From Daily Maverick · Claudia Pizzocri · · 2m
Waiver arrives too late for visa rule victims
South Africa's home affairs minister has waived a rigid 60-day visa filing rule, but thousands already face years of administrative harm from its mechanical application.
In brief
South Africa's home affairs minister has waived a rigid 60-day visa filing rule, but thousands already face years of administrative harm from its mechanical application. Minister Leon Schreiber waived South Africa's rigid 60-day visa filing rule via Directive 13 of 2026, but the delayed correction leaves thousands who…
Minister waives rigid visa rule
Minister Leon Schreiber has signed Immigration Directive 13 of 2026, waiving the Department of Home Affairs' rigid 60-day visa filing requirement that had trapped thousands of applicants.
Rule existed since 2014
The 60-day requirement has existed in regulations since 2014 as a filing discipline. Applicants with good cause could apply within their visa validity and ask for condonation for late filing with no adverse consequence.
Schreiber abandoned flexibility
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When Minister Leon Schreiber took the helm in mid-2024, he abandoned the condonation logic in favour of greater efficiency and target outputs. This made the system more brittle, not more lawful.
Rule became punitive guillotine
The Department of Home Affairs turned a rule designed to facilitate orderly administration into a punitive, mechanical guillotine applied without regard to its purpose or the frail, poorly coordinated visa-processing system.
Applicants rejected on timing alone
Applications sometimes took well in excess of one year to be processed, only to be refused not on their merits but merely because a timeline was missed. Most applicants were unaware of the deadline.
Widespread human consequences
Foreign professionals lost the ability to work, students had enrolment interrupted, and families faced separation or forced departure. Bank accounts were frozen, employers lost skilled staff, and people spent money on appeals.
Directive 13 covers pending cases
Immigration Directive 13 of 2026 covers pending applications for visa extensions, changes of status or conditions, and pending appeals from failure to lodge within 60 days. It addresses both future filings and the substantial backlog.
Consequences called unintended
The minister states he used statutory power to intervene in response to representations, acknowledging the unintended consequences of rigid application of regulations 9(8)(c) and 9(5)(a). But the disastrous ramifications were foreseeable.
Further protections still needed
Schreiber must extend protections afforded by Directive 7 to all applicants whose temporary-residence applications and appeals remain pending until the department can deliver reasonable adjudication timeframes.
What it means
Minister Leon Schreiber waived South Africa's rigid 60-day visa filing rule via Directive 13 of 2026, but the delayed correction leaves thousands who faced rejections based on timing rather than merit without remedy.
