New deal for children with foreign parents born in South Africa
The Constitutional Court recently ruled that children born in South Africa to foreign parents qualify for South African citizenship in terms of Section 2 of the South African Citizenship Act. That is, if you were born in South Africa to foreign parents who have not been admitted as permanent residents, you qualify to apply for […]
RECTIFICATION AND TRANSFER OF VISAS
Information published on the VFS website has introduced significant changes with regard to rectification and transfer of visas. The validity period of your visa is now subject to the validity period of your passport. The Department of Home Affairs initially issued visas for the duration requested or the maximum period provided by law for the […]
DUAL CITIZENS: DON’T RISK LOSING YOUR SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENSHIP!
You are a South African citizen. You decide to acquire dual citizenship. Your reasons for doing so are irrelevant – perhaps you are living/working overseas, perhaps you want a second passport just to make travelling easier, perhaps you have financial reasons. What is relevant is that you risk losing your South African citizenship. You are […]
IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS: TWO REQUIREMENTS POSTPONED, BUT APPLY NOW
Home Affairs have announced a postponement to 1 June 2015 of two of the new rules relating to children, namely the Unabridged Birth Certificate requirement and the requirement for written permission from both parents/guardians authorising a child’s travel. With reports of major delays in the Home Affairs system, if you don’t have Unabridged Birth Certificates […]
IMMIGRANTS, VISITORS AND PARENTS: NEW TRAVELLING RULES, NEW RISKS
Extensive media coverage of the new Immigration Regulations suggests that they are very likely to be challenged in the courts as unworkable and unconstitutional, but bear in mind that in the interim they remain in force and you are going to have problems if you don’t comply with them. The risks of non-compliance The Regulations […]
IMMIGRATION: YOUR BILL FOR THE NEW LAW
The new Immigration Regulations were gazetted on 22 May and came into effect on 26 May 2014. You’ve no doubt heard about some of the changes; children have to have their own passports, people with visas can’t change their status without leaving the country and the exceedingly strict new rules pertaining to work visas and […]
RUNNING AWAY TO JOIN THE CIRCUS
Recent regulations framed to give effect to the Immigration Amendment Acts, have many South Africans wondering whether someone dozed off and misunderstood what Mr Frost was really talking about when he said “Good fences make good neighbours.” Being the “gateway to Africa” comes not just with trade benefits and prestige, but also with duties and […]