Question NW2018 to the Minister of Home Affairs
26 June 2023 - NW2018
De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(a) What total number of retirement visa applications were (i) received and (ii) issued, (b) from what countries were applications received, (c) what is the average time taken between an application received and visa issued, (d) what total number of applications were rejected, (e) what were the reasons for rejection, (f) from what countries were applications rejected and (g) what is the average time taken between an application received and rejected in each month in the (i) past three financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2023 in each case?
Reply:
(a)(i) The total number of retirement visa applications received 3645 from 2020 to 2022 FYs is 3645 and applications received from 1 April 2023 are 79.
(a)(ii) The total number of applications issued during 2020 to 2022 are 1645 while there is no application issued from 1 April 2023 and there are 1449 applications still pending.
(b) The applications were received from 112 countries which are listed below in Annexure A.
(c) The average turnaround time is 12 months.
(d) The total number of applications rejected is 499.
(e) The reasons for rejections vary from documents being incomplete, applicants not able to prove their net worth or pension/ retirement incomes that meet the prescribed minimum amount of R 37000.00 per month.
(f) There were applications rejected from 62 countries. The countries are as reflected in the table below in Annexure A.
(g) The average time between the date on which the application is received and the date on which rejection letters are issued is currently 12 months. There is currently none of the applications received from 01 April 2023 that have been finalised.
END
ANNEXURE A
The table below reflects the number of applications received, approved, rejected and pending for each country that were received from 2020 until 2022. Applications not assigned are pending applications that are not assigned for adjudication.
|
Applicants nationality |
Approved |
Not Assigned |
Pending |
Rejected |
Grand Total |
|
Afghanistan |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
|
Algeria |
8 |
12 |
2 |
5 |
27 |
|
Angola |
12 |
10 |
2 |
5 |
29 |
|
Argentina |
2 |
2 |
4 |
||
|
Australia |
17 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
30 |
|
Austria |
4 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
|
|
Bangladesh |
82 |
33 |
91 |
36 |
242 |
|
Belgium |
30 |
19 |
4 |
8 |
61 |
|
Benin |
1 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
|
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Botswana |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Brazil |
6 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
|
Bulgaria |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
Burundi |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Cameroon |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Canada |
6 |
10 |
7 |
1 |
24 |
|
Central African Republic |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Chad |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
China |
250 |
142 |
27 |
89 |
508 |
|
Colombia |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Cote DIvoire |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Croatia |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Cyprus |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Czech Republic |
2 |
2 |
|||
|
Denmark |
2 |
8 |
4 |
14 |
|
|
Egypt |
8 |
5 |
4 |
10 |
27 |
|
Eritrea |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
Ethiopia |
8 |
12 |
3 |
17 |
40 |
|
Finland |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
France |
35 |
19 |
10 |
11 |
75 |
|
Gabon |
2 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
|
|
Germany |
162 |
80 |
23 |
22 |
287 |
|
Ghana |
3 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
14 |
|
Greece |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
Guernsey and Alderney |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Haiti |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Honduras |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
India |
39 |
43 |
15 |
31 |
128 |
|
Iraq |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Ireland |
18 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
28 |
|
Israel |
4 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
|
|
Italy |
25 |
12 |
3 |
3 |
43 |
|
Jordan |
1 |
3 |
4 |
||
|
Kenya |
3 |
10 |
2 |
6 |
21 |
|
Latvia |
3 |
3 |
|||
|
Lebanon |
5 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|
|
Lesotho |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Luxembourg |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Madagascar |
2 |
2 |
|||
|
Malawi |
2 |
4 |
6 |
||
|
Malaysia |
1 |
2 |
3 |
||
|
Mali |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Malta |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Mauritania |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Mexico |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Mongolia |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Morocco |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Mozambique |
4 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
17 |
|
Nepal |
2 |
2 |
4 |
||
|
Netherlands |
72 |
31 |
13 |
8 |
124 |
|
New Zealand |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Niger |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Nigeria |
43 |
38 |
21 |
36 |
138 |
|
Norway |
8 |
6 |
3 |
17 |
|
|
Pakistan |
30 |
60 |
35 |
34 |
159 |
|
Palestinian Territory |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Philippines |
3 |
3 |
6 |
||
|
Poland |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
|
Portugal |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Republic of South Africa |
71 |
47 |
11 |
27 |
156 |
|
Reunion (FR) |
2 |
2 |
|||
|
Russian Federation |
5 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
|
Rwanda |
2 |
2 |
|||
|
Saint Kitts and Nevis |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Saudi Arabia |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Senegal |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Sierra Leone |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
Singapore |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
Slovenia |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Somalia |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Spain |
5 |
1 |
6 |
||
|
Sri Lanka |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Sudan |
2 |
1 |
3 |
||
|
Swaziland |
2 |
1 |
3 |
||
|
Sweden |
10 |
11 |
5 |
1 |
27 |
|
Switzerland |
72 |
56 |
9 |
13 |
150 |
|
Syrian Arab Republic |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Taiwan |
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Thailand |
5 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
|
|
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
16 |
24 |
1 |
9 |
50 |
|
The Islamic Republic of Iran |
4 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
13 |
|
Republic of Korea (South Korea) |
25 |
17 |
1 |
14 |
57 |
|
Republic of the Congo |
2 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
|
United Republic of Tanzania |
1 |
3 |
4 |
||
|
Togo |
1 |
1 |
2 |
||
|
Trinidad & Tobago |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Commonwealth of the Bahamas |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Tunisia |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Turkey |
5 |
4 |
3 |
12 |
|
|
Uganda |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
Ukraine |
2 |
1 |
3 |
||
|
United Kingdom |
330 |
148 |
42 |
49 |
571 |
|
United States of America |
121 |
58 |
20 |
17 |
216 |
|
Uruguay |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Uzbekistan |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Vietnam |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
|
Zaire |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
Zambia |
1 |
3 |
4 |
||
|
Zimbabwe |
7 |
29 |
6 |
33 |
75 |
|
Grand Total |
1645 |
1055 |
394 |
499 |
3645 |
*The table below reflects the number of applications and nationalities of the applicants whose applications were received from 01 April 2023 to 31 May 2023
|
Applicants nationality |
Applications received from 01 April 2023 |
|
Australia |
1 |
|
Belgium |
1 |
|
Brazil |
1 |
|
Cameroon |
2 |
|
China |
4 |
|
Denmark |
1 |
|
France |
2 |
|
Germany |
9 |
|
India |
1 |
|
Ireland |
1 |
|
Israel |
1 |
|
Italy |
3 |
|
Netherlands |
3 |
|
Nigeria |
3 |
|
Pakistan |
1 |
|
Philippines |
1 |
|
Poland |
1 |
|
Republic of South Africa |
2 |
|
Russian Federation |
1 |
|
Swaziland |
2 |
|
Sweden |
2 |
|
Switzerland |
6 |
|
Islamic Republic of Iran |
1 |
|
Republic of South Korea |
3 |
|
Togo |
1 |
|
Turkey |
1 |
|
Uganda |
1 |
|
United Kingdom |
18 |
|
United States of America |
3 |
|
Zimbabwe |
2 |
|
Grand Total |
79 |