Cape Town, South Africa (CU)_ The Department of Home Affairs has stated that it plans to tighten regulations regarding illegal immigration. The agency is targeting two Asian nations’ travel rights. Accordingly, Pakistani and Bangladeshi passport holders who intend to visit South Africa should now apply for a visa. The prior travel agreement permitted tourists from the two highly populated countries in Asia to enter South Africa without much documentation work. However, this scenario has changed now, partly due to a notorious illegal immigration scam.
According to the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, the finding of migrants hiding in fire hydrant passengers at OR Tambo Airport was the breaking point. Following this awkward incident, Motsoaledi swore a forceful response that might affect millions of potential tourists. The policy change has also been informed to the concerned agencies such as the National Department of Tourism, the heads of South African missions, the airline sector, Tourism South Africa, and Home Affairs authorities at ports of entry.
According to Motsoaledi, the move to restore visas for travelers from Pakistan and Bangladesh was a practical one. The purpose of the new rules and the aim of Home Affairs are to maintain and safeguard the integrity of the South African passport. The minister said, “The reintroduction of transit visas is one of the practical and strong interventions we are making. We have decided to withdraw the transit visa exemption and reinstate transit visa requirements for Bangladeshi and Pakistani ordinary passport holders from 1 August 2022.” He added, “This means that all travelers using ordinary passports issued by Bangladesh and Pakistan authorities are required to apply for a visa when transiting through South Africa to other countries. Authorities of Bangladesh and the Republic of Pakistan have been informed of this decision.”
Minister emphasized that South Africa lacks an emergency passport. Emergency passports are handwritten documents that are exclusively provided to South Africans who are stuck overseas. According to Motsoaledi, fast-tracking a passport is a very costly and quite uncommon process. The average processing time for passports in South Africa is between 5 and 13 days. Minister Motsoaledi also encouraged residents to utilize the online booking platforms and the department’s bank connections.
