributions (e.g., investors creating jobs).

• Process: Submit a formal request via an immigration lawyer.

4. Risks of Applying In-Country

• Arrest and Deportation:

Approaching Home Affairs without legal advice could result in detention.

• Section 32 Notice:

If arrested, you may receive a notice to depart within 14 days (voluntary deportation).

• Prohibited Person Status:

Overstaying by 30+ days triggers an automatic 12-month re-entry ban.

5. Step-by-Step Process to Regularize

1. Consult a Lawyer: Assess your options and risks.

2. Gather Documents:

o Passport, police clearances, proof of relationship/employment, etc.

3. Choose a Pathway: Apply for a visa, waiver, or asylum.

4. Submit Application: of good cause

o Via VFS Global (for visas) or a Refugee Reception Office (for asylum).

5. Await Outcome:

o Visa processing can take 6–12+ months due to DHA delays.

6. Comply with Conditions:

o If approved, adhere to visa terms to avoid future issues.

6. Critical Considerations

• Avoid Fraud: Misrepresentation (e.g., fake marriages or documents) results in a 5-year ban.

• Stay Informed: Immigration policies change frequently

• Beware of Scams: Only use licensed immigration practitioners (check with the South African Council for Legal Practitioners).

8. What If You Are Detained?

• Contact your lawyer or embassy immediately.

• Request a deportation hearing to argue for voluntary departure.

• Apply for bail if detained longer than 48 hours.

9. Final Advice

• Act Quickly: Delays worsen penalties.

• Prioritize Voluntary Departure if no viable regularization pathway exists.

• Keep Records: Save all application receipts, correspondence, and legal advice.

Regularizing your status in South Africa is challenging but not impossible. Success depends on your eligibility, adherence to the law, and professional guidance. Always consult a registered immigration attorney to navigate this high-stakes process safely.

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

Over 1.4 million naturalised citizens and permanent residents in South Africa will be able to apply for smart ID cards from Monday, 12 May 2025.

That is according to recent feedback from Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber to Sunday newspaper Rapport.

Schreiber told the publication that the department had fixed an IT system issue that prevented most of these individuals from getting the card since it launched in 2012.

To date, only a handful of naturalised citizens who sought special permission from the Home Affairs director-general have been able to obtain the card.

The vast majority of the country’s 800,000 naturalised citizens and 700,000 permanent residents have not been allowed to apply for the more modern identity document.

Schreiber described the fix as the department’s biggest milestone since it started revamping its IT systems a few months ago.

In addition to no longer treating these individuals as second-class citizens, the minister said the system fix would enhance national security.

The minister also said that the achievement would bring the department closer to scrapping the green ID book, which was initially planned to happen several years ago.

The document has become a major target for modification and forgery due to its outdated security.

The DHA has eagerly encouraged people to get a smart ID card to better protect themselves against fraudsters and has given vague warnings about invalidating the ID book.

All the while, permanent residents and naturalised citizens have had no choice but to stick to their ID books.

In recent years, many have complained to MyBroadband about their inability to obtain a smart ID card despite being permanent residents or naturalised citizens for decades.

These included a high-profile and successful businessman who has been working in the South African music industry for more than 50 years.

If these individuals’ ID books were stolen or lost, they were forced to reapply for a green ID book at a dwindling number of Home Affairs branches that still offered the old document.

Plan to offer smart ID cards via banking apps

From Monday, naturalised citizens and permanent residents will also be able to use the eHomeAffairs facility to get their smart ID cards.

This system allows people to apply and pay for their cards online. Thereafter, they must provide biometric verification and collect their card at special Home Affairs kiosks in one of 30 bank branches.

The department aims to expand this service to 100 new branches by March 2026 and 1,000 by March 2028.

However, it also wants to eliminate the requirement for in-person biometric verification and allow applicants to verify their identities via their banking apps in the future.

According to Schreiber, integrating Home Affairs services into the branches was a “logical precursor” to delivering the same services online and via mobile apps.

This forms part of the department’s broader digitalisation strategy, which seeks to make it possible for people to access more of its services from the comfort of their homes.

To support these improvements, the DHA recently announced the rollout of a comprehensive upgrade of its digital verification system used by public and private entities.

This system, which verifies people’s identities through fingerprints and facial recognition against the National Population Register, has been plagued by inefficiencies.

The department said that before the upgrade, users reported failure rates on the system of up to 50% and that it routinely took up to 24 hours for the system to respond.

“When responses did arrive, they were often so littered with errors that they required a cumbersome process of manual verification,” the department said.

“Thanks to the diligent and focused work on this problem by the Department over the past few months, these errors are now set to become a thing of the past.”

“Testing has confirmed that the upgraded system is not only capable of dramatically faster performance, but that it now delivers an error rate of well below 1%.”

The short answer
You might need legal assistance

The whole question
My partner was born in South Africa but moved to Portugal when he was a year old. He has a South African passport but not the national ID. I, on the other hand, am a foreigner. We currently reside in Cape Town. We are not married, and I am currently pregnant. Once our child is born, we would like to use my partner's surname and he will legally acknowledge the child. Will we be able to register our baby?

The long answer

If your partner has a valid South African passport, he should be able to apply for and get an ID card from the Department of Home Affairs.

But if he acquired the citizenship of another country, he would automatically lose his South African citizenship unless he applied for and got permission to keep his South African citizenship before acquiring the citizenship of the new country. A South African citizen can hold dual citizenship, but again only if he applied and got permission to keep his South African citizenship first.

In terms of registering the baby’s birth:

All children must be registered within 30 days of their birth under the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1992. The parent or parents must complete Form B1-24 in black ink at their nearest Home Affairs office and submit it. The parent/s must bring their ID/s, and if they are married, a marriage certificate. If the parents are married, the child is given the father’s surname. If they are not married they can choose either the mother’s or father’s surname. The parents are then given an unabridged birth certificate which contains the child’s legal name, their date of birth and their place of birth and its parents’ names. This is then included in the National Population Register. You need an unabridged birth certificate to travel out of the country with the child.

As Home Affairs would often refuse to register the births of children when one parent was an immigrant, a case was brought to the Eastern Cape High Court in 2018 (Naki versus Director General Home Affairs). The court had to decide whether the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) allowed the father to register a child in the case of a mother being absent or not having legal permission to be in the country. It decided that the BDRA did not allow a father to register the birth of a child in those circumstances; it was therefore unconstitutional as all children born in South Africa have a right to have their births registered.

The court also found that Regulation 12 (1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) which provided for an unmarried mother to register a child’s birth prevented an unmarried father from registering the birth of a child, which was also unconstitutional.

So it “read into” the regulations the words “or father” to ensure that either a mother or father could register the birth of their child if they were unmarried.

This court decision means that it’s easier now to register the birth of children where one parent is South African and the other parent is an immigrant, because Home Affairs may not refuse to register a child’s birth on the grounds of the legal status of its parents.

Although the court order was in 2018, Home Affairs often takes a very long time to comply with court orders and you may find some Home Affairs officials still refusing to register births of children in the circumstances described above. If you run into that kind of trouble you may want to consult the following organisations for advice

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Top 5 Things to Know about South African Visa Renewals

When is it a good time to start with the renewal ?
Picture this – it’s Monday and in a quiet moment you decide to go through your foreign employees’ documents.

To your shock you discover that one employee’s visa is due for renewal – at the end of the week.

Suddenly, your Monday is a whole lot bluer! You have no idea how you’re going to do this. You don’t even know if it’s still possible to submit a renewal!

Take a deep breath – this does not have to happen to you.
You can avoid any visa renewal shocks and surprises simply by keeping these 5 facts in mind:

1. Did you know applications must be submitted at least 60 days before the expiry date of the visa

South Africa’ Immigration Act requires visa holders to submit renewals at least 60 days before the expiry date of their visa. Visa holders may also submit renewals earlier but no earlier than 6 months prior to a visa’s expiry date.

Our advice? Don’t wait for the 60 days! Submit as early as possible to allow for unforeseen hiccups.

2. Start the groundwork early
The process of renewing a South African visa is the same as applying for a new visa. For this reason, it is advisable to start preparing for a renewal well in advance.

When it comes to work visas specifically, there are often multiple steps that need to be followed before being able to submit the renewal to the authorities. Given the backlog at Home Affairs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend starting the preparation process 12 months in advance.

3. The visa holder must meet all the requirements again
To apply for a visa extension, the visa holder must be able to meet the requirements of their visa again. This includes any new requirements or changes to requirements that were made by the Department of Home Affairs since the previous application or renewal.

Applicants who can’t meet the requirements of their visa will most likely not get a visa extension.
That does not mean it’s the end of the road! Unsuccessful renewal applicants can get assessed against all of South Africa’s immigration requirements to see if they perhaps qualify for another visa that lets them work in South Africa.

4. Keep critical documentation up to date
Want to save yourself a lot of headaches? Ensure that documentation with expiry dates are always valid. By keeping documents up to date, you’ll see to it that you’re ready to proceed with renewals as soon as it’s necessary.

Police clearances is one example of documentation with an expiry date. These documents are only valid for 6 months from the date of issuance. The passport expiration date is also an important one to keep in mind. It is impossible to apply for a visa with an expired passport.

5. Extensions must be submitted in South Africa
All extensions must be submitted in South Africa, at a VFS application centre. Visa holders can’t submit extensions outside of South Africa.

Need help with South African visa renewals?
Our corporate team can assist you with all types of South African visa renewals. The team will guide you through the requirements and work with you to submit a complete application.

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The Department of Home Affairs has officially declared Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso illegal in the country.
This comes as Omotoso was arrested in East London in the Eastern Cape on Saturday morning.

Omotoso’s arrest comes weeks after he was acquitted on an array of charges including rape, human trafficking and sexual assault.
In a statement released by Home Affairs on behalf of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster confirmed that an operation led to the arrest.
“The arrest follows the decision of the Minister of Home Affairs [Dr. Leon Schreiber] to reject the application submitted by Omotoso in terms of section 8(7) of the Immigration Act that sought to overturn the earlier decision of the Department of Home Affairs to declare Omotoso a prohibited person,” it said.

The Minister’s decision means that Omotoso is now illegal in South Africa and is subject to deportation.
“Omotoso earlier challenged his status as a prohibited person in court, and the court
held that his status should be remitted back to the Department for reconsideration.

After carefully reconsidering the matter, the Minister upheld the decision to declare

Omotoso as a prohibited person,” the statement read.

In order to ensure compliance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, Omotoso is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, May 12, 2025, on charges of contravening provisions of the Immigration Act.