Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi has released new statistics outlining the number of people that have been denied a visa to South Africa.<\/p>\n
Answering during a recent parliamentary Q&A session, Motsoaledi said that 27,772 visas were denied in 2017<\/strong> while 36,452 applications were denied in 2018<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Further data provided by Motsoaledi said that the majority of these denied requests came from Nigerian nationals with a total of 13,259 combined rejections for 2017 and 2018.<\/p>\n Zimbabwe had the next highest amount of rejections (7,996), followed by Pakistan (7,477).<\/p>\n It should be noted that this data does not account for the total number of applicants from each country which will have a direct impact on the number of applications that are rejected.<\/p>\n You can find a more detailed breakdown of the countries with the most denied applicants below.<\/p>\n Visa access<\/strong><\/p>\n While Motsoaledi did not specify why these visas were denied, he has indicated that his department is working on a number of changes to South Africa\u2019s visa regime in an effort to make the country more accessible for visitors.<\/p>\n He said that the country is also looking to attract investors and people with skills that are critical to building the economy.<\/p>\n Presenting at the monthly Presidential Working Committee on Monday (7 October), Motsoaledi said that his department has lowered turnaround<\/a> <\/strong>times for critical work skills visas, which are now issued within four weeks in 88.5% of applications.<\/p>\n By comparison, business and general work visas are issued within eight weeks in 98% of applications.<\/p>\n “In November, the Department of Home Affairs will embark on a pilot scheme for the issuing of e-visas, which applicants will be able to access online, eliminating the need for applicants to visit South African missions abroad.<\/p>\n “The department has also located visa services within the offices of various investment facilitation agencies around the country.<\/p>\n “In addition, visa requirements have been simplified for countries such as China and India, which are key markets for tourism to South Africa,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Rank<\/th>\n Country<\/th>\n 2017<\/th>\n 2018<\/th>\n Combined total<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n 1<\/td>\n Nigeria<\/td>\n 5 928<\/td>\n 7 331<\/td>\n 13 259<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 2<\/td>\n Zimbabwe<\/td>\n 2 984<\/td>\n 5 012<\/td>\n 7 996<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 3<\/td>\n Pakistan<\/td>\n 2 724<\/td>\n 4 753<\/td>\n 7 477<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 4<\/td>\n India<\/td>\n 2 671<\/td>\n 3 726<\/td>\n 6 397<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 5<\/td>\n Bangladesh<\/td>\n 1 875<\/td>\n 3 340<\/td>\n 5 215<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 6<\/td>\n China<\/td>\n 1 874<\/td>\n 1 712<\/td>\n 3 586<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 7<\/td>\n Other (asylum\/refugees)<\/td>\n 851<\/td>\n 1 051<\/td>\n 1 902<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 8<\/td>\n Democratic Republic of Congo<\/td>\n 721<\/td>\n 961<\/td>\n 1 682<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 9<\/td>\n Ghana<\/td>\n 770<\/td>\n 884<\/td>\n 1 654<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 10<\/td>\n Cameroon<\/td>\n 613<\/td>\n 696<\/td>\n 1 309<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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