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LATEST NEWS UPDATE
Smart ID access more than doubles as Home Affairs expands Digital Partnership with Absa
Created on 22 July, 2026
South Africans now have two-and-a-half times more places to apply for a Smart ID Card than they did just four and a half months ago, after the Department of Home Affairs today expanded its Digital Par...

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Keynote Address by Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, at Xpatweb Annual Global Mobility Conference
Created on 21 July, 2026
Programme Director, Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director of Xpatweb, Representatives from business, industry and the immigration profession, Members of the diplomatic corps, Distinguished guests, Ladi...

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Home Affairs launches digitalised Trusted Employer Scheme Phase II to cut red tape, attract investment, and create jobs
Created on 20 July, 2026
The Department of Home Affairs has today gazetted the launch of Phase II of its highly successful Trusted Employer Scheme (TES), marking another major step in modernising South Africa's immigration sy...

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Home Affairs reminds the public of the deadline for the registration of customary marriages
Created on 16 July, 2026
The Department of Home Affairs reminds members of the public that 31 August 2026 is the deadline to register qualifying customary marriages under the special registration period declared by the Minist...

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Home Affairs expands Digital Partnership as Absa goes live with Smart ID applications
Created on 15 July, 2026
The Department of Home Affairs today announced another major milestone in our groundbreaking Digital Partnership with the banking sector as Absa went live with digital Smart ID applications, becoming ...

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Minister Schreiber welcomes arrest as anti-corruption crackdown gathers pace
Created on 10 July, 2026
The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, has welcomed the arrest of a Border Management Authority (BMA) official as part of the ongoing campaign to root out corruption across the Home Affairs ...

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MEDIA ADVISORY: Ms Ndileka Cola appointed Chief Director of Communications for the Department of Home Affairs
Created on 10 July, 2026
The Department of Home Affairs is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Ndileka Cola as the Chief Director of Communications. Ms Cola officially assumed her duties on 01 July 2026, marking a signi...

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Reforms at the Refugee Appeals Authority deliver biggest reduction in refugee appeals backlog in years
Created on 09 July, 2026
The Department of Home Affairs has achieved the biggest reduction in South Africa's refugee appeals backlog in years following a series of reforms at the Refugee Appeals Authority of South Africa (RAA...

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Home Affairs Notes Constitutional Court Judgment on Refugees Act
Created on 07 July, 2026
The Department of Home Affairs notes the judgment handed down today by the Constitutional Court in the matter between the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town and the Minister of Home Affairs. The case conc...

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Immigration Services

1. I, Dr L A Schreiber, MP, Minister of Home Affairs, with the powers vested in me in terms of section 31(2)(c) of the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of 2002) (Immigration Act), and in an attempt to assist passengers and crew of airlines who are affected by airspace closures in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Qatar, Bahrein, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Oman due to military strikes in the Middle East and the Gulf region have made the following temporary concessions:

  1. Passengers and crew of airlines who are affected by airspace closures, whose long-terms visas are due to expire up until 31 March 2026 and who are able to meet all the prescribed requirements, be allowed to apply for visitor’s visas as contemplated in section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, on or before the expiry of the current visa. No change of status or conditions will be allowed.
  2. Visitor’s visas: Passengers and crew of airlines who are affected by airspace closures, whose visitors’ visas have reached their maximum validity period and are technically not renewable in terms of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, will be allowed to apply for the same visa with the same conditions for a period not exceeding three months. No change of status or conditions will be allowed.c) Insofar as passengers and crew of airlines who are affected by airspace closures, whose temporary residence visas have expired, are allowed to submit renewal applications for their visas without the need to first obtain a FORM 20 (Authorisation for an illegal foreigner to remain in the country pending an application for status).
  3. Any passenger or crew member of an airline who is affected by airspace closures and who has an application pending for adjudication and may be able to board a flight once available, should not be declared an undesirable person for having overstayed the validity of his or her visa.
  4. Any passenger or crew member of an airline who is affected by airspace closures, who was unable to depart on time and was declared undesirable on departure dating from 26 February 2026 due to circumstances influenced by the closure of airspace, may submit an appeal accompanied by reasonable evidence to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

2. This temporary visa concession is applicable only to passengers and crew of airlines who are affected by airspace closures and who were legally admitted into South Africa through a port of entry, and will apply until 31 May 2026 or until the date of declaration of a ceasefire that reopens travel in the affected region, whichever comes first.

 

DR L.A. SCHREIBER, MP

MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS