The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has been given 30 days to issue a critical skills work visa to a British professional after two years of waiting and being previously ordered by the Pretoria High Court to issue the visa “forthwith”.
The same court found the Home Affairs minister and its director-general in contempt for failing to comply with a 2024 court order to issue a visa to the professional.
The court order makes it clear that the British applicant is free to enter, reside and continue work in South Africa, exit and re-enter and re-exit – even while the visa is being processed.
The court barred the DHA from arresting, detaining or declaring the applicant undesirable or sending him back to Britain while he awaits the visa.
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Illogical reasons for rejection
The reasons for the rejection were illogical as the professional is a member of professional accounting bodies in SA and abroad, and this was made clear in the visa application. The court instructed Home Affairs to issue the visa within 30 days.
Benjamin van Zyl, immigration consultant and attorney at Xpatweb, which is representing the visa applicant, says while the DHA has made progress in clearing the visa backlog inherited when Leon Schreiber took over as minister, the department still battles to clear appeals flowing from the backlog inherited from the previous administration.
Immigration consultants contacted by Moneyweb say the visa backlog may have been cleared, but visa rejection rates have also increased – and that may have flattered the visa backlog numbers.
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‘Significant backlog’
Stefanie deSaude Darbandi, recently appointed to the Immigration Advisory Board by Schreiber, says there was a period around December and January where there was an influx of bizarre and illogical rejections. “Since then there has been some improvement, but I would say we’re more or less back to where we were before the backlog.
“Many decisions are still being poorly made, the overall rejection rate remains far too high relative to what it should be and there’s still a significant backlog of both new applications and appeals.”
Immigration attorney Steven de Andrade says he has seen a number of visa rejections, and this is only adding to the appeals backlog.
While Home Affairs may have cleared the visa backlog, this is now showing up in a backlog of appeals.
The drive to expedite visa processing appears to have introduced new challenges, including an increase in the rejection of applications and a surge in consequent appeals, says Van Zyl.
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‘No response, nothing’
These appeals seem to be receiving very little attention, adds DeSaude Darbandi.
“We’re collecting outcomes with a noticeable improvement in processing times, but then lodging appeals and then … silence. Just this morning I received an email from a client who said she was in tears. She applied two and a half years ago, her first visa was wrongfully rejected, she’s the spouse of a South African.
“She lodged her appeal about a year ago and still no reply. She said she wrote directly to the minister, received a reply some many months ago but still there’s been no movement. No response on her appeal. Nothing.
“We also still have a lot of litigious matters going into contempt [of court], followed by rushed decisions with poor outcomes, which just throws clients back into the appeal process or forces them to litigate all over again.
“I want to stay optimistic and I was, especially after the new minister took office but there’s still a long way to go.”
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Another multi-year delay
Despite progress with visa processing, certain complex and historic cases remain under review, says Van Zyl.
One such matter involves a wealthy UK citizen who first applied for a “financially independent permit” to reside permanently in SA five years ago.
She demonstrated to the DHA twice that her net assets far exceed the required R12 million threshold and appealed two DHA rejections, yet was rejected twice over a period of three years.
During this period, she maintained long-term temporary residency in South Africa on a four-year ‘retired person’s visa’ while awaiting the adjudication of her permanent residence appeal.
Another rejection followed, this time of her application to renew her retired persons (RP) visa. Van Zyl notes that the rejection came as a surprise, particularly given that she had previously been granted an RP visa.
A more efficient and transparent visa system will ultimately benefit all parties concerned, but until then legal intervention is a necessary safeguard in certain instances, especially where legacy backlogs are involved, says Van Zyl.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
