IMMIGRATION DIRECTIVE EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY CONCESSION FOR ALL FOREIGN NATIONALS ZEP
Enquiries: mandla.madumisa@dha.gov.za
TO: ALL OFFICIALS OF THE DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & COOPERATION
BORDER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
VFS GLOBAL
IMMIGRATION DIRECTIVE NO. 7 OF 2026
EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY CONCESSION FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS RELATED TO
DELAYED PROCESSING OF WAIVER, VISA AND APPEAL APPLICATIONS
1. The Department of Home Affairs (“Department”) has, since issuing Immigration Directive
No. 22 of 2025, made significant progress in addressing historic backlogs in its visa and
permit regime.
2. The Department has focused its efforts on building the innovative Electronic Travel
Authorisation (“ETA”) system, which has already been launched to a limited audience, and
it’s envisaged to migrate its operations to this platform in the near future to improve
efficiencies. The Department recognises South Africa is a popular destination of choice for
many. Given this high interest and the interventions of the Department to cleanse the
stigma of corruption in this area, not all applications submitted to the Department have
been able to be finalised timeously. This includes waiver, visa and appeal applications.
3. The following temporary measures will therefore apply with effect from 01 April 2026:
3.1 APPLICANTS WHOSE WAIVER APPLICATION OUTCOMES ARE STILL PENDING
3.1.1 3.1.2 Visa holders who have applied for a waiver and whose waiver application is still pending
as at the date of signature of this Directive, are granted a further temporary extension until
30 June 2027 to enable the Department to process the applications, allow applicants to
collect their outcomes and if successful, subsequently submit applications for appropriate
visas.
Those applicants who wish to abandon their waiver applications and depart from the
Republic of South Africa (“Republic”), will be allowed to depart from the Republic at a port
IMMIGRATION DIRECTIVE NO. 7 OF 2026
EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY CONCESSION FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS RELATED TO
DEALAYED PROCESSING OF WAIVER, VISA AND APPEAL APPLICATIONS
of entry on or before 30 June 2027, without being declared undesirable in terms of section
30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of 2002) (“Immigration Act”), read with
regulation 27(3) of Immigration Regulations, 2014 (“Immigration Regulations”). A visa
holder who needs to travel, but is still awaiting the outcome of a waiver application, will be
allowed to depart from and re-enter the Republic at a port of entry up to and including 30
June 2027 without being declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of Immigration
Act, read with regulation 27(3) of Immigration Regulations.
3.1.3 However, applicants from countries that are not visa exempt and who wish to depart from
the Republic with a waiver application receipt, are required to apply for a port of entry visa
before returning to the Republic in order to facilitate their re-entry into the Republic at a
port of entry.
3.2 APPLICANTS WHOSE VISA APPLICATION OUTCOMES ARE STILL PENDING
3.2.1 Visa holders who have applied for long-term visas in terms of sections 11(1)(b) to 20,
including section 22, of the Immigration Act, who are still awaiting the outcome of their
applications as at the date of signature of this Directive, are granted a further temporary
extension of their current visa status until 30 June 2027. Applicants are not allowed to
engage in any activity other than what the current visa conditions provide for.
3.2.2 Visa holders who need to travel, but are still awaiting the outcome of their long-term visa
application, will be allowed to depart from and re-enter the Republic at a port of entry up
to and including 30 June 2027 without being declared undesirable in terms of section
30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations.
3.2.3 However, applicants from countries that are not visa exempt and who wish to depart from
the Republic with a long-term visa application receipt, are required to apply for a port of
entry visa before returning to the Republic in order to facilitate their re-entry into the
Republic at a port of entry.
3.3 APPLICANTS WHOSE APPEAL APPLICATION OUTCOMES ARE STILL PENDING
3.3.1 Visa holders who have, in terms of section 8(4) or (6) of the Immigration Act, appealed a
negative decision on an application submitted for a long-term visa in sections 11(1)(b) to
2IMMIGRATION DIRECTIVE NO. 7 OF 2026
EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY CONCESSION FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS RELATED TO
DEALAYED PROCESSING OF WAIVER, VISA AND APPEAL APPLICATIONS
20, including section 22, of the Immigration Act, who are still awaiting the outcome of their
appeal applications as at the date of signature of this Directive, are granted a further
temporary extension of their current visa status until 30 June 2027. Applicants are not
allowed to engage in any activity other than what the current visa conditions provide for.
3.3.2 Visa appeal applicants who need to travel, but are still awaiting the outcome of an appeal
application for a long-term visa, will be allowed to depart from and re-enter the Republic
at a port of entry up to and including 30 June 2027, without being declared undesirable in
terms of section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act, read with regulation 27(3) of the
Immigration Regulations.
3.3.3 All appeal applicants are required to produce a copy of the rejection letter, together with
a receipt and/or confirmation indicating that he or she has submitted an appeal application,
on departure from or re-entry into the Republic, as the case may be, at a port of entry.
Applicants from countries that are not visa exempt who wish to depart from the Republic
at a port of entry, must do so being in possession of an appeal application receipt and/or
confirmation, and are required to apply for a port of entry visa before returning to the
Republic in order to facilitate their re-entry into the Republic at a port of entry.
4. The above temporary measures will apply only to those foreign nationals who have been
legally admitted into the Republic. This Directive 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.
5. Applicants awaiting the outcome on an application for a permanent residence permit are
required to ensure that their residential status in the Republic remains valid at all times
while awaiting such outcome. Therefore, the above temporary measures are not
applicable to applicants who have submitted applications for permanent residence
permits.
3IMMIGRATION DIRECTIVE NO. 7 OF 2026
EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY CONCESSION FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS RELATED TO
DEALAYED PROCESSING OF WAIVER, VISA AND APPEAL APPLICATIONS
EXCLUSION
6. Applicants with pending appeal applications relating to a rejection of an application for the
renewal of a visitor’s visa submitted in terms of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, where
such appeal has been pending for longer than 3 (three) months, are excluded from this
concession. Such applicants are required to depart the Republic at a port of entry on or before
30 April 2026 and will not be declared undesirable in terms of section 30(1)(h) of the
Immigration Act, read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations. The outcome of
the appeal will be communicated to the applicant via the online portal through which the
application is tracked.
7. The concessions under this Directive cease immediately upon receipt of outcomes, and
applicants must comply with the conditions of their decisions forthwith.
DR L A SCHREIBER, MP
MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
DATE: 30 March 2026