IMMIGRATION AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Presentation to Select Committee on Social Services (National Council of Provinces) 27 February 2007 Caring, compassionate

IMMIGRATION AMENDMENT BILL

2006 Presentation to Select Committee

on Social Services(National Council of Provinces)

27 February 2007

Caring, compassionate and responsive

BACKGROUND


The purpose of the Immigration Amendment Bill, 2006 is to amend the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of 2002), hereinafter referred to as “the Act”, in order to amend and insert certain definitions, to provide for the clarification and revision of procedures and permits with regard to admission to, residence in and departure from the Republic, to align certain sections of the Act with the generally accepted drafting principles and to provide for certain transitional matters.

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Clause 1Amendment of Section 1


• To insert the definitions of “affiliate”, “branch” and “subsidiary” into the Act in order to give clarity as to the meaning of the terms as contained in section 19(5) of the Act.

• To substitute the definition of “depart or departure” to make it clear that “departure” means “exiting the Republic from a port of entry to another country”.

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Thank You


Clause 2Amendment of Section 10(2)

Subsection (2) currently lists the permits provided for in sections 11 to 23 as temporary residence permits that may be issued to a foreigner, to the exclusion of the section 24-permits. Therefore, the amendment seeks to include cross-border and transit permits (as contained in section 24) as temporary residence permits.

Caring, compassionate and responsive4

Thank You


Clause 3Amendment of Section 10B(1)

• Section 10B(1) currently requires any person (with the exception of a citizen or permanent resident) who is proceeding from a place outside the Republic to a destination outside the Republic, including making use of the transit areas of South African ports of entry, to be in possession of a transit visa when travelling through the Republic.

• The amendment deletes the words “including making use of the transit areas of South African ports of entry” in order to provide for the necessary authorising documentation relating to foreigners who travel through the Republic by bus or motor vehicle and who thus do not make use of the transit areas or ports of entry.



• This section currently provides that the holder of a visitor’s permit may not conduct work unless authorised by the Director-General in the prescribed manner and subject to the prescribed requirements and conditions.

• The amendment seeks to restrict the application of section 11(2), which is the authorisation to conduct work, to visitor’s permits issued to a foreigner who is engaged in “any other prescribed activity”, as provided for in the newly drafted section 11(1)(b)(iv).

• The effect of this amendment is that the Director-General may now also authorise a foreigner to conduct work on a visitor’s permit for a period of three years if the foreigner is engaged in any other prescribed activity as provided for in the newly drafted section 11(1)(b)(iv).



• Section 19(5) currently provides that an intra-company work permit may be issued to a foreigner who is employed abroad by a business operating in the Republic in a branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship and who by reason of his or her employment is required to conduct work in the Republic, for a period not exceeding two years.

• The amendment seeks to increase the period for which the permit may be issued to four years in order to accommodate the needs of multinational companies based in South Africa.



• Currently, there is no provision for the holder of a retired person permit to be accompanied by his or her spouse and dependant children. The spouse and dependant children of a retired person permit holder may currently only accompany the holder with a visitor’s permit issued for a period of three months, which may be renewed, upon application, for a further period of three months.

• Therefore, subsection (1A) is inserted to provide for the issuing of an appropriate permit to the spouse and dependant children accompanying the holder of a retired person permit.



• Section 28, dealing with the withdrawal of a permanent residence permit, is amended at paragraph (a) in order to provide for the withdrawal of a permanent residence permit by the Director-General if the holder thereof has been convicted of any offence in terms of the Act.

• This section currently only provides for the withdrawal of a permanent residence permit in instances where the holder is convicted of any of the offences listed in Schedules 1 and 2 to the Act (i.e. treason, murder, rape, indecent assault, robbery, kidnapping, assault, arson, conspiracy, sedition, culpable homicide, etc).


Clauses 12and 13

Clause 12 – Short title and commencement

This clause identifies the title by which the proposed amendments shall be called and furthermore provides for the date on which the proposed amendments will come into operation.


Consequential Amendments


• Section 11, dealing with the Visitor’s permit, is amended by clause 4 in order to align the section with generally accepted drafting principles.

• Section 15(3) is amended by clause 5 in order to ensure consistency throughout the Act by using the words “financial or capital contribution”.

• Section 20(1) is further amended by clause 7 in order to align it with the generally accepted drafting principles.

• Section 27(a)(i), dealing with residence on other grounds, is amended by clause 8 in order to align the contents thereof with the provisions of section 19(1), which deals with the quota work permit.

• Section 27(c)(i) and (ii) is further amended in order ensure consistency throughout the Act by using the words “financial or capital contribution”.

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Consequential Amendments(Continued)


• Clause 10 amends Schedule 1 to the Act, which lists the offences referred to in section 28(a) and (b) of the Act. The amendment seeks to align the same with the amendment of section 28(a) (i.e. the provision for withdrawal of a permanent residence permit upon conviction of any offence in the Act).

• Clause 10 further deletes the reference in Schedule 1 to offences in section 28(b) of the Act as it does not contain any offences.

• Clause 11 amends Schedule 2 to the Act in order to change the reference from section 28(b) to section 28(a) to align it with the amendment of section 28(a).

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THANK YOU


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Documents

IMMIGRATION AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Presentation to Select Committee on Social Services (National Council of Provinces) 27 February 2007 Caring, compassionate