Inside Home Affairs
The beginning of the end of the Immigration Practitioner
”Immigration representatives were barred from entering the Home Affairs office...” ince the last issue, we have noted that the processing times for temporary residence permits are being reduced significantly from approximately100 days during 2011 to between 30 and 45 days currently. So, the turnaround at the hub seems to have started delivering what was promised. Unfortunately this is not the case for permanent residence applications whose processing times are actually getting longer again. After that mixed piece of news, I wish to share with you a practical incident that recently occurred at the Home Affairs office in Cape Town. For some immigration representatives, April 3rd 2012 started as a normal day while waiting for the Department of Home Affairs Cape Town to open its doors in order to make their daily application submissions. This day turned out to be one of their more difficult ones as they were advised they could not do their jobs or even enter the building for that matter. Most immigration practitioners (IP’s) make use of representatives to submit and follow up on permit applications on their behalf. Apparently the Cape Town Home Affairs office and other branches had received a directive from Pretoria to only allow into their offices either the applicants themselves or practitioners who hold power of attorney on applications. A number of attorneys met to discuss this urgent issue and forced Home Affairs to open its doors to their representatives again.
In my view, this directive was unlawful for the following reasons: • No practitioner, attorney or advocate was consulted about this action. It was therefore an unfair administrative process. • It physically barred the representative from entering a public / government building. • Section 46(1) of the Immigration Act states “No one other than attorney, advocate or IP may conduct the trade of representing another person in the proceedings or procedures flowing from the Act”. The messenger is not conducting the trade as this is done in the office where applications are prepared and signed off by that power of attorney holder. The clerk or messenger is merely delivering documents.
basic knowledge of immigration law. The reason for the Departments critical view of IP’s is not really clear to me. On the contrary, there are perfectly good reasons to have them there including professionally prepared applications that make the processing of the applications more efficient and shorter queues at Department offices. Perhaps one major reason why the Department is mistrustful of IP’s is that those in the Department see themselves as working for a security organization as opposed to a service-oriented institution meant to assist the public. It is therefore quite possible that, as they are security minded, they do not like to be held accountable for their performance which IP’s frequently do. Andreas Krensel is the owner and managing
So, what do these actions mean? First, in my humble opinion, a very ill advised person within Home Affairs came up with this notice. It shows that there are no checks and balances within the Department before such illegal notices are made public. It also shows that some very senior employees of the Department are not adhering to basic administrative law. Secondly, it indicates that the Department considers IP’s a thorn in their side rather than a useful help. The Immigration Amendment Act will abolish the profession of an IP. They would prefer to deal with the public only and not with professional people who are governed by a code of conduct and a requirement to take an entrance exam in order to ensure
director of IBN Consulting in Cape Town. He is a qualified German attorney with an LLM from UCT and has been assisting foreign investors in South Africa for the past ten years. www. ibncapetown.com