1. The Department has developed a Backlog Eradication Plan and the Plan was presented to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. The Plan includes amongst other additional capacity to complement the current Immigration Services’ team. An additional 117 officials coming from Head Office and Provinces have been put together to deal with the Backlog Eradication Plan.
The Department through Operation Vulindlela has sought the support of the private sector to speed up verification of documents as verifications contribute to delays in the processing of visas.
2. To establish the legitimacy of any spousal relationship for a visa application, the adjudication process requires that such relationships should be verified for authenticity. This includes the notarial agreements that are submitted in support of such applications. In most cases the contact number of the purported South African spouse is not provided, making it difficult to confirm with certainty that the South African citizen is indeed party to the relationship.
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