Home Affairs officials cannot be gatekeepers
The Western Cape High Court Judge Constance Nziweni has told Department of Home Affairs (DHA) officials to stop acting like gatekeepers by refusing to accept residence and status applications.
A Moneyweb report says DHA ‘screeners’ in Cape Town are claimed to have overstepped their authority by refusing to accept applications for processing.
Home Affairs offices deal primarily with issues related to citizenship, birth, marriage and ID. Despite a similar order being granted several years ago against the same Home Affairs office, applicants once again found themselves having to take legal action against the department for the exact same issue.
Immigration law firm De Saude-Darbandi Attorneys also previously obtained a similar order against VFS, the company handling visa applications on behalf of DHA, which stopped its officials from refusing to accept visa or permit applications, often on spurious grounds.
Last week’s judgment makes it clear that the power to approve or disapprove visa, residence, or status applications resides in Pretoria – not in Cape Town.
Nziweni ruled that officials without the requisite power who refuse to accept or process applications are acting unlawfully.
According to Moneyweb, she ordered the DHA to accept the documents of the applicants for processing and awarded costs against the respondents.
‘We are very pleased to share a significant victory in a recent case involving visa and residency applications at the DHA in Cape Town,’ said the firm’s Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi.
‘As lawyers, we are compliance officers. We don’t send our clients to Home Affairs without all the necessary documentation, yet their applications were being unlawfully turned away without written reasons.’
She added: ‘Our clients faced unfair delays, rejections, and were turned away without their applications being processed. Through diligent effort, we successfully challenged this wrongful rejection and obtained a judicial review order. This ruling not only allows our clients to proceed with their applications, but it also establishes a clearer path for others seeking to file at this office. With this judgment, we hope Home Affairs will follow the right process.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
