Home Affairs reported that the historic backlog of more than 306,000 applications had been cleared by early 2025. Newer waiver, visa and appeal cases nevertheless remain delayed, so Immigration Directive 7 of 2026 protects specified pending applicants through temporary concessions, generally to 30 June 2027. The concession is not a visa grant and its conditions vary by application type.
Foreign nationals with qualifying waiver, visa or appeal applications still pending on 30 March 2026.
Primary: Department of Home Affairs (South Africa) ↗
Corroborating: South African Government — historic backlog cleared ↗
Verified 2026-08-02 · methodology