South Africa: Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection Published

Refugee management reforms. 

• Implementation of the “First Safe Country Principle,” which states that asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status or lawful protection in another country, or who pass through safe third countries to reach South Africa, are ineligible for asylum in South Africa.  

• A mandate to designate safe third countries that have ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, withdraw such designations when needed; and to enter into bilateral agreements with safe third countries. 

• This is designed to combat the phenomenon of applicants “picking and choosing” South Africa as their preferred destination to claim asylum. 

• This measure seeks to manage migration responsibilities within sub-Saharan Africa. 

Citizenship reforms. 

• Introduction of merit-based criteria for naturalization.  

• Introduction of annual expression of interest for naturalization applications. 

• Citizenship Advisory Panel (CAP) to objectively consider and advise on naturalization applications. 

• Introduction of a points-based system for economic pathways to citizenship.  

• This will focus on the needs of the country rather than the number of years a foreign national has resided in the country.  

• This is intended to prevent backlogs rather than the current process of applying for naturalization on an ongoing basis. 

• This will ensure that a statutory body rather than an individual official considers naturalization applications. 

• Granting of citizenship will be based on objective criteria aimed at benefiting the country rather than a list of requirements, and the criteria can be amended as required. 

Reforms to general immigration system. 

• Introduction of new visa categories for remote work, start-ups, skilled workers (which combines the existing critical skills and general work visas into one category), sports and culture, and the replacement of corporate visas with sectoral work visas for specific industries.  

• Merit-based points-based system for certain visas and permanent residency. 

• Rollout of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to record biometrics for every foreign national in South Africa. 

• Transforming the National Population Register (NPR) into a modern, digitally enabled Intelligent Population Register (IPR) as the foundation for a digital identification system. Unlike the existing NPR, which simply records basic information, including names, births, and deaths, an IPR uses advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, biometrics, interoperability and real-time data integration. 

• These changes will streamline the visa process and enable the country to target the talent it needs. 

• The ETA will ensure that biometrics of foreign nationals entering the country are captured ahead of time to ease identification and to prevent fraud. 

• The new NPR would ensure planning, spending and service delivery are coordinated to improve governance.