Find an immigration attorney in South Africa: work, spousal, study and critical skills visas, permanent residence, Home Affairs appeals and citizenship.
List your firm for freeAn immigration attorney gets people lawfully into and settled in South Africa: temporary residence visas such as work, critical skills, business, spousal, relative and study visas, waivers, permanent residence, appeals and reviews when Home Affairs refuses or delays, overstay and undesirability declarations, citizenship applications, and asylum and refugee matters.
Most visa work is quoted as a fixed fee per application, excluding Home Affairs and VFS charges, medical reports and police clearances. Appeals and High Court reviews against the Department are hourly. Be wary of anyone who promises an outcome; only the Department decides.
General information about South African law and practice, not advice on your matter. The practitioners listed on this page give that advice.
Processing times vary widely by category and by whether the application is made in South Africa or abroad. Simple renewals can take months and permanent residence applications years. Applying well before the current visa expires matters, because lodging on time protects the applicant status while the decision is pending.
Yes. The Immigration Act allows an application for review or appeal to the Director-General within ten working days of the rejection, and a further appeal to the Minister. If those fail or are not decided, a review application to the High Court is possible. An attorney can also seek an order compelling a long-overdue decision.
Leaving after an overstay results in a declaration of undesirability that bars re-entry for one to five years depending on the length of the overstay. The declaration can be appealed to the Director-General within ten working days, and a good reason such as a pending application or a medical emergency is often accepted.
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