Biometrics to be Required for In-Country Immigration Applications

Foreign nationals who file immigration applications from within South Africa will be required to go in person to submit their application and biometric data to new outsourced visa facilitation centers. Once the new process is live, regional offices of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will no longer accept new applications.

The new process will be piloted for one month beginning on May 1, 2014 and will become mandatory for all in-country applicants on June 1, 2014. DHA has not yet released details of the pilot program.

A central outsourced service provider will bear responsibility for the eleven new locations. The Visa Facilitation Centers will have a specified – although as yet unconfirmed – number of days to deliver the application to the DHA’s Head Office in Pretoria, where the application will be adjudicated. The DHA Head Office will then communicate its decision to the outsourced service provider who, in turn, will provide the outcome to the applicant.

Although immigration service providers will be permitted to accompany applicants, the change in procedure marks the first time that South Africa has required applicants’ personal presence while submitting in-country immigration applications. Applications currently may be submitted by immigration service providers on behalf of applicants.

Each of the provinces will have at least one Visa Facilitation Center:

The outsourced Visa Facilitation Centers number fewer than the current regional DHA offices; but the South African government predicts that increased efficiency should simplify the immigration process overall. Updated processing times and information should become available once the DHA releases further details on implementation policies.

What This Means for Employers

Employers and their employees may need to take additional steps to ensure that foreign nationals are able to visit a Visa Facilitation Center to file their application and provide biometrics. However, the immigration application process is likely to become more streamlined through reduced processing times and country-wide consistency in application tracking and management.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].