{"id":2775,"date":"2023-10-18T10:22:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T08:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/?p=2775"},"modified":"2023-10-18T10:22:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T08:22:53","slug":"its-complicated-zimbabwean-exemption-permits-to-expire-on-31-december-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/2023\/10\/18\/its-complicated-zimbabwean-exemption-permits-to-expire-on-31-december-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s complicated! Zimbabwean Exemption Permits to expire on 31 December 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"358\" src=\"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2023-1024x358.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2023-1024x358.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2023-300x105.jpg 300w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2023-768x268.jpg 768w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2023-1536x536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2023-2048x715.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The South African government implemented a further six-month extension, until 31 December 2023, for Zimbabwean nationals who are holders of expired Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) to remain in South Africa.&nbsp; The program was previously extended up to 30 June 2023.&nbsp; The extension is intended to allow Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa additional time to apply for a visa or other waivers and comply with the South African Immigration Act.&nbsp; Estimates of how many Zimbabwean nationals are in South Africa vary between 800&nbsp;000 and 3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The extension allows these Zimbabwean nationals to work, study or live in South Africa until 31 December 2023.&nbsp; As a reminder, during the extension period, ZEP holders will not be arrested, deported, or detained for not having a valid permit.&nbsp; They will be allowed to enter and depart from South Africa, provided they comply with entry and departure requirements.&nbsp; They will not be required to provide an \u201cauthorisation letter\u201d to remain in South Africa or to apply for any other visa within South Africa up to 31 December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of section 19 of the Immigration Act, an employer has to submit proof of employment for the Zimbabwean citizen to acquire a work visa in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who have \u201ccritical skills\u201d and qualifications are permitted to get a work visa for themselves and their immediate family.&nbsp; A list of the published critical skills is available on the Department of Home Affairs website.\\<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A CRITICAL SKILLS WORK VISA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of Section 19 (4) of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 (the Act), a Critical Skills Visa may be issued by the Director-General to an individual who is in possession of \u201csuch skills or qualifications determined to be critical for the Republic from time to time\u201d, subject to meeting certain requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issuing of a Critical Skills Visa is however dependent on whether the individual\u2019s skills are listed on the Critical Skills List that is published by the Minister of Home Affairs from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You must be employed in one of the occupations listed on the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Critical Skills List, as published in August 2022.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You must belong to the professional body regulating that specific industry\/profession (such as the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) if you are qualified in one of the engineering fields on the skills list).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You must obtain a South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) evaluation of your foreign qualifications; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You must already have secured an employment contract in line with your critical skill occupation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A GENERAL WORK VISA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) recommendation motivating the employment of a foreign national.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This DEL recommendation can be waived by the DHA (this is a separate application procedure); and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You must already have secured an employment contract.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2009, the South African government introduced a Dispensation of Zimbabwean Permit (DZP) to legalise the many Zimbabwean nationals already living and working in South Africa.&nbsp; Zimbabweans who had applied for asylum were encouraged to apply for a DZP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ZIMBABWEAN NATIONALS IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>31 DECEMBER 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The major uncertainty is that many Zimbabweans who currently occupy \u201cunskilled positions\u201d and will most likely not qualify for an exemption or Special Skills Visa that would enable them to remain in South Africa legally.&nbsp; The fact is that relief is sought to reduce the high unemployment rate of South African citizens, while it has also become a reality that this rate for the \u201cforeign population\u201d in South Africa is also high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Zimbabwean permits will probably not be extended further as this is regarded as the final extension granted by the South African Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The return of so many migrants to Zimbabwe may have negative consequences for our <a>neighbour<\/a> as these migrants were sending money back home monthly, thereby injecting cash into their economy this source will now run dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many South African employers stand to lose key staff members if the permits are ultimately terminated.&nbsp; On the positive note, such a step should lead to a reduction in the South African unemployment rate and could present welcome relief to many local families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The South African government implemented a further six-month extension, until 31 December 2023, for Zimbabwean nationals who are holders of expired Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) to remain in South Africa.&nbsp; &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2778,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775\/revisions\/2778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}