The Department of Home Affairs has a huge backlog with regards to most temporary residence visa applications submitted in South Africa and many applications have been pending for more than six months. The Department of Home Affairs has not provided any reasons for the backlog, but we can only assume that it is a result of staff shortages, staff shuffling, new adjudication procedures, etc.
The Department of Home Affairs has issued a Circular with concessions, described as follows.
All long term temporary residence visa holders, have an automatic extension until 30 June 2022, provided that they have a long term temporary residence visa application pending and their existing visa has subsequently expired. They are also allowed to travel out of South Africa with the visa application receipt, until 30 June 2022, without being penalized. However, in instances where one is not visa exempt, one would require a visa in order to return to South Africa.
At this point in time, there is no indication as to whether or not the above-mentioned concessions will be extended.
In recent months, The Department has implemented a new adjudication procedure relating to all long term temporary residence visa applications submitted at South African missions throughout the world, which is that all such applications must now be forwarded to The Head Office of The Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria, to be adjudicated. The result of this new adjudication procedure is that applications which usually took 6 to 10 weeks to be processed, appear to be takings 6 months and longer to be processed. This new adjudication process has increased the backlog in respect of visa applications submitted inside and outside South Africa.
The backlog continues to increase and no information is being offered, with regards to what measures will be implemented to alleviate same.
What does Sustainable Development really mean to us?
We believe that our business cannot thrive unless people and the planet are thriving.
In 2021 we partnered with The Honeybun Foundation as our CSR project, where we had the privilege of converting and upgrading a safe house for the organisation.
As a business, we decided we would commit to continuing our CSR partnership with them in 2022 & we’ve started the year with the gift of giving back.
The Honeybun Foundation, was founded by Stephen Langman in 2014 and is a Cape Town-based NPO, that works hard at improving the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals through self-sustainability, health, education and growth.
Due to COVID-19, The Honeybun Foundation had lost a few key sponsors and what Stephen desperately needed was a brand strategy discussion, refocus & refresh to reignite interest and awareness. We were more than willing to step in and help.
Andrew Stegmann, a Director at Relocation Africa, has dedicated his time and expertise to supporting the foundation through mentorship and Donna Christie, our Marketing & Brand manager has been busy-as-a-bee designing the brand refresh which included a new logo, corporate identity guidelines and a visual refresh to their Facebook page.
Next in the pipeline is a website…so watch this space!
We invite you to buzz over to their Facebook page and see how YOU can help: https://www.facebook.com/thehoneybunfoundation/
Department of Home Affairs: Temporary Residence Visa update
The Department of Home Affairs has a huge backlog with regards to most temporary residence visa applications submitted in South Africa and many applications have been pending for more than six months. The Department of Home Affairs has not provided any reasons for the backlog, but we can only assume that it is a result of staff shortages, staff shuffling, new adjudication procedures, etc.
The Department of Home Affairs has issued a Circular with concessions, described as follows.
All long term temporary residence visa holders, have an automatic extension until 30 June 2022, provided that they have a long term temporary residence visa application pending and their existing visa has subsequently expired. They are also allowed to travel out of South Africa with the visa application receipt, until 30 June 2022, without being penalized. However, in instances where one is not visa exempt, one would require a visa in order to return to South Africa.
At this point in time, there is no indication as to whether or not the above-mentioned concessions will be extended.
In recent months, The Department has implemented a new adjudication procedure relating to all long term temporary residence visa applications submitted at South African missions throughout the world, which is that all such applications must now be forwarded to The Head Office of The Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria, to be adjudicated. The result of this new adjudication procedure is that applications which usually took 6 to 10 weeks to be processed, appear to be takings 6 months and longer to be processed. This new adjudication process has increased the backlog in respect of visa applications submitted inside and outside South Africa.
The backlog continues to increase and no information is being offered, with regards to what measures will be implemented to alleviate same.
Let’s Talk Retaining Talent & Global Mobility
As Relocation Africa dive deeper into Talent Retention & Acquisition, we have noticed a marked trend in global talent mobility.
In fact, it has been mentioned that the 2020’s could be a decade of greater global talent mobility despite the opportunities hampered by COVID.
We have noticed that international travel restrictions are no longer playing a major factor for global talent mobility and nations, popular with expats are seeing a resurgence.
A report in the Harvard Business Review states that it has in fact been easier for skilled talent to relocate to many places abroad, according to an analysis carried out by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
BSG analysed the world’s ten most popular destination countries and found that with two exceptions – the US and China, that many countries have now put the legal framework in place to hire and relocate global talent at a cost and speed that is comparable with hiring domestically.
Many countries like Germany, France, Spain, and the UK are continuing to attract skilled workers through their points-based visa systems.
Access to talent has become the number one growth constraint for firms accelerating out of the Covid-19 Crisis. Senior executives are willing to build more globally diverse teams which they see as an opportunity for innovation and growth.
Look out for our continued discussion on global mobility: Spotlight on Africa
FIDI 2022: Highlights & Learnings