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Home Affairs

Foreign permit process to be fast tracked

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:45

Foreign nationals applying for extensions for their individual permits will from now on only have to wait 48 hours for these extensions to be processed by Home Affairs.

This will extend to all permits except Intra-Company Transfer Permits, according to the department’s Director General Mkuseli Apleni.

“By granting extensions with the 48 hours, the applicants will be able to travel, work, study and conduct businesses as stated in the initial terms and conditions of the permit they seek to extend.”

Previously, those who were waiting for their permits to be extended were granted a Form 20 while they waited. This effectively legalised their stay in the country but did not allow them to work, study, travel, or conduct any business.

With the new directive the Form 20 has been done away with, said Apleni.

Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said she had given the directive as a further demonstration that both the department and government were committed to providing quality service delivery to all citizens and visitors to the country

The directive also follows closely on measures introduced to centralise the issuing and extension of all permits in order to ease the backlog of about 13 000 applications.

“We are confident that the journey we have embarked on will be a further boost to government’s new growth path to address the pressing matters of job creation, the attraction of scarce skills and overall socio-economic growth,” the minister said.

In terms of the regularisation of Zimbabwean nationals, Apleni reiterated that the 31 December deadline would not be extended.

Any application received after 31 December would not be processed, he warned.

“We assure all Zimbabweans who have met this deadline that they will not risk deportation or any other penalties while their applications are being processed,” Apleni said.

The department has so far received applications about 70 000 applications from Zimbabwean nationals who wanted to regularise their stay in South Africa. Approximately 30 000 of these applications were still being processed.

Apleni said about 2000 Zimbabwean nationals had been granted amnesty after handing in fraudulent documents. BuaNews edited by the Skills Portal