{"id":865875,"date":"2026-07-09T11:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865875"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:03:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:03:06","slug":"home-affairs-minister-leon-schreiber-changes-visa-requirements-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/865875\/home-affairs-minister-leon-schreiber-changes-visa-requirements-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber changes visa requirements in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, has offered a lifeline for those with a temporary residence visa and permanent residence permit applicants by waiving the requirement to submit a medical report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The waiver applies to temporary Residence Visa applications submitted in South Africa and to Permanent Residence Permit applications submitted both within South Africa and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaco Brits, Head of Immigration at Xpatweb, said that the medical report requirement has long been a costly and onerous administrative hurdle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoctors\u2019 appointments are not always readily available, which adds to unnecessary administrative challenges and stress for visa applicants,” said Brits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xpatweb noted that immigration-focused community groups on social media are often filled with questions from applicants seeking doctors who can complete the reports quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The waiver took effect on 8 July 2026, with Schreiber instructed to bring the contents of the Ministerial Directive to the attention of all officials responsible for processing applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The medical report process required by the Department of Home Affairs applies to various immigration applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose is to confirm that the applicant has undergone a medical examination to protect public health and to ensure that the applicant does not have serious infectious diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xpatweb said that the latest directive builds on several other reforms introduced since April 2023, when the department waived the requirement for applicants to submit a radiological report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radiological reports were previously required for most temporary residence visa applications exceeding 90 days and were valid for only six months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These reports were also costly and time-consuming to obtain. They also needed to be issued in the country where the visa application was submitted, creating logistical challenges for applicants abroad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xpatweb said that the removal of both the radiological and, now, the medical report requirements represents a continued effort by Home Affairs to simplify South Africa’s immigration processes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more streamlined process <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Outside of medical-related issues, applicants were also given some relief regarding the requirement to provide police clearance certificates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applicants who were 18 or older needed clearance from countries where they had lived for 12 months or more during the five years immediately preceding the date of application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The removal of this requirement significantly lowered the burden on applicants, as the previous requirement often required obtaining police clearances covering a much longer period of residence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This made the process both expensive and difficult, especially for applicants who had lived in multiple countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The latest changes are a significant step towards a more efficient and applicant-friendly immigration system,” said Xpatweb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By removing requirements that have long been criticised as costly, time-consuming and administratively burdensome, the Department has reduced some of the practical obstacles faced by applicants.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brits added that by progressively removing documentary requirements that contribute little to the assessment of applications, the department is making the process more efficient and cost-effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immigration officials are also benefiting, as they can now focus on substantive assessment of applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The directive is likely to deliver meaningful savings in both time and cost while contributing to a more streamlined visa and permanent residence application process, Xpatweb noted. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has waived the requirement for a medical report for both temporary residence visas and permanent residence permits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":855363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2075143931247915370","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[24614],"class_list":["post-865875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-home-affaris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865904,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865875\/revisions\/865904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}