Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the only remaining backlog in visa applications in South Africa is the one relating to spousal and relative visas – and the numbers have reduced significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to a parliamentary Q&A this past week, the minister said the backlog is now just over 40,000, which is around half of the backlog numbers reported at the end of last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the apparent improvement, however, there are still concerns over visa turnaround times, which can still take eight months to process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answering questions on the backlog from the IFP, Motsoaledi noted that the department has 17 visa categories, and only two of these are currently hamstrung with a backlog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As of 31 January 2024, the total number of Critical Skills, Business, and General Work Visas that form part of the annual performance plan have no backlogs,” Motsoaledi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“However, there are delays and backlogs for only two visa categories, which are Section 11 (6) and Section 18,” he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that these categories are spousal and relative visas, respectively, and<\/strong> the backlog is 41,083 (as of 31 January). <\/strong>The minister previously set a target of June 2024 to clear the backlog, but this was pushed back to November 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also said the reason for the remaining backlog is the lack of sufficient capacity, such as immigration officers who have to be tasked with investigating the authenticity of such relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The department experiences challenges regarding the legitimacy of relationships being claimed or cited in the application. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “It must be noted that some foreign nationals take advantage and follow corrupt methods to legitimise themselves, family members, friends, and others,” Motsoaledi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This revelation starkly contrasts the figures reported at the end of last year when the minister noted in a separate parliamentary Q&A that the <\/strong>backlog in visas remained at over 74,309 \u2013 unchanged from the department\u2019s previous report at the end of October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is good news for visas in South Africa, considering the country has long been facing a significant skills shortage, and businesses have been struggling to attract much-needed skills to the country, with their efforts having been hindered by the failures at Home Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the one caveat that remains is visa turnaround times, which the minister said still sits at around eight months. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies have reported that visa applications can take up to 48 weeks to be accepted, which poses a threat to expansion plans, investment, and job creation in a country with a 33% unemployment rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immigration lawyer Gary Eisenberg said in December that these waiting times are very much still an issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eisenberg added that skilled foreign professionals \u2013 who are needed to fill the gaps on the critical skills list \u2013 are simply walking away. \u201cThey cannot wait a year for a visa or spousal visa, so they are going elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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