Cape Town – The Department of Home Affairs has extended the blanket concession to December 31, 2023, for long-term visa or waiver applicants who are awaiting outcomes of their applications.
In a statement on Wednesday, the department said a directive to the Home Affairs head office, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation’s Consular Services and Visa Facilitation Centres has been issued to communicate the decision.
“The decision means that long-term visa or waiver applicants are permitted to legally remain in the country until 31 December 2023, pending the finalisation of their applications.
“Those that are travelling on passports issued by countries that are not visa exempted, are required to apply for a visitor’s visa to return to South Africa until their applications have been finalised,” the department said.
This concession is only applicable to applicants who have submitted an application via VFS before or on March 31 2023.
All visitors on short-term visas whose validity was issued for less than 90 days are excluded from the concession and are required to depart before or on the date of expiry of the validity period of their visas.
For full details of the concession, visit: http://www.dha.gov.za/index.php/notices/1660-temporary-measures-in-respect-of-foreign-nationals-in-light-of-a-backlog-experienced-in-processing-outcomes-on-waiver-applications-and-visa-applications or visit: www.dha.gov.za:
Cape Times