{"id":96775,"date":"2026-04-02T12:24:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:34:43","slug":"south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats","title":{"rendered":"South Africa Extends 15-Month Visa for Expats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Foreign nationals in South Africa with pending long-term visa, waiver and appeal applications will get a 15-month extension, in a move aimed at easing pressure on a strained immigration system.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) confirmed the concession at the end of March, giving affected applicants a legal stay in the country until June 2027.<\/p>\n<p>The extension applies only to long-term visa categories and not short-term applications.<\/p>\n<p><b>Relief for expats and employers<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The decision is expected to benefit thousands of foreign nationals already living and working in South Africa, particularly scarce skills professionals.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants with pending cases, including those who have proof of submission, will remain legally in the country while waiting for outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are covered by this concession,\u201d said immigration specialist Jaco Brits.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the concession is open-ended, meaning future applicants within the next 15 months are also likely to benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Employers also gain protection.<\/p>\n<p>Companies with foreign staff whose visas have technically expired but are still pending will not face labour law penalties, provided employees continue to comply with their visa conditions.<\/p>\n<p><b>What the extension means in practice<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Foreign nationals must still follow the rules of their current visas.<\/p>\n<p>That includes working only in the role and for the employer specified in their visa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only thing is your time period is extended until your outcome is received,\u201d Brits said.<\/p>\n<p>Travel is allowed, but with conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Those from non-visa-exempt countries may need to return to their country of origin to secure a visa before re-entering South Africa.<\/p>\n<p><b>Backlogs and \u2018nonsensical rejections\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The DHA continues to battle a significant backlog.<\/p>\n<p>Brits said applications are being processed, but outcomes are often rejected for unclear or \u2018nonsensical\u2019 reasons, creating a new backlog of appeals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is breathing room to fix the digitalisation of the department and address the current backlog,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The extension is also expected to give officials time to deal with corruption and inefficiencies.<\/p>\n<p><b>Shift to digital systems and points-based visas<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The DHA is rolling out major reforms, including:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;An electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;A points-based system for long-term work visas<\/p>\n<p>Under the new system, general work visa applicants must score 100 points based on salary, qualifications, experience, and language ability.<\/p>\n<p>Critical skills applicants automatically qualify if their occupation is on the official list.<\/p>\n<p>Brits said the changes are already showing progress but require time and capacity to implement fully.<\/p>\n<p><b>Competition for global talent<\/b><\/p>\n<p>South Africa is competing globally for high-level skills, particularly senior executives brought in by multinational companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need that skill that we don\u2019t have&#8230; to upskill our local employees,\u201d Brits said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the extension helps retain that talent by providing legal certainty.<\/p>\n<p><b>Digital nomads and remote workers<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Digital nomads remain a separate category.<\/p>\n<p>They can live in South Africa while working for foreign employers, but cannot accept local employment.<\/p>\n<p>These visas are typically issued for one year and can be renewed up to three years.<\/p>\n<p>Brits said many remote workers are choosing to stay longer after experiencing life in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p><b>Trusted employer scheme speeds up processing<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Companies registered under the trusted employer scheme are seeing faster visa processing times.<\/p>\n<p>They also face fewer administrative hurdles and can secure longer visa durations for skilled employees.<\/p>\n<p><b>Confidence still key<\/b><\/p>\n<p>While the extension offers relief, Brits said confidence in the system remains critical.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants want to see consistent processing and clear outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to see visa applications being processed&#8230; not just a concession helping us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, listen to Brits on <b>CapeTalk\u2019s Views and News with Clarence Ford<\/b> using the audio player below:<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Africa<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. Foreign nationals in South Africa with pending long-term visa, waiver and appeal applications will get a 15-month extension, in a move aimed at easing pressure on a strained immigration system. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) confirmed the concession at the end of March, giving affected applicants a legal stay in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":96774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-96775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>South Africa Extends 15-Month Visa for Expats - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Foreign nationals in South Africa with pending long-term visa, waiver and appeal applications will get a 15-month extens ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa Extends 15-Month Visa for Expats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Foreign nationals in South Africa with pending long-term visa, waiver and appeal applications will get a 15-month extens ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T12:24:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T12:34:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1775120638.877378.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa Extends 15-Month Visa for Expats\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-02T12:24:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-02T12:34:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats\"},\"wordCount\":616,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1775120638.877378.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-extends-15-month-visa-for-expats\",\"name\":\"South Africa Extends 15-Month Visa for Expats - 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