In our monthly Immigration News from Africa, we update you on important changes in African Immigration.

This edition covers news in the following countries:

South Africa

Spouse or Life Partner Must Be Physically Present on The Day of Application

From 1 February 2023, any spouse/life partner applications will require pictures of the spouse/life partner and the South African spouse must be present on the day of the application. Pre-2014 this was mandatory, and now the ruling has been reinstated.

Kenya

Visa-Free System for South Africa Agreed on

Kenyans can now visit South Africa visa-free for up to three months. Previously, this was only for a one month period, but Kenyan President William Ruto and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have come to an agreement to move forward with a deeper commitment to close bonds between the two countries.

Namibia

Companies Must Now Place Vacancies with the Ministry of Labour

The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation of Namibia has made it mandatory for companies with more than 10 employees to list their job vacancies with the ministry. Employers who fail to comply with this requirement will face legal consequences.

Study Visa Application Process Closing Soon

The applications for Study Visas in Namibia, that have been open from last year, will be closing at the end of February 2023.

Rwanda

Talks to Expand the East African Single Tourist Visa

On January 24th, Major General Charles Karamba, Rwanda’s ambassador to Tanzania, met with the Tanzanian Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Pindi Hazara Chana, to stress the significance of the East Africa Single Tourist Visa program.

This program allows tourists to obtain a visa for one East African Community (EAC) country and use it to visit other countries in the bloc. Currently, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda have adopted this system, while Tanzania and Burundi have yet to join.

Uganda

Passport Offices Shut for Two Days Affects Thousands

The Ugandan Ministry of Internal Affairs announced a two-day shutdown of all their passport offices. This included both local and international Ugandan offices. The system was down from 19 to 20 January. This was to upgrade their current systems and fix previous issues and glitches they had identified in the system.

Although this shutdown was done for good reason, thousands of Ugandans were unable to pick up their passports or attend interviews.