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.

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The second phase of Operation Vulindlela will include a focus on public digital infrastructure and improving the visa system.
The second phase of Operation Vulindlela will include a focus on reforms aimed at building public digital infrastructure and improving the visa system to attract skills into South Africa.

The primary goal of Vulindlela, which is a joint venture of the presidency and national treasury is to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms aimed at growing the economy.

Phase 2 of the programme was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa at a media briefing on Wednesday. Ramaphosa said cabinet last month, as part of Vulindlela phase two, approved a digital transformation roadmap aimed at driving the adoption of digital technologies in government and “building digital public infrastructure that can be used by all South Africans”.

Our people are far ahead; they are tech savvy and digitally capable, but government needs to catch up with where they are
“Many other countries and governments in the world have already acceded to this – we are miles behind,” Ramaphosa said. “Many times, I have said that our people are far ahead; they are tech savvy and digitally capable, but government needs to catch up with where they are.”
The digital initiatives under the second phase of Vulindlela include a digital identity system, a government-led rapid payments platform “to expand financial inclusion for all”, and systems that will allow citizens to apply for an ID or passport online.

Key to enabling citizens to access government digital services securely is a planned digital document wallet that will enable authentication on various platforms, including healthcare and banking systems. According to the Vulindlela phase 2 document, digital wallets will store ID documents, birth certificates and educational certificates that will not require physical certification before being used.

Fragmentation
One of the issues hindering plans to offer digitised services across government is the fragmentation of state IT systems. To remedy this problem, Vulindlela aims to introduce a government data exchange to link and share information securely, with a view to streamlining applications that require the cooperation of multiple government entities.

“This will allow services such as grant applications and business permits to be processed faster and enable the government to suggest services such as linking grant recipients to opportunities, including education, training and job opportunities,” said the document.
But there are challenges, with budgetary constraints chief among them. For the first time in South Africa’s democratic history, the drafting of the 2025/2026 national budget is currently in its third iteration following the rejection of a proposed 0.5% VAT hike aimed at funding a R75-billion revenue shortfall over the medium term. This means government will have to look to cut spending on key projects.

Ramaphosa said in his state of the nation address in February that the department of home affairs was critical to government’s digital reforms as this was where the digital ID system at the centre of government services would be implemented.
According to the budget review, home affairs has been allocated R13.4-billion for the 2025/2026 financial year. It also has a provisional allocation of a further R1.5-billion for “digitisation and human resource capitalisation”, which will be dispersed halfway through the year if and when the department “demonstrates readiness or meets specific conditions”, according to national treasury.

Home affairs, meanwhile, has formally applied to parliament for an exemption that would allow the department to divorce its IT operations from the embattled State IT Agency. Government departments are mandated by the Sita Act to source a number of “mandatory” IT services from Sita. With its position at the centre of government IT, Sita’s history of governance issues and corruption scandals threatens to crimple Vulindlela’s digital objectives.
Home affairs said its dependency on Sita has led to frequent outages and system downtime, delays in the procurement of IT services, and cost overruns that have impacted its already-constrained budget. Other departments, including police and justice, have voiced similar concerns about Sita.

The process of reform is never easy. It is often contested from the inside because there are vested interests
Although Sita has denied many of these allegations, the organisation has come under intense scrutiny over its inability to meet its mandate. Communications minister Solly Malatsi in December called for the Public Service Commission to launch a formal investigation into governance issues at Sita.
On Wednesday, during a Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) meeting to review Sita’s financial performance, DA MP and Scopa member Patrick Atkinson questioned Sita’s ability to effectively provide IT services to government when the agency itself still relies heavily on paper-based systems. “How can a government department rely on you to provide their IT systems when Sita itself is unable to provide its own system?” he asked.
In the same meeting, Malatsi noted that the alleged lack of proper internal control systems at Sita – and other government entities – was not necessary a signal of incompetence or a lack of professionalism, but rather a deliberate attempt to circumvent accountability and open loopholes that allow corruption to spread. Ramaphosa echoed Malatsi’s sentiments that the Operation Vulindlela phase 2 launch.

“The process of reform is never easy. It is often contested from the inside because there are vested interests of one sort or another. Everyone wants to hold on and to hog their area of work. Through Vulindlela, we will open it up, and we’ll continue to do so,” the president said.

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Surge of departures – mostly fleeing a weak economy - fuels concern over the longer-term impact on the country as some small towns scramble for survival
She considers herself a diehard South Island girl, but Harriet Baker, 33, won’t be raising her children in the city where she’s spent most of her life.
“When we bought our house I said, ‘You’ll be taking me out of here in a casket,” she says, of the Dunedin home she and husband Cameron Baker, 33, sold last month.

“But the living costs just keep climbing, you’re working hard and you can’t put any money away – it felt like we were treading water.”
Their possessions are now winding their way to Western Australia, where the couple, their son Teddy, 2, and dog Hiccup, 8, relocated last week. Cameron will work as a heavy diesel mechanic in the mines while Harriet, formerly a public servant, will be the primary caregiver.
Harriet would like to give Teddy a Kiwi upbringing around his New Zealand-based grandparents, but she knows that might not happen.
“It does feel crazy that we’re leaving them. But that Australian income just flipped the switch for us.”
The Baker family are among a surge of departures from New Zealand, mostly fleeing a weak economy, in an exodus that is fuelling concern for the country’s future and has small towns scrambling for survival. Demographers are particularly worried as all ages of New Zealanders – not just young people – are packing their bags.

“I don’t know why we’re not talking about this more. We have a steep decline in fertility, a rapidly ageing population, and, out of Covid, we are seeing the rise and rise of departures,” says Massey University’s emeritus professor Paul Spoonley, a leading sociologist.
“Parts of New Zealand are beginning to empty out, they will suffer stagnation or are in decline. The question for me is – will the number of New Zealanders leaving the country begin to come back?” Spoonley says.

Workforce ‘hollowing out’
Over the past two years, tens of thousands of New Zealanders have left the country, surpassing the last spike in 2012. Record numbers of New Zealand migrants left the country through 2023 and into 2024. Figures remain high, with 69,100 leaving in the year to February 2025 – about 3% more than at this time last year.
Overall, more new migrants are still arriving in New Zealand than departing. But last year saw the biggest net loss of New Zealanders than any calendar year on record. About 56% of New Zealand emigrants – those planning to live overseas for a year or more – head to Australia, where the average pay rate is 26% higher.
For those aged 20-29, a backpacker-style overseas experience in Australia is a time-honoured rite of passage. They are still the biggest group leaving New Zealand but now, they are being followed by 30-39-year-olds and their children, as well as an unprecedented number of retirees – groups that are considered less likely to return.

“We talk about where the “centre of gravity” for a family is, and if you’ve got parents, grandchildren or adult children living elsewhere, you’re relocating your centre of gravity,” Spoonley said.
Experts are also worried about the impact on the workforce, now and in the future. This is in part due to working age people leaving New Zealand, and compounded by tighter immigration rules last year that are seeing fewer people coming on work visas.
“This is a hollowing out of this demographic of mid-career workers, who in reality do the bulk of the work,” said Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub. “That’s the jaws of death closing, and then we have labour market problems.”

Small towns shrink
The high cost of living, along with wages, job conditions and difficulty finding employment were among the reasons given for moving by those spoken to by the Guardian. Many did not want to leave, but felt they were left with no option after struggling to get by.
It’s a story repeated in small towns across New Zealand.
In Ohakune, a North Island ski town, local Māori tribe (iwi) Ngāti Rangi are among those trying to figure out how to get people to stay. The area is in decline, with shuttered shops and ‘For Sale’ signs evidence of a population drop of almost a third since 1996 – a national trend demographers say shows no sign of slowing, as a majority of new migrants move to Auckland.

“This is not a good news story for provincial and small town Aotearoa and it’s happening gradually, town by town and region by region,” says Tahu Kukutai, a demographer and co-director for Māori research centre Ngā Pae o Te Maramatanga.

More recently in Ohakune, the closure of two mills by Winstone Pulp International in 2024 saw the loss of about 220 jobs. Jude Sinai, Ngāti Rangi’s redundancy support liaison, said about 10% of workers had moved overseas, others were struggling to find seasonal work or lower paying jobs.
“We’ve had new recruits who bought homes at the higher end of the market, they didn’t see this coming, now they’re trying to service a mortgage shearing or mowing lawns. They think; ‘Do I go overseas and try to make it happen there?’”

The iwi has launched business courses to try to upskill families, and is pushing for tourism businesses to employ more locals – anything to get them to stay.
“Trying to get public services here is already so difficult, and when you take the numbers out of the area you get less attention. School rolls drop, there are teacher layoffs, lack of healthcare. We’re doing everything we can to lessen the magnitude of that scarring,” Sinai says.
To boost the economy, the centre-right National party government has said it will cut new spending by $1bn to reduce borrowing and debt. Some economists say that could slow the recovery while Labour leader Chris Hipkins criticised spending reductions as an invitation to young New Zealanders to move overseas. Thousands of jobs have been cut from the public service since 2023.

Finance minister, Nicola Willis, rejected those claims and told the Guardian the government would increase spending overall and save money by cutting unnecessary services. Willis said she “wanted see more New Zealanders choosing to stay here”. She said young people leaving New Zealand was an ongoing challenge, which could be addressed by growing the economy.

“I am very concerned if New Zealanders don’t believe that they have good prospects in New Zealand. I want people to see that this is a place of enormous economic future and enormous social future.”

But those overseas can’t see what would make them move home. Waikauri Hirini, 27, was a social worker in the small town of Te Kuiti in the central North Island before moving to Perth to join three generations of her family who already live over there, and work as a bank teller.
“I started on $48,000 and I never got a pay rise, I had a high caseload, I was stressed,” she says.

“When I graduated I couldn’t wait to help my community, where I grew up, but I just became burnt out and I thought ‘I don’t want this to be my life anymore’.
“Now, we’re really settled. It would make me sad if I didn’t bring my children up back home, learning the Māori language and doing kapa haka, and that’s when we would think about going back. But what would we be going back to?”

For many who have moved to Australia and elsewhere the fact remains; they are better off.

“They’re willing to pay for good workers over here,” says surveyor Daniel Reed, 38, who moved to Townsville from a small North Island town with his wife and three young children last year.

“We’re putting $1000 away a fortnight and we enjoy our life, we’re not scraping by or wondering what the grocery bill is.” Leaving was hard, but their kids were already enjoying their new schools and lifestyles.
“They’ll always be Kiwis, but they know the Australian national anthem. I don’t know if they remember the New Zealand one.”

Applicants will be targeted by Home Office due to suspicions they are most likely to overstay and claim asylum
Nigerians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans applying to work or study in the UK face Home Office restrictions over suspicions that they are most likely to overstay and claim asylum, Whitehall officials have claimed.
The government is working with the National Crime Agency to build models to profile applicants from these countries who are likely to go on to claim asylum.
Whether such a scheme would be successful depends on the strength of the models and the intelligence they work with, according to a migration expert.
Nearly 10,000 asylum claimants who had arrived in the UK legally on work or study visas were living in taxpayer-funded accommodation, such as hotels, at some point last year.

Data disclosed by the Home Office in March showed that of those asylum seekers who had originally entered on a visa but then ended up in government accommodation, the most common nationalities were Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
The Guardian revealed on Saturday that the government planned to reduce the numbers of UK student visa holders who make asylum claims.
Officials will be instructed to use the bank statements submitted by visa holders as part of their assessment when deciding whether to grant them asylum accommodation.

According to the Times, the Home Office is attempting to build intelligence to enable caseworkers to spot patterns in the profiles of people who are most likely to abuse work and study visas as a loophole to claim asylum. They have earmarked Pakistani, Nigerian and Sri Lankan visa holders as the most likely to go on to apply for asylum.

Officials are working with the NCA to build a model that would reject a visa claim from a person who fits the profile of someone likely to go on to claim asylum.
Madeleine Sumption, the director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said it was difficult to assess whether the government and the NCA would be able to create such a model.

“The key question, and one that is hard to assess from the outside, is do they have the information to accurately decide who is likely to claim asylum after they arrive. Because obviously it can be quite difficult.
“Whether it’s effective will depend on whether patterns are obvious enough for them to accurately be able to do it, or whether it will lead to some more arbitrary outcomes. Without being on the inside, it really is difficult to know.

“I could imagine scenarios where it could have quite a big impact. I can also imagine scenarios where it actually only affects a relatively small number of people,” she said.

Asked if the government’s plans could lead to legal challenges on the grounds of discrimination, Sumption said: “I’m not a lawyer, but the government has a fair amount of discretion on work and study to decide whether someone gets a visa or not when someone’s coming from outside of the country.
“There are cases when there are potentially some legal avenues, but broadly speaking the government is allowed to discriminate on many different grounds when granting work and study visas.”