Immigrants take on Home Affairs over regulations

According to a report in The Times, they claim, in a 48-page document, that the department has failed to process and determine various applications for permits within a 'reasonable or lawful' time period. Another set of applicants, who have been granted permits, are seeking payment of repatriation deposits, which are equivalent to the price of a flight back to their home country. According to the papers before the Western Cape High Court, the applicants have become 'increasingly frustrated' with the service rendered by the department, which, they say, has led to 'serious ramifications' in light of new immigration laws. 'When (the department) fails to adjudicate permit applications timeously or lawfully, the result is that the foreign national concerned becomes an illegal foreigner, unable to work, study, access medical or banking services, and vulnerable - inter alia - to arrest, detention and deportation,' the immigrants say. In terms of the law, a foreigner may not apply for new visa documents from SA but needs to do so from his or her home country. And foreigners who did not leave SA before the new regulations came into force are at risk of being declared undesirable persons, for between one and five years, and being banned from the country. One of the case studies is support of the urgent application is that of a Canadian family forced to return home after their two children, aged 19 months and five years, were declared undesirable. Stuart James, an immigration expert from Intergate Immigration, the organisation behind the court case, said it was receiving 'literally thousands of calls and e-mails' each week from confused immigrants or prospective immigrants. Full report in The Times

A different aspect of the regulations is taken up in a report on the News24 site quoting tourism industry experts. It notes the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) has raised its concern that the new laws will hamper travel and tourism, rather than enhance it. It says some of the new regulations pose a significant threat to the sustainability of the local travel trade. 'We acknowledge, at the outset, the prerogative and duty of the Department of Home Affairs to protect our borders and to tackle issues around trafficking of people especially, children,' said chief executive, Mmatsatsii Ramawela. She added that their concern lies with two specific regulations - the new requirement for an unabridged birth certificate for minors, and the provision for in-person collection of biometric data. Ramawela pointed out that these will have a significant detrimental impact on tourism, not only to SA, but also to the neighbouring countries whose tourism activities are closely linked to SA. David Frost, CEO of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Associations, said his office has been inundated with letters of concern from tour operators all over the world. 'The requirement of carrying an original unabridged birth certificate, or a certified copy thereof, as well as a sworn translation if needed, acts as an additional hurdle that damages our competitiveness as a destination. It creates a barrier to entry with financial and/or opportunity cost that a prospective tourist needs to overcome in order to travel to South Africa'. Full report on the News24 site