South Africa plans to issue asylum-registration receipts that would protect eligible applicants from deportation while their claims are decided, without granting them visas or refugee status.
- South Africa plans to introduce a phased asylum-registration system by 10 November.
- Eligible applicants would receive a receipt recording their intention to seek asylum and their appointment.
- Officials would be instructed not to deport valid receipt holders while their applications are decided.
- The receipt would not grant refugee status or serve as an asylum visa.
The Department of Home Affairs is expected to begin introducing the phased system by 10 November, following measures announced by the government’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration on 11 October.
Applicants would register their intention to seek asylum through an online platform and receive a receipt containing their details, a reference number and an appointment at a Refugee Reception Office.
Holders of valid receipts would be protected against removal and against arrest or detention solely because they are in the country without a visa, pending the lodging and final determination of their applications.
According to the South African government news service, the receipt would record a person’s intention to seek asylum. It would not constitute an asylum visa or establish that the holder has been recognised as a refugee.
“Accordingly, Government will request the Court to provide guidance on the nature and scope of the supervisory measures that may be required, as well as the appropriate duration of any suspension period necessary to build the operational capacity required for implementation.
“The objective is not to delay compliance, but to ensure effective and sustainable compliance that serves both the administration of justice and the broader public interest,” the IMC Chair Mmamoloko Kubayi said.
Who would qualify?
The proposed protection applies to people registering an intention to make their first asylum application.
People whose claims have already been finally rejected would not automatically regain protection by declaring that they want to apply again. The government says a genuinely new claim involving a risk of persecution or serious harm should be referred for legal advice before removal.
Assisted registration would be available at Refugee Reception Offices. People in police or immigration detention could also request assistance through officials, legal representatives and civil society partners.
The proposed arrangement concerns people seeking protection from persecution or serious harm; it is not an announcement of a general visa programme.
Turning a court ruling into a working system
The announcement follows a Constitutional Court judgment delivered on 7 July.
The court struck down provisions that allowed immigration officials to deport an asylum seeker for being in South Africa without a transit visa. That visa is normally issued at a port of entry to allow someone to travel to a refugee reception centre and apply for asylum.
The government says it will seek court guidance on implementation while building the administrative capacity needed to process applications. It remains bound by the existing order while pursuing that guidance.
The new registration proposal gives the policy a practical deadline. Its effectiveness will depend on whether applicants can access the platform, obtain appointments and have their receipts recognised by the relevant authorities.