# Expats Waiting for their Permits



## Guest (Apr 5, 2011)

Hi all

Below an extract from the update we sent to our clients last week:

The Department of Home Affairs has opened a dedicated *Call Center Helpline* for all applicants wishing to follow up on their residence applications. 

The Call Center comprises of about 150 staff members and with operating hours from Mondays to Fridays from 7am to 7pm and on Saturdays from 8am to 5pm. 

This is a very welcome improvement to the Departments endeavours to increase service delivery to all applicants. A similar system is operated currently by Canada and reports are it works very well. 

In an effort to eliminate corruption, currently the call centre will only deal directly with applicants. The call centre agents do not have access to the supplied power of attorney documentation and are therefore not able to verify whether a Immigration Practitioner is authorised by the applicant to follow up on an application or not. 

For all expats waiting for their permits, it is essential that as soon as possible, you call the Hotline on *0800 60 11 90* (free from all landlines within SA) and have the following ready:

* Your passport number which was used when submitting your application
* The date of application
* The place of application

For any questions, or details on the remaining update email, please feel free to ask.


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## somsom2011 (Mar 31, 2011)

Joaschim said:


> Hi all
> 
> Below an extract from the update we sent to our clients last week:
> 
> ...


i have applied for permanent residence in 2007 and i read pn the home affairs web site that they cleared all the backlog of PR's application .i asked my wife to contact the call center to inquire about my application they said to hes that nothing for me on the system .what do you think that mean ?


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## Guest (Apr 10, 2011)

somsom2011 said:


> i have applied for permanent residence in 2007 and i read pn the home affairs web site that they cleared all the backlog of PR's application .i asked my wife to contact the call center to inquire about my application they said to hes that nothing for me on the system .what do you think that mean ?


Hi

Waiting for Permanent Residency sicne 2007 does sound extremely long, even for Home Affairs.

Could you perhaps provide some more information about the application, i.e. did you submit on your own, or did you use an agent? Do you have the Home Affairs receipt for the application? On what basis was the application submitted?

If you do not wish to put all this info on the forum, you can gladly send me the details via a private message.

In response to your question: It means exactly what the call centre agent said, namely that your file/application/details are not on the system. This can either mean that they have not yet managed to upload the info, or there is a problem with the application that eas submitted.

If you can provide some more information, it would make it easier for me to provide my opinion on what may have gone wrong, or what is the current status.


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## somsom2011 (Mar 31, 2011)

Joaschim said:


> Hi
> 
> Waiting for Permanent Residency sicne 2007 does sound extremely long, even for Home Affairs.
> 
> ...


it is long story i can't send it in private message , do you mind give me your email address. Thanks


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

somsom2011 said:


> it is long story i can't send it in private message , do you mind give me your email address. Thanks


Hi

No problem. Have left my email address as a private message to you.


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