While Minister Motsoaledi is busy becoming the most hated public officer as he is unable to get a grip over the processes within the Department of Home Affairs, he has in light of the existing backlog taken a break from xenophobic directives and has extended certain expired visa yet again. Following the Circular published by Director General L T Makhode on 27 June 2022:
All temporary residence visa for which either an extension application has been submitted, which has not yet been finalised, or for which a waiver for certain conditions has been applied for and also not yet been finalised, are now extended until 30 September 2022.
This means that holders of temporary residence visa that fall under the above will not be in the country illegally although their visa has expired and they may leave the country without being declared undesirable. When returning back to South Africa, they need to show their VFS submission receipt.
This also applies to all applicants, who have applied for permanent residence and have applied for the extension of their underlying temporary residence visa. The submission of a permanent residence application alone does not constitute legality and does not protect from being declared undesirable when leaving the country without valid temporary residence.
It is highly likely that the expired visa will be extended again thereafter as there is no plan or concept so far to eliminate the massive backlog.
For all immigration-related enquiries, contact Into SA – the leading immigration advisory since 1995 – under visa@into-sa.com. Initial consultations remain free of charge!