Question NW4313 to the Minister of Home Affairs
08 December 2022 - NW4313
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(1)With regard to the entry of non-citizens into the Republic at ports of entry, what measures are in place to prevent non-citizens from exceeding the (a) period of their visa-free stay and/or (b) duration of their stay as per their visa allowance; (2) whether this is tracked and/or monitored; if not, why not; if so, (a) how in each case and (b) what total number of non-citizens overstay their (i) allowed visa-free stay and/or (ii) visa-allowed stay in the Republic in each of the past five years?
Reply:
1. With regards to the entry of non-citizens into the Republic at ports of entry, both categories of travellers (visa exempt and visa required) are provided with a specified period of stay when they comply with admission requirements as stated in the Immigration Act.
The preventative measures include applying a risk based approach with visa adjudication if the person is from a visa required country. At the port of entry, the immigration officer will conduct an examination and if required, a secondary immigration inspection will be conducted before endorsing the passport and recording the movement on the system.
Additional measures to ensure non-citizens do not exceed the period of their visa entry includes compliance inspections and immigration stop and search operations that can detect such persons.
(2)(a) It would be difficult to track and/or monitor every person that enters the Republic. It is the responsibility of the traveller to respect and adhere to the laws of the country.
In terms of the Immigration Act, a person must comply with the permitted period of stay and depart on or before the expiry date of their visa, failing which he/she will be declared undesirable upon departure or become an illegal foreigner liable for deportation.
This is also tracked and monitored through immigration inspections and immigration led operations as well as by monitoring the departmental systems.
(2)(b) The total number of non-citizens that overstayed:
Year Visa Exempted Visa Required Grand Total
2022 19 589 1 085 20 674
END