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Wow - where does one begin? This year has certainly flown by. 2024 has been an interesting year - a year of testing every bit of our patience, fibers, beings and the list can go on. It certainly took a right and a big left afterwards with so many unexpected turns - both negative and positive. A positive that the decade long backlog is almost cleared and a negative because of the high number of rejections issued. Once again, congratulations to those who received their temporary residence visas and permanent residence statuses in South Africa. To those who were not so lucky or are still waiting, I know it's hard but hang in there - things will work out in the end. A massive thank you to each and every client and supporter for your wonderful support during 2024 and I look forward to continuing our journey in 2025. I would like to wish each and every one, who celebrate, a wonderful Christmas and festive season. Enjoy the time with family and friends and as always, enjoy making these precious memories. If you are travelling, please do so safely and we'll continue our journey in 2025!

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, once again, extended the blanket waiver to applicants who are currently awaiting the outcomes of their submitted long-term visa, appeal or waiver applications. Applicants who submitted their long-term visa, waiver or appeal applications prior to 18 December 2024, are now covered until 31 March 2025. This means applicants may travel, if required, from South Africa between now until 31 March 2025 on expired visas without being declared undesirable. They will be required, however, to present their original VFS receipts upon their departure from and entry into South Africa. Visa exempt nationals may simply enter South Africa again on their usual 30-90 day visas to collect the outcomes of their visa applications. However, unfortunately for nationals from visa-restricted countries, this is not the case. They must apply for and obtain a port of entry visa in order to be re-admitted into South Africa. Appeal applicants, if travelling, are required to produce a copy of the rejection letter, together with their original VFS receipt as proof that the appeal application was submitted legally at the VFS office. Holders of short-term visas (tourist visas) for 90 days or less, since 01 October 2024, are also covered under the blanket extension of 90 days up to and including 31 March 2025 - provided that the cumulative duration of stay from the date of initial entry until the date of leaving South Africa does not exceed 180 days. These tourist visa holders must be allowed to leave South Africa and re-enter up to and including 31 March 2025 without being declared undesirable by immigration or border control. To reiterate - applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what is stipulated on the current visas. It is important to note that this blanket waiver ONLY covers applicants who submitted their visa, appeal and waiver applications within South Africa prior to 30 November 2024 and who have been legally admitted into the country. Please feel free to reach out to us via our contact form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com  to discuss. Alternatively, you may contact us on +2773 5357 534 or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) announced that it is extending the Lesotho Exemption Permits (current permit holders) for a further twelve (12) months until 28 November 2025. The exemption permit holders will be allowed travels between South Africa and any other country. We urge all LEP holders to carry a copy of the Gazetted notification regarding this extension with their passports. Should you require any further information regarding this announcement, please contact us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com .  Alternatively, please contact us on +2773 5357 534 or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com

Please note that the following VFS DHA offices will be open on 07 December 2024 to accept walk-in Submissions and Collections from 08h00 – 15h00: Johannesburg Pretoria Durban Cape Town This is to ease the pressure on timing of submitting urgent applications, but also to alleviate the pressure on waiting times during the week due to long queues. We plead to applicants / collectors to make use of this opportunity made available by the VFS DHA team!

Great news for applicants needing to submit their appeal applications during this time! Due to the ongoing struggles to secure a VFS appointment within the 10-working day appeal submission period AND submitting the application within the same timeframe, the Director-General decided to allow applicants to submit their respective appeal applications on the VFS online portal, book their appointments and subsequently submit their applications on an available date on the VFS appointment calendar. This means that applicants, who are only able to secure an appointment slot after the 10 working days, are able to still submit their applications, but MUST do so before 31 March 2025 - the only acceptable timeframe as determined by the Director-General. Per instruction from Home Affairs, VFS needs to ensure that each application for appeal must include proof that the online booking was made, within the required 10 working days, counting from the date that the rejection letter was collected from the VFS office. This news certainly comes as a great relief to individuals who need to queue for hours at the VFS office and needing to submit their application as a walk-in applicant. Home Affairs has cautioned that this circular is only but a temporary measure to ease the pressure on applicants needing to appeal and that this measure is only valid until 31 March 2025. Should you require any additional information about this newly published circular or appeal submission arrangements, do not hesitate to contact us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com . Alternatively, we may be reached on sue@movingsouthimmigration.com or +2773 5357 534. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) announced that it is extending the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (current permit holders) for a further twelve (12) months until 28 November 2025. This is indeed good news to ZEP holders who have applied for but have not received their waiver outcomes in order to apply for their respective general work visas. The exemption permit holders will be allowed travels between South Africa and any other country. Should you require any further information regarding this announcement, please contact us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com .  Alternatively, please contact us on +2773 5357 534 or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com

In terms of Section 31(2)(c) of the South African Immigration Act, the Minister of Home Affairs, for good cause, may waive any prescribed requirement or form in terms of visa or permanent residence permit applications. By considering this, Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs approved a waiver of the requirement of the Certificate of Recommendation by the Department of Employment and Labour for a general work visa - with condition that this application be adjudicated in terms of the Point-Based System which was implemented on 08 October 2024. This means that applicants are no longer required to submit a Labour Recommendation, nor do they need to apply for a separate waiver to have this requirement waived. In addition, Minister Schreiber also partially waived the requirements in terms of Regulations 18 (3) (b) for general work visas, which in turn is the requirement of a SAQA evaluation certificate. Partial refers to the condition that provided that in a case where the outcome of the SAQA evaluation is not readily available at the time of the submission of a general work visa application, proof of an application submitted to SAQA must be included in the application and if successful, the general work visa will only be issued for a period of twelve (12) months. In the case of submission of the actual SAQA evaluation certificate, the visa will be issued for a period not exceeding five (5) years. To confirm, the SAQA requirement is the process where foreign qualifications must be evaluated by the South African Qualifications Authority and to South Africa's nearest NQF level. All applicants wishing to apply for general work visas must ensure they adhere to the Point Based System and must ensure they reach the 100-point threshold through a combination of points other than through an occupation listed on the critical skills list. They also need to ensure all other prescribed requirements are met. Should you require any additional information regarding this waiver topic, you may reach out to us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com . Alternatively, we may be reached on sue@movingsouthimmigration.com or +2773 5357 534.

Do you wish to retire in beautiful South Africa? If your answer is yes, you may look at the option of applying for a retired visa. A retired visa application may be submitted if you are of retirement age (although there is no current age restriction at hand) and can prove that you have the right to a pension or irrevocable annuity or retirement in the amount of at least ZAR 37 000 per month. You may also submit proof that you have the right to a minimum prescribed net worth of this amount per month. Some of the quintessential documents to be submitted with a retirement visa application are - A confirmation from the pension authorities that you are entitled to a monthly pension of at least ZAR 37 000 per month; or If based on assets being leased - a lease or tenancy agreement, proving that you receive a monthly rental of at least ZAR 37 000 per month Proof of ownership of the property being leased Bank statements, in your name, for the last 3 months proving that you are receiving the monthly ZAR 37 000 via means above Another inconsistent  requirement amongst Embassies is that a Chartered Accountant (CA) must confirm this income per month as well. In regard to the minimum net worth option, proof of a lump sum in cash form may also be submitted at Embassies accepting this requirement. This means, proof that you have cash available for the full duration of the retirement visa (4 years) may be submitted by means of bank statements. You may also look at the option of permanent residency (PR) based on retirement, so you can enjoy this magnificent country all year round. Should you wish to receive more information on this wonderful opportunity of retirement in sunny South Africa, you may reach out to us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com . Alternatively, we may be reached on +2773 5357 534 or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com

On 01 September 2022, the Department of Home Affairs issued a blanket waiver until 31 March 2023 to those individuals who submitted their visa and waiver applications - enabling them to remain in South Africa whilst waiting for their outcomes. The blanket waiver also covered those who wished to travel out of South Africa without being declared undesirable. Sadly, and as we are approaching the end of the validity of this blanket waiver, we have not yet received a confirmation whether the waiver will be extended or not. It would be absolutely disastrous if the waiver is not extended as it is clear the backlog will not be sorted before 31 March 2023. However, it remains the prerogative of the Department on whether they will extend the blanket waiver or not. We are aware that this leaves applicants stuck between a rock and a hard place on whether they need to leave South Africa or not, however, we endeavour to update you as soon as we can. Should you have any pending questions on the process, please contact us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com. Alternatively, we can be contacted via +2773 5357 534, WhatsApp on the same number or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com

On 29 August 2024, Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, announced that outcomes of waiver applications for ZEP holders will be sent via email to applicants. This decision is effective immediately and these outcomes will typically be sent from the following email addresses - No-reply1.dhasa@vfshelpline.com No-reply2.dhasa@vfshelpline.com No-reply3.dhasa@vfshelpline.com No-reply4.dhasa@vfshelpline.com No-reply5.dhasa@vfshelpline.com No-reply6.dhasa@vfshelpline.com This wonderful news indeed follows the Minister's promise to start digitalizing the Department's processes, ensuring more efficiency within the office. It is the Department's intention to extend this outcome receipt method to other visa and permit applicants. Dr Schreiber indicated in his statement that through this digital change, a massive number of 60 582 outstanding ZEP waiver applications have been processed thus far. Another 22 529 ZEP waiver applications are set to be processed soon. Applicants are no longer required to visit their VFS submission office to collect the original waiver outcomes. As per confirmation from Dr Schreiber, these digital letters, if successful, can be used to submit a mainstream visa application going forward. Should applicants still be doubtful, they would still be able to collect their original ZEP waiver letters at their relevant VFS offices of submission though. Should you require any further information regarding this new digitalization process or have any other visa related questions, please reach out to us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com . Alternatively, you can contact us on +2773 5357 534 or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com . We look forward to hearing from you.

On 01 December 2023, the Department of Home Affairs issued a statement announcing the extension of ZEP / LEP holders (current permit holders) for a further two years until 29 November 2025. This certainly comes as a big surprise to all stakeholders involved and whilst it's a relief to current ZEP and LEP holders who may not qualify for mainstream visas, it is also disappointing to hear that neither exemption still does not offer permanent residence in South Africa. The exemption permit holders will be allowed travels between South Africa and any other country. More importantly, the holder of an exemption permit cannot change his or her status within South Africa during the validity of the permit issued. The Minister issued directives extending the validity of the exemption permits until 31 December 2024 and these directives will be published in the Government Gazette on Monday, 04 December 2023. Individuals who applied previously for waivers and visa applications do not have to apply for new exemption permits as the validity of their expired exemption permits has been extended. Those who did not yet apply for waivers or visa applications are invited to apply for their new exemption permits through the VFS office - who in turn were instructed to fast track the application process. Should you require any further information regarding this announcement, please contact us via our Contact Form on www.movingsouthimmigration.com. Alternatively, please contact us on +2773 5357 534 or sue@movingsouthimmigration.com

It is with the utmost gratitude to announce that Moving South Immigration is celebrating its first birthday! The last year has been one of happiness, anxiety, uncertainty, excitement, hard work and everything you can possibly imagine when starting a new business. We wish to thank everyone for the support and the encouraging words thus far and we look forward to walking this journey with you.