Immigration Amendment Bill: Update

IMCOSA August Newsletter
Immigration Amendment Bill 2010


The Immigration Amendment Bill of 2010 has been submitted to parliament in its final version, which has not changed in any of the points that we commented on in our last newsletter. To date, it has not been signed into law. In order to be implemented, intricate Regulations have to be drawn up initially, which will prescribe the detail of the law and provide insight into how the new rules are to be interpreted.


The portfolio committee hearings regarding the Bill are over and the industry is now in a waiting position as to when and how information regarding the Regulations will be made public. It is not expected that any wider consultation with the public will take place.


The following points remain a major concern, amongst others:


· Removal of section 46, which provides that advocates, attorneys and registered Immigration Practitioners may represent applicants before the Department of Home Affairs. The concern is that the removal of section 46 will lead to the legitimization of corrupt and unethical “consultants”, taking away from foreigners the tool to differentiate bone fide practitioners from illegitimate ones, putting them at risk of being exploited and defrauded.


· Application in person: The proposed section will require all applications to be submitted in person, where applications can currently be lodged via courier or through attorneys, advocates and immigration practitioners or their staff. It is a common occurrence for counter staff at offices of Home Affairs and at foreign missions to give poor or incomplete advice. Furthermore, there are language and cultural hurdles to be overcome. Immigration Practitioners have been shouldering the negative and tedious parts of the immigration process for their clients in order to ensure that the latter’s experience of moving to South Africa is a positive one, and we are now working on the various means of ensuring that the immigration process into South Africa remains as smooth and efficient as possible also under new legislation.


· Effective abolishment of exceptional skills permit and replacement of quota by the critical skills permit: South Africa will be losing an important tool to attract highly valuable individuals, we are however investigating best possible alternatives in general and on a case-to-case basis.



http://imcosa.co.za/en/news/147-immigration-news-aug-2011.html