2014

Important notice to clients: warning to all clients who have applied for extension or variation of existing permits and have not received timeous outcomes.

With immediate effect we advise all clients, who have pending applications which have not been finalised, not to travel out of South Africa without first consulting our office as to the potential consequences of travelling as a visa “overstayer”, due to changes which came into effect last week. If you are unsure of your situation email us at enquiries@immigration.org.za.

MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS PUBLISHES THE CRITICAL SKILLS VISA LIST AND RELEVANT DIRECTIVE TO CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF VISAS.

The Minister of Home Affairs has under government gazette nr 37716 on the 3rd of June, becoming available on the 4th of June 2014 published the critical skills visa list setting out the trades, professions and occupations which will enable and empower foreign national applicants to apply for a critical skills visa.

The criteria remain much the same as the previous quota category of work permit, in other words an applicant who qualifies in terms of skills qualification in one of the categories will still have to provide, in addition to the normal and usual forms and documents which have to be provided, […]

BREAKING NEWS ALERT May 2014
This alert applies to all foreign nationals applying for visas or permits of any description in South Africa after Monday the 26^th of May 2014.

The Minister of Home Affairs has on Thursday the 22^nd May signed the Immigration Regulations which will empower the Immigration Amendment Act 13 of 2011 to come into operation on the Monday the 26^th May.

It is important for clients to note, as we have been advising them for some time, that the Immigration Amendment Act and new regulations would be published “shortly”.

The Department of Home Affairs has kept the content of the regulations very much close to their chests, despite allowing a comment period on first draft of the regulations.

The new regulations have been published under Government Gazette nr 37679 and have only become readily available on Friday the 23^rd May.

Whilst there may be transitional arrangements in the pipeline, all applications that have not yet been lodged by the date of implementation of the new regulations, will have to be ostensibly dealt with under the new regulations.

There are some substantial changes and whilst we have dispatched newsletters to our clients and subscribers as to what these would probably be, our first […]

RE: UPDATE FEBRUARY 2014 – DRAFT IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS PUBLISHED BY THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS.

On Friday the 14th February the Minister of Home Affairs published the Draft Immigration Regulations and Forms under Government Gazette in order to secure public comment by the 28th of February 2014.

This is a rather short period within which to comment on highly technical regulations but the Law Society of South Africa and its statutory provincial law societies are currently engaged in drafting input in this regard.

The purpose of this update is not just to inform you about the above but also to issue an advisory at this stage regarding certain aspects of the draft regulations which, when finalized, will enable the Immigration Amendment Act 13 of 2011 to come into operation.

Speculation as to when this will happen is difficult to predict at this time but for all intents and purposes we have to assume that it would be sooner rather than later and by this we mean within the next 2 to 3 months.

The advisory to clients is premised upon the fact that applications which are lodged before the implementation date of the Amendment Act, must in terms of transitional provisions in the principle Act, […]