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Immigration Act Amendment Bill

This article provides an overview and commentary on the Immigration Act Amendment Bill of 2011, highlighting positive changes and suggesting areas for improvement. It discusses the need for simplification in the regulations, concerns about certain sections of the bill, and potential solutions to address practical problems and enhance efficiency in the immigration process.

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Immigration Act Amendment Bill

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  1. Immigration Act Amendment Bill 26 January 2011 - Lino De Ponte

  2. Deloitte General Comments • Overall the changes are positive; • Can the Department of Home Affairs perform? Has sufficient strategic planning been done? • New regulations must carry through the idea of simplification; simplification of process is key. • Current regulations are the weakness of the Immigration Act you could achieve the same ideal by amending the current regulations rather than the principle Act. 22 Deloitte

  3. Deloitte Section 4 of the principle Act as amended by Section 3(a) of the Amendment Bill • This section must be implemented unchanged: • Reduced quorum will allow the board to be convened more often and successfully; • A potential issue is that the Minister remains solely responsible for appointing representatives to the board; 33 Deloitte

  4. Deloitte Section 10 of the principle Act as amended by Section 7( c ) of the Amendment Bill • This section must be deleted from the Bill: • We tried this in the 90’s and failed. • Why exceptional circumstances? • What are exceptional circumstances? • Practical problems; • Technical staff; • Expat best practice for relocation; • The minister’s office will not be in a position to manage and process the requests for change of status. • E.g. Appeals process currently takes a year; • E.g. Very large numbers of cases in backlog; • E.g. Ministry hasn’t responded to a single complaint from us or our clients since October 2010 how will they deal with these requests. 44 Deloitte

  5. Deloitte Section 15 of the principle Act as amended by Section 11 of the Amendment Bill • This section must be implemented unchanged: • Large FDI does not use this category since they are not owner managers. Impact on FDI is zero. • Protects SMME business in South Africa from competition giving them an opportunity to grow. • The waiver process must be deleted from this process. • National Interest? 55 Deloitte

  6. Deloitte Section 21 of the principle Act as amended by Section 13 of the Amendment Bill • This section must be implemented unchanged: • Home Affairs has issued corporate permits to inappropriate businesses; • Using foreigners for labour broking roles can be curtailed Concern: • Which industries? • How are they chosen? • How transparent? • Can business be involved in the process of section? • Section 53 66 Deloitte

  7. Deloitte Section 49 of the principle Act as amended by Section 24 of the Amendment Bill • This section needs to be amended: • Sentences are simply to harsh; • DHA should start charging people for illegal entry under the current rules rather than issuing general waivers e.g. Zimbabweans 77 Deloitte

  8. Deloitte Problem Areas ignored by this legislative change • 1. Section 53: • Lack of certainty is a huge problem for strategic planning. • What is section 53? what is the preceding Act ? • Why is this a problem? • Work permit categories are being deleted; how are they renewed? • Corporate permits ? Can they be renewed? • Home Affairs must publish interpretation notes in the same way that SARS does for the Income Tax. • There is no oversight of Home Affairs and the abuses of officials, an independent tribunal or Ombudsman should be created for decide on appeals, and lack of action by officials. • South Africa would be better of with a PPP for business to obtain work permits leaving Home Affairs to deal with indigent applicants. 88 Deloitte

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