NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 3109
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Friday, 15 November 2013
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 38 of 2013
Mr M Mnqasela (DA) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:
(a) What is the standard processing time for applications for temporary
residence visas,
(b) how many applications currently on the system have exceeded this
standard processing time and (c) what are the reasons for the delay
respectively?
NW3666E
REPLY:
a) The standard processing time for temporary residence applications is
eight (8) weeks as indicated in the Annual Performance Plan of the
Department of Home Affairs.
b) There are currently 81801 applications which have exceeded the eight
week processing period.
c) Most of the applications which have gone past the eight week
turnaround period are those that could not be captured during the
Departmentâs âTrack & Traceâ systemsâ downtime. This downtime
affected both Front Offices and the Departmentâs Head Office in the
processing of applications within the specified period.
The Department has, however, developed a Temporary Residence Permit
Plan to address this backlog and it will be implemented from December
2013. Additionally, the following initiatives have been put in place:
⢠Separation of temporary residence permits and permanent
residence permitsâ adjudication in order to improve efficiency
⢠Simultaneous building of increased capacity resulting from the
separation of temporary residence and permanent residence
permits
⢠The Chief Directorate: Permits is also considering electronic
permit application management to improve turnaround times