Inside Home Affairs
Rather Apply Abroad... “Home affairs now looks clean and friendly but service delivery for foreigners applying for temporary or permanent residence has not significantly improved...” et us start with the good news. The Department of Home Affairs recently received its first unqualified audit in 20 years, meaning their financial affairs are in order. In addition many citizens would confirm that the issuing of identity (ID) books, birth and marriage certificates has improved. A lot of offices have undergone a renovation and look clean and friendly. Home Affairs’ efforts to turn the department around are bearing some fruits. Unfortunately some of these efforts have no impact on the expatriate. The bad news is that service delivery for foreigners applying for temporary or permanent residence has not significantly improved. The introduction of a central hub in charge of processing all applications was meant to speed up processing times and ensure the proper implementation of the current immigration regulations. In June 2010, a computer based “track & trace” system was introduced in addition to a national call centre in a bid to assist in monitoring the status of each application. The system also enables the applicant to find out where in the processing chain the application is in the event that it is not completed in time. And yet processing times have increased to up to 100 days compared to the 35 days on average when applications were still processed at the regional and district offices where the application was also submitted. The call centre is reachable but does not produce any results if you log a query. The central
hub in Pretoria was supposed to move to local offices in September but by the middle of October this had not happened causing a near standstill in processing of any permits. In addition, issued permits are wrongly endorsed, applications are incorrectly denied and appeals are not attended to at all. The most frustrating part for a lot of applicants is that there is no one who can give an answer to queries because all applications are processed in the central hub that has no contact to the public at all. Thus the practical implementation of the well-intended changes is in my view disastrous. Additionally, there is a change of law on the cards with new the Immigration Regulations set to be published. There are two changes in the Act that will have major practical implications for all expatriates. Firstly, all applicants must submit their applications in person. In the past attorneys or immigration practitioners were allowed to act on behalf of the applicant but this will no longer be allowed although we expect most to accompany the applicant in future. Secondly, one cannot change from a visitors permit to any other kind of temporary residence anymore. If say a visitor finds a job here, he/she will have to return to his/hers country of origin in order to submit the application for a work permit. With all the justified criticism here, there is a workable solution for all expatriates and we recommend this to our clients successfully. All foreigners who wish to work or live in South Africa should apply
for a temporary visa at the South African consulate or embassy in their country of origin before they travel to South Africa. The processing times are about a week or two, employees can be reached and queries can be resolved before an application is rejected. Andreas Krensel is the owner and managing director of IBN Consulting in Cape Town. He is a qualified German attorney with LLM from UCT and has been assisting foreign investors in South Africa for the past ten years. www. ibncapetown.com