Home Affairs Extends Blanket Waiver for Visa Applicants for 15 months

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Overview of the newly issued blanket waiver:

In a surprising turn, the Department of Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, extended the current blanket waiver for certain pending applications effective from 01 April 2026 until 30 June 2027 - a full 15 months as opposed to the usual 3–6-month extensions. The blanket waiver covers applicants with pending waiver as well as long-term visa appeal applications. Sadly, pending tourist visa applications are excluded from this concession. In addition to the above, it is crucial to note that applicants with pending tourist visa appeal applications have until 30 April 2026 to depart from the Republic - if they have not received their appeal outcomes.

The newly extended blanket waiver also welcomes back pending long-term visa applications, which was disastrously omitted in Immigration Directive 22 of 2025, leaving visa applicants stranded and mostly unable to travel out of the Republic on their VFS receipts.

According to Minister Schreiber, the extension of this blanket waiver and the longer duration thereof is due to the fact that the Department focused its efforts more towards building the Electronic Travel Authorization ("ETA") system and therefore pending applications did not enjoy the same focus and attention as before.

Pending Visa, Waiver and Appeal applications:

Applicants who submitted their long-term visa, waiver or long-term visa appeal applications prior to 30 March 2026 are now covered until 30 June 2027. This extension allows applicants to travel, if necessary, from South Africa between now and 30 June 2027 on expired visas without being declared undesirable. However, they must present their original VFS receipts upon their departure from and entry into South Africa. In addition to the original VFS receipt, appeal applicants must produce a copy of their rejection letter upon departure from South Africa.

Visa-exempt nationals may enter South Africa again on their usual 30-90 day visas to collect the outcomes of their waiver or appeal applications. Unfortunately, nationals from visa-restricted countries face a different situation. They must apply for and obtain a port of entry visa to be re-admitted into South Africa.

Applicants are not allowed to engage in ANY activity other than what the current visa conditions provide for.

This waiver does not cover pending permanent residence applications and therefore it is essential for applicants, currently residing within South Africa, to ensure that they remain on a valid temporary residence visa whilst their permanent residence applications are pending.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the extension of the blanket waiver provides some much needed and sought after relief for applicants awaiting outcomes on their waiver, visa and appeal applications and who are scheduled to travel for the upcoming Easter holidays.

If you have questions or need assistance navigating the immigration process, please feel free to reach out to us via our contact form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com. Alternatively, you may contact us at +2773 5357 534 or via email at sue@movingsouthimmigration.com.