Declaration of Undesirability

WHAT IS THIS?

Declarations of undesirability are most commonly issued by the Department for travellers that have overstayed the validity periods of their visas whilst in South Africa. These are bans from re-entering South Africa and are issued for periods of 1 to 5 years, depending on the duration of the overstay.
Once a declaration of undesirability has been issued, the individual affected may not return to South Africa while the ban subsists.

 

CAN I APPEAL?

If one can show “Good Cause” as to why the ban should be lifted, one may submit an appeal for the upliftment of the ban. Normally, the Department takes into account factors such as medical circumstances that contributed towards the overstay as well as if the traveller was awaiting the outcome of a visa application at the time of the overstay.

There may be additional factors that can be presented to the Department in order to show Good cause, such as spousal or family considerations. The list is not exhaustive and depends entirely on the individual circumstances of the traveller.

 

CAN I RE-ENTER AFTER THE BAN EXPIRES?

It must also be noted that once the period of undesirability has expired, the traveller may not automatically re-enter South Africa but still needs to submit a request for the upliftment of the undesirability. This is, however, a mere formality and one need only prove that the ban period has expired.