The move by Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, to extend the temporary concessions for foreign nationals awaiting visa, waiver, and appeal outcomes is a welcome relief to the tourism and hospitality sector leaders who have been tirelessly lobbying for visa reforms.

“We are extremely pleased to see Minister Schreiber prioritise this critical issue so early in his tenure,” said Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chairperson. “This extension provides much-needed certainty for both businesses and individuals, including our valued ‘swallows’ and sends a strong message that South Africa is open for business and welcomes international visitors,” she added.

Inbound industry body, SATSA, has long been calling for structured engagement with the previous Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, andthe association's CEO, David Frost, highlighting the “significant challenges” with SA’s visa regime that are hampering tourism growth in key markets.

These challenges include an ineffective e-visa system, long delays due to backlog and inefficiencies, the timeous implementation of the remote work visa and the sudden revocation of visa extensions granted to foreigners who have homes in South Africa and stay in the country for extended periods of time.

SATSA Chair, Oupa Pilane highlighted that the much-needed 'swallows', also known as 'Sun Chasers', who visit for up to 180 days, are a golden goose for South Africa’s economy and its tourism sector, which is the third-highest GDP earner for the country and enjoys a deep and vast supply chain that creates job opportunities.

He pointed out that these 'Sun Chasers' were a lucrative market segment for the country, not only because of their lengthy stay, but also because of their  contribution to the government’s coffers through their retail spend and associated VAT.

Schreiber acknowledged this in a post on social media site X, stating: “Without this concession, international tourists and workers who contribute to our economy would have been punished if their documentation expired while they awaited the outcome of Home Affairs processes. This would be unfair and irrational and discourage investment, tourism and skills transfer.”

Applicants safeguarded

A Department of Home Affairs (DHA) spokesperson said: “This extension (to December 31) safeguards applicants, including those who are contributing to South Africa through their scarce skills, from suffering adverse consequences or being erroneously declared undesirable while they await the outcome of applications submitted to the Department.”

He pointed out that the processing of some of these applications has been delayed as the Department works on reducing backlogs. “While the Department has made progress in this regard since its previous communication on the matter, there is still a backlog in various visa and permit categories and Minister Schreiber has now moved to protect applicants while the backlog is reduced,” he said.

“We commend Minister Schreiber's commitment to clearing the backlog of visa applications and ensuring that future extensions or modifications to the concession are communicated in a timely manner,” Anderson added. “We believe this will encourage more 'swallows' to choose South Africa as their seasonal destination, further bolstering our tourism sector.”

FEDHASA sees the new visa concession as a positive sign of the Department's intention to position itself as an economic enabler for South Africa. “We look forward to continued collaboration with Minister Schreiber and the Department of Home Affairs to further improve our visa system, attract international investment, and bolster tourism,” said Anderson.

The DHA spokesperson underpinned Anderson’s statement by highlighting that the decision to avert adverse consequences for applicants who seek to obtain lawful visas in order to contribute to South Africa, either through their skills or as tourists, signals the Minister’s commitment to improving the visa system to make South Africa a more attractive destination for international investment, tourism and job creation.

“While it will take time to achieve this vision in full, the decision to extend the temporary concession serves as a signal of intent to reinvigorate the Department of Home Affairs and position it as a vital economic enabler,” said the spokesperson.

He added: “In order to build confidence in this new approach, Minister Schreiber further commits to avoiding a repeat of the current situation that has seen the previous concession expire prior to the extension being announced. While the Department is committed to eradicating the backlog as soon as possible, the Minister undertakes that any further extension, modification or amendment to the terms of these concessions will be communicated in writing prior to the new expiry date of  December 31.”

Temporary extensions and concessions

The following temporary measures will apply with immediate effect, according to a statement by the DHA.

Visa holders who have applied for a waiver and the waiver application is still pending as at June 30, are granted a further temporary extension until December 31 to enable the Department to process the applications, for applicants to collect their outcomes, and to submit applications for appropriate visas.

Those who wish to abandon their waiver applications and depart from South Africa, will be allowed to exit at a port of entry before or on December 31 without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations, 2014.

Visa holders who need to travel, but are awaiting the outcome of a waiver application, will be allowed to exit and re-enter at a port of entry up to and including December 31, without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations, 2014. However, non-visa exempt applicants who travel out of the country with a waiver application receipt are required to apply for a port of entry visa which would allow them re-entry into South Africa.

Visa holders who have applied for long-term visas (Visitor’s Visas in terms of section 11(1)(b) and 11(6) of the Immigration Act, 2002; Business Visas, Study Visas, Relative's Visas and Work Visas) and whose application is still pending as at June 30 are granted a further temporary extension until December 31 of their current visa status.

Those who wish to abandon their visa applications will be allowed to exit at a port of entry before or on December 31 without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations, 2014.

Visa holders who need to travel, but are awaiting the outcome of a long-term visa application, will be allowed to exit and re-enter at a port of entry up to and including December 31, without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations, 2014. However, non-visa exempt applicants who travel out of the country with a long-term visa application receipt, are required to apply for a port of entry visa which would allow them re-entry into South Africa.

Visa holders who have appealed a negative decision on an application for long-term visa (Visitor’s Visas in terms of section 11(1)(b) and 11(6) of the Immigration Act, 2002; Business Visas, Study Visas, Relative's Visas and Work Visas) are granted a temporary extension until 31 December 2024 of the current visa status. Applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what the visa conditions provide for.

Those who wish to abandon their visa appeal applications and depart from South Africa, will be allowed to exit at a port of entry before or on December 31 without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002 read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations, 2014.

Visa appeal applicants who need to travel, but are awaiting the outcome of an appeal application for a long-term visa, will be allowed to exit and re-enter at a port of entry up to and including December 31, without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations, 2014.

All appeal applicants are required to produce a copy of the rejection letter with a receipt for the appeal application on departure and re-entry into South Africa. Non-visa exempt appeal applicants who travel out of the country with an appeal application receipt, are required to apply for a port of entry visa which would allow them re-entry into South Africa.

Short-term visa holders issued in terms of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2002, for 90 days or less, who have applied for a renewal but have not received their visa renewal outcome, must make the necessary arrangements to depart from South Africa within 90 calendar days from the date of expiry of the principal visa, to avoid being declared undesirable. The latter concession is in line with the provisions of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2002, which limits the duration of sojourn for visiting purposes to a total of 180 days.

The temporary concession applies only to foreign nationals who have been legally admitted into South Africa.

This concession is also only applicable to applicants who have submitted their applications via VFS Global and who can produce a verifiable receipt for such application against the VFS Global tracking system.