Whilst the Department of Home Affairs have made excellent progress in eliminating the backlog of visa applications there is still a significant backlog in the Waiver applications and Appeal applications. There was a previous concession that applied to such applications which then expired on the 26^th September 2025.

Due to the persistent backlog in the above two categories the Department of Home Affairs issued Immigration Directive No. 4 of 2025. This Directive is of particular application to the following:

1. Applicants whose Waiver applications are still pending:

Applicants whose waiver application is still pending as at the date of this Directive, are granted a further temporary extension until 31 March 2026, to enable the Department to process the applications, as well as to allow for applicants to collect their outcomes and submit applications for the appropriate visas.

The waiver applicant who needs to travel but is awaiting the outcome of a waiver application should be allowed to depart and re-enter the Republic at a port of entry up to and including 31 March 2026 without being declared undesirable.

2. Applicants whose Appeal applications are still pending

Long-term visa applicants who have appealed a negative decision on an application for a long- term visa as contemplated in terms of section 11(1)(b) up to and including sections 20 and 22 of the Immigration Act are granted a temporary extension of their current visa status until 31 March 2026. Applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what the visa conditions provide for.

Long-term visa applicants who have appealed a negative decision on an application for a long- term visa who need to travel but are awaiting the outcome of an appeal application for a long- term visa, should be allowed to depart from the Republic and re-enter up to and including 31 March 2026, without being declared undesirable.

All visa appeal applicants are required to produce a copy of the rejection letter, together with a receipt and/or confirmation indicating that such a person has submitted an appeal application, on departure from and re-entry into the Republic. Non-visa exempt appeal applicants who travel out of the country with an appeal application receipt and/or confirmation, are required to apply for a port of entry visa, which would allow them re-entry into the Republic.

The above temporary measures will apply only to those foreigners who have been legally admitted into the Republic. This concession is also only applicable to applicants who have submitted an application via VFS Global and who can produce a verifiable receipt for such application against the VFS Global tracking system.