06 Mar Home Affairs’ Five-Point Immigration Plan
With five immigration service targets for 2025 being announced by Minister Leon Schreiber in November 2024, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) aims to have South Africa become a country of choice for business. The targets are to conduct proper inspections in high-priority areas and deal with visa applications in a timely fashion.
The five goals are:
1. Applications for permanent residence: The DHA is proposing to adjudicate 85% of applications for permanent residence by business visa and general work holders, along with critical skills, within a time frame of eight months. At present, the process is taking approximately eight months to two years.
2. Critical skills visa applications: The intention is to process 95% of critical skills visa applications submitted in South Africa within four weeks, a significant improvement from the current maximum of up to one year.
3. Business visa applications: The DHA aims to adjudicate 90% of business visa applications submitted in South Africa within eight weeks, which will be an improvement from the current maximum of up to a year.
4. General work visa applications: Similar to business visas, the target is to process 90% of general work visa applications within eight weeks, reducing the existing wait of up to one year.
5. Inspections: 2,000 law enforcement operations will be conducted in high-risk settings like spaza shops, transport and logistics businesses, farms, mines, and restaurants to compel compliance with the Immigration Act of 2002.
What the Objections Strive For
These objectives strive to remove the massive visa and inspection backlogs that have caused delays in foreign nationals’ working and legal status in South Africa. The Daily Maverick investigated this issue a while back and stated that in clearing 70% of all pending misconduct and 80% of suspected cases of fraud and corruption within 90 working days, the DHA is attempting to accelerate disciplinary action.
Although these objectives are credited with reducing immigration and fostering economic growth, their success relies on the enforcement and the DHA’s ability to handle the number of applications that are expected.
June Luna, of June Luna Immigration Attorneys, shared her perspective on the implementation of the five-point plan:
“Although I was hesitant about the five-point plan when it was revealed, the GNU and the Department of Home Affairs seem to be following through on it. For example, we have seen an amazingly fast response to visa processing. I have also seen many news articles about the accountability of home affairs officials – including lifestyle audits and auditing of bank accounts to root out corruption,” Luna stated.
She also acknowledges that it is not going to be an overnight fix to remedy the problems with the DHA but emphasizes that the department is on the right path to a more effective system. “From my perspective, I am seeing confidence in the department which is shown by more foreigners reaching out to me requesting more information on visas for South Africa – showing their confidence in the country and the immigration process”, Luna concludes.
To learn more about the five-point immigration plan or other immigration services that you may require, contact June Luna Immigration Attorneys today.