Individuals who are waiting for the outcomes of their waiver applications or have pending visas have been granted another extension.

The previous deadline was set to end in March 2023.

However, today, the government has extended the deadline to 31 December 2023, providing an additional nine months. This is significant news for those affected by the visa backlog.

You can download the PDF of this announcement here.

Home Affairs has left this update to the last minute, but we are regardless glad that an extension has been granted.

For those with waiver applications in process, your visas have been extended to 31 December 2023 to allow time for outcomes to be issued and the application for visas to occur. You may leave and re-enter South Africa during this time if you are visa-exempt, alternatively you will require a Tourist Visa.

Long-term visa holders who are part of the over 62 000 visa backlog and whose visa extensions were submitted on or before 31 March have now been extended to 31 December.

For people with a short term stay (90 days or less) in South Africa, who have applied for an extension of that status, the concession has changed and is only in place until 30 April 2023.

This means that if an outcome is not received by 30 April 2023, we recommend that you make arrangements to leave South Africa on or before that date.

If you do not make arrangements to leave, you would need to remain in South Africa until the application is processed. However, deciding to stay in South Africa carries the following risks: If your application is not processed by the date until which you had requested the extension, once you leave South Africa you could be declared undesirable. If you stay longer, you may receive a visa outcome that has already expired, and could also be declared undesirable.

The wording regarding concessions in paragraph 3 is also narrow and does not cater for long-term visa holders who apply after 31 March and their visas expire before 31 December.

Since we have many questions for the DHA, we will continue to update this post with our latest updates and explanations.

Disclaimer: At IBN Immigration Solutions, we believe in transparency and abide by Google’s rules. Please note that we are a privately-owned immigration practice and fully comply with the Immigration Act of South Africa, with registration number 1998/008448/07. We offer our expertise in successfully applying for temporary and permanent residency services, for which we charge a fee. While forms required for the process can be obtained for free at any Department of Home Affairs office, we provide them as part of our service. It’s important to note that we are not affiliated with the South African Government, but we do provide a valuable service to those seeking to immigrate to South Africa. Users who prefer to deal directly with the Department of Home Affairs can contact them at http://www.dha.gov.za/