A renewed backlog of overdue visa applications which has built up over the past few months, prompted the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to step up processing efforts by implementing practical interventions, including daily monitoring of progress and approved overtime for officials to meet additional targets.

These and other steps were highlighted by Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber at the recent Xpatweb Global Mobility Conference and subsequently outlined by the Department in a briefing to Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice on 26 August 2026. 

The Minister acknowledged that overdue applications in certain categories had begun accumulating again, including appeals against rejected applications. However, he said many of the overdue applications are already somewhere in the processing system and that, through practical measures, the pile of 54 000 has significantly been reduced in just one month.

According to the Minister, what the Department is experiencing now is not nearly at the scale of the backlog it faced two years ago, when about 300 000 applications, some stretching back a decade, sat in the queue. By early 2025, the DHA successfully cleared more than 90% of what was outstanding.

Referring to this, the Minister said, “We have a great team, and we now know how to do it. We will get in front of it again.” 

Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director of Xpatweb, says the Minister’s comments also made it clear that submissions must be aligned with the DHA’s requirements. 

“Where applications are complete, accurately prepared, meet the applicable requirements and are aligned with DHA strategies, they can move more smoothly through the system,” she said.

Pending Appeals Remain a Concern

The Select Committee commended the Department for the progress made with visa processing, appeals, overdue-reduction interventions, and digital transformation but emphasised that clearing the backlog must be accompanied by reforms to prevent them from recurring. 

In a statement the Committee expressed particular concern about the scale of pending appeals. “As of 28 July 2026, the DHA reported 21 847 pending appeals, of which 13 148 (60.2%) were overdue. The Department indicated that appeals remain a significant workload requiring targeted, fair and risk-based adjudication.”

Committee chairperson Jane Seboletswe Mananiso recognised the complexity of visa adjudication, particularly where applications require verification or involve potential fraud and misrepresentation.

“The committee welcomes the measures being implemented to reduce the backlog, but the ultimate test is whether these interventions result in predictable, fair and efficient turnaround times. We cannot continue responding to backlogs only after they have accumulated. The objective must be genuine end-to-end resolution, rather than simply moving applications from one queue to another.”

The DHA has set a target of clearing all overdue applications by 31 March 2027.

Building a New System for Long-term Benefits

In addressing the Xpatweb Global Mobility Conference, the Minister stressed that while the Department is working on solving immediate challenges, the long-term focus remains on fixing the system. Yes, they will intervene in individual cases where justified, but the sustainable solution is building a new, modern system.

“For Home Affairs it is a constant balancing act to make the current systems work at a reasonable level, while simultaneously building a new one. Once we can mothball the issues that cause the problems, we can fully focus on building the new model.”

Jacobs says these are encouraging milestones which send an important message to business that the reform agenda within the Department is making a tangible difference.

“The combination of practical interventions, administrative reform and policy renewal has the potential to fundamentally reshape South Africa’s immigration and identity management system as one defined by efficiency, security, and digital access,” Jacobs notes.

Submitted by Xpatweb