Visit to Disneyland may make children ‘undesirable’
BRITISH citizen David Young stands to lose part of the R600 000 he paid for a holiday to Disneyland because new immigration regulations could separate him from his young daughters.
Young, 41, is due to go on a threeweek holiday with his two daughters, Saskia, 9, and Fienna, 6, to the US later this month, but he is still waiting for the renewal of their study permits by the Department of Home Affairs — four months after he applied.
“I applied for the renewal of their study permits in February . . . I am now concerned that the holiday, which has been booked and paid for, might not happen because I’m afraid my daughters may not be able to return to the country and will be deemed undesirable.
“They have a South African mother and we lodged the application in good time. Now we are in a position where we cannot travel with only a receipt [confirming the applications] because home affairs has not performed their duty,” he said.
His daughters are so excited about their upcoming trip that Young is afraid to tell them their dream holiday could go up in smoke.
“The girls have been talking about Disneyland for the past six months. I’m in a difficult position. I shall exhaust all options before I am forced to postpone the holiday,” said Young, who has a four-year retirement permit that expires in September 2015.
“I have sent e-mails to the head office in Pretoria and have been told that [the application] has been received. Every time I call, they say I should call in three weeks. I have all the documents and receipts and have sent [them] to Pretoria, hoping some- one could expedite it, but no one helps,” said an exasperated Young.
The new rules caused panic among non-South Africans caught in red tape and slow processing at home affairs. Under the new rules, which came into effect on May 26, the holders of expired permits or visas or those whose applications have not been finalised face a ban of between 12 months and five years.
Before the new regulations came into effect, a foreigner could leave and re-enter South Africa by pro- ducing a receipt as proof that an application to extend a visa, or to change one’s status, had been made.
German doctor Rebecca Pargner learned of the new regulations the hard way when she left South Africa on Friday last week while awaiting the approval of her life partner’s visa.
She was shocked when, as she prepared to board a flight to her home country at Cape Town International Airport, her passport was stamped “banned” because her original vis- itor’s permit had expired and she would not be allowed back into South Africa for five years.
Pargner first came to South Africa in 2012 to work as a student doctor at Groote Schuur Hospital and later met her fiancé, Devan Pulliah.
She applied for a life-partner permit in December, less than a month before her visitor’s permit expired. Her application was rejected last month because the department wanted additional documents. Pargner was given 10 days to lodge an appeal, which she did the following day.
The government has defended the new rules, with Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba arguing that they are in line with the government’s objective of managing immigration efficiently while protecting the integrity of the country’s borders and its sovereignty.
Gigaba has announced the opening of 11 visa facilitation centres in South Africa to implement the new regulations.
Julia Willand, director of Immigration Consulting South Africa, said it seemed as if the regulations were drawn up in haste without much consideration of how they would impact on the affected parties.