What will happen if I overstay in South Africa?

11/10/2015 3:18:43 AM

A follow up to my prior note as requested.

I emailed Home Affairs every week between March & May 2015 requesting that my overstay be waived due to valid medical reasons. I included all the required documentation from doctors & hospitals. I also included a cover letter to make it as clear as possible that my absence from my post as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho was placing a hardship on the organization that I had been assigned to serve. I also included photos of me with the kids in the orphanage where I worked. Happy to say that after 8 weeks RSA Home Affairs responded with a letter approving the waiver & allowing me to return to RSA without issue. I was able to return to Lesotho via RSA in June 2015. I have been working at the orphanage ever since. Best wishes.

4/30/2015 11:51:09 AM

My experience with overstay undesirable status:I am a USA citizen & Peace Corps Volunteer and I was serving in Lesotho when I had an accident & broke several bones. I was transported to Bloemfontein where I was hospitalized for 5 weeks before returning to the USA to complete my recovery. When I initially crossed the Lesotho-South Africa land border, my passport was stamped & apparently only received a 7-day stay. Peace Corps did not know that I would be classified as undesirable for one year when I left SA via the Johnnesburg International Airport for the USA. I submitted a waiver request to Home Affairs on March 10 and still have not had a response from SA Home Affairs though I write to them frequently asking for a status.
PP

1/9/2015 10:35:44 AM

It maybe part of the tightening of immigration rules that went into effect last summer, as on my recent trip to the southern part of the African continent, they did the same for us. Each time we came back to SA they entered the same “until” date based on the first entry stamp.

Your choices are limited to spending the next few months in neighboring countries, then flying back to connect with your flight home. This way you only transit, don’t officially re-enter SA.

Pay the airline change fee and go home before your three weeks are up.

Or overstay and be listed as an “Undesirable Person”. Aside from having an undesirable stamp in your passport listing you as an undesirable person in SA, you will be banned from traveling there for anywhere from 1 to 5 years.

1/9/2015 9:19:40 AM

Places like Europe have a rule like “maximum 90 days in any 180-day period”, so taking a day trip to the next country will not produce another 90 days. Other places (Japan, for example) will provide another 90 days after a weekend trip elsewhere.

However, few countries appreciate people staying too long. You do not have to return to your country of origin, you just need to leave.

Looks like your choices are:

  • Pay the airline change fees and go home in 3 weeks.

  • Spend some time in Namibia / Botswana / Zimbabwe. Check with SA immigration to see if Swaziland qualifies as “leaving”. You shouldn’t have any problems on the way to your return flight as long as your total days in-country do not exceed the original allowance.

  • Spend some money and go to Europe for a while.

  • Hide in SA, hope no one notices when you leave. If they have outbound passport control they very likely will notice. Penalties can range from “Don’t do it again!” to a return ban of several years to significant jail time.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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