The Constitutional Court recently handed down judgment in the matter of Ahmed and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Another. This matter was heard by the Constitutional Court after an application for leave to appeal against an order of the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The matter revolves around the rights of asylum seekers and refugees to submit applications for temporary residence visas or permanent residence permits under the Immigration Act from within South Africa, and without having to return to their country of origin.

The Constitutional Court found as follows:

1. That holders of asylum seeker permits and refugees may apply for any category of permanent residence from within South Africa provided that they meet the criteria.
2. That such persons may also apply for temporary residence visas from within South Africa provided that they meet the criteria, but in order to do so they must first apply for and obtain an exemption from the requirement that that they must return to their home country in order to submit the application.

The next step before being able to proceed with any applications on the basis of the above judgement is to wait for the Department of Home Affairs to issue a Directive with regards to how this judgement will be applied in practice.