Immigration Directive No. 7 of 2026 is real, it is published, and it runs to four pages. Dr L A Schreiber, MP, Minister of Home Affairs, signed it on 30 March 2026, and the Department has posted the text on its own site: Immigration Directive No. 7 of 2026. Read the source, then find the paragraph that describes your facts.
The short answer: the protection running to 30 June 2027 covers three groups who were already lawfully in South Africa with something pending at the Department on 30 March 2026. It is not a general amnesty, it does not enlarge what you may do here, and two categories are expressly carved out.
What the directive actually is
It is an internal instruction addressed to all officials of the Department, to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, to the Border Management Authority and to VFS Global, telling them how to treat certain travellers and applicants. It does not amend the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 or the Immigration Regulations, 2014.
Paragraph 3 sets the measures running "with effect from 01 April 2026". Paragraphs 1 and 2 give the reason: the Department says it has made progress on historic backlogs and is building an Electronic Travel Authorisation system, but waiver, visa and appeal applications have not all been finalised on time.
Directive 7 is the latest in a chain. It follows Directive No. 22 of 2025, which itself followed Directive 4 of 2025, took effect on 1 October 2025 and ran only to 31 March 2026. Directive 22 covered pending waiver and appeal applications; Directive 7 adds a third group, applicants awaiting a long-term visa decision. Each has replaced the last with a fixed end date, and nothing here promises an extension after 30 June 2027.
Group one: pending waiver applications
Paragraph 3.1.1 covers visa holders who had applied for a waiver and whose application was still pending as at the date of signature. They get a temporary extension to 30 June 2027, so the Department can process it, they can collect the outcome and, if it succeeds, apply for the appropriate visa.
Paragraph 3.1.2 deals with travel. Someone abandoning the waiver application may depart on or before 30 June 2027, and someone who needs to travel and return may depart and re-enter up to and including that date, in each case without being declared undesirable under section 30(1)(h) of the Immigration Act read with regulation 27(3) of the Immigration Regulations.
Paragraph 3.1.3 is the trap. If your passport is from a country that is not visa exempt and you leave with a waiver receipt, you must apply for a port of entry visa before you return. The directive does not waive that.
Group two: pending long-term visa applications
Paragraph 3.2.1 covers visa holders who applied for a long-term visa "in terms of sections 11(1)(b) to 20, including section 22" and were still awaiting an outcome on 30 March 2026. Their current visa status is extended to 30 June 2027.
The range is specific, so the sections are worth naming:
- section 11(1)(b), the visitor's visa of up to three years for an academic sabbatical, voluntary or charitable activities, research or another prescribed activity
- sections 13 study, 14 treaty, 15 business, 16 crew, 17 medical treatment, 18 relative's, 19 work and 20 retired person, section 12 having been repealed
- section 22, the exchange visa
Section 21, the corporate visa, sits outside that range, as does the ordinary visitor's visa under section 11(1)(a). The gap is not random: regulation 9(1) puts applications for the visas in sections 11 to 20 and 22 on Form 8, while a corporate visa is applied for by the corporate applicant on Form 13 under regulation 20. A visitor's visa issued to the spouse of a citizen or permanent resident under section 11(6) is also not named, and the directive does not say whether it is covered. If your visa sits outside the stated sections, that is a question to put to someone who can read your papers.
The sentence people skip is the last one in 3.2.1: "Applicants are not allowed to engage in any activity other than what the current visa conditions provide for." A pending work visa application does not create permission to work, and a pending business visa application does not create permission to trade. The extension preserves your existing status. It does not enlarge it.
Paragraphs 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 repeat the travel position: departure and re-entry to 30 June 2027 without an undesirability declaration, but a port of entry visa is still required before returning if your nationality is not visa exempt.
Group three: pending appeals
Paragraph 3.3.1 covers people who appealed a negative decision on a long-term visa in terms of section 8(4) or (6) of the Act, again within the sections 11(1)(b) to 20 and 22 range, and whose appeal was still pending on 30 March 2026. Same extension to 30 June 2027, same restriction to existing visa conditions.
Paragraph 3.3.3 adds a document requirement the other two groups do not have. Appeal applicants must produce a copy of the rejection letter, together with a receipt or confirmation that an appeal application was submitted, on departure from or re-entry into the Republic as the case may be. That is two documents, not one.
The underlying appeal route is worth knowing. Section 8(4) gives an aggrieved applicant 10 working days from receipt of the decision to apply to the Director-General for review or appeal, and section 8(6) a further 10 working days to apply to the Minister. Regulation 7(3) prescribes Form 49 for both. Those deadlines sit in the Act and the Regulations, and the directive does not extend them.
The two gates everyone must pass
Paragraph 4 applies across all three groups. The measures apply only to foreign nationals legally admitted into the Republic, and only to applicants who submitted via VFS Global and can produce a receipt verifiable against the VFS Global tracking system. A receipt that cannot be traced there is not a receipt for these purposes. Resolve that before you plan any travel.
Note what triggers the concession: an application already pending on the date of signature. The directive is silent on applications lodged after 30 March 2026.
Who is left out
Permanent residence applicants. Paragraph 5 says applicants awaiting a permanent residence outcome must keep their residential status valid at all times, and that the temporary measures do not apply to them. A pending permanent residence application protects nothing on its own: if your underlying temporary visa lapses while you wait, you are exposed.
Certain visitor's visa appeals. Paragraph 6 excludes applicants with a pending appeal against the rejection of a visitor's visa renewal under section 11(1)(a), where that appeal had been pending for longer than three months. They were required to depart on or before 30 April 2026, without being declared undesirable, with the outcome communicated through the online tracking portal. That window has closed. Anyone in this position who stayed is outside the concession and should get case-specific help urgently.
Zimbabwean and Lesotho exemption permit holders are not dealt with here either. Those arrangements sit under a separate ministerial exemption made under section 31(2)(b) of the Act, and the Department published a ZEP and LEP stakeholder consultation invitation in May 2026. Check it separately.
The concession switches off when your outcome arrives
Paragraph 7 is one sentence and it is easy to miss: the concessions cease immediately upon receipt of outcomes, and applicants must comply with the conditions of their decisions forthwith. The 30 June 2027 date is an outer limit, not a personal entitlement. The day your outcome reaches you, ordinary rules apply again.
Why the source text matters
Section 30(1) of the Act says the listed foreigners "may be declared undesirable" by the Director-General. That word "may" is what a concession like this operates on: it directs officials on exercising a discretion the Act already gives them. It does not rewrite regulation 27(3), which still provides for a declaration of 12 months for an overstay not exceeding 30 days, two years for a second overstay within 24 months, and five years for an overstay of more than 30 days.
These instruments also get amended: the Department publishes Directive 22 of 2025 under the heading "Amendments to Immigration Directive No 22 of 2025". Work from the current text. A directive granting relief also usually names the power it uses, and Ministerial Immigration Directives No. 10 and No. 11 of 2026 both open with the Minister acting in terms of section 31(2)(c) of the Act. Directive 7 cites no empowering provision on its face, which is a reason to hold the source text when you deal with an official.
Directive 10 is worth reading alongside Directive 7. Signed on 8 July 2026 and published in Government Gazette No. 55016 of 17 July 2026, it waives the requirement in regulations 9(1)(c) and 23(1)(f) to submit a medical report for visa and permanent residence applications, including applications already pending adjudication.
Check dha.gov.za notices rather than a blog. As at the date of this article it shows no directive replacing Directive 7.
What to do next
- Download the directive and identify which paragraph, 3.1, 3.2 or 3.3, matches your application.
- Confirm the application went through VFS Global and that the receipt tracks on the VFS system. The Department publishes its contact centre as hacc@dha.gov.za and 0800 601 190.
- Confirm the application was already pending on 30 March 2026, and check the section your visa was issued under against the stated range.
- Check whether your passport is visa exempt before booking travel. If not, plan for a port of entry visa before you return.
- Assemble the travel folder: passport, current visa, VFS receipt and, for appeals, the rejection letter plus appeal confirmation.
- Diarise the outcome. Your protection ends when the decision arrives, not on 30 June 2027.
If you would rather have that checked and organised, the free Eligibility Check gives you an indicative route and risk flags. The DIY Application Kit at From R1,500 gives you a personalised requirements map and document checklist to file yourself. The Guided Application at From R5,500 adds pack preparation, a consistency review of names, dates and evidence, and submission guidance. Where a rejection, an appeal deadline or an undesirability declaration is already on the table, the Appeals, Rejections & Undesirability service triages the decision and deadlines and refers reserved legal work to an admitted practitioner. Legalyze provides administrative support rather than legal representation, and no service provider can promise a departmental outcome.
This article is general information about a published directive and is not advice on your individual circumstances.