# Expired Visa



## Nomqhele (Feb 18, 2014)

Good day

My sister inlaw is currently waiting for the outcome of the renewal of her Spousal Temporary Residence Visa(Section 27g-its been three months since she filed the application with the VFS Office in Johannesburg.Her brother passed away here in South Africa and she would like to accompany his brother's remains for burial In Zimbabwe.My question is,the fact that her existing visa has already expired can't she allowed to go and bury her brother without being declared undesirable .

Will appreciate your advise in this regard

Thanks

N


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## Fynbos (Jan 8, 2015)

Hi Nomqhele

I would first like to clarify for which visa exactly did she apply? A "spousal visa" (or most likely in this case a Relative's visa) is under section 18. Section 27(g) refers to permanent residency. Those applications take anything from 8-18 months (even though VFS will say 8-10 months).
This could explain why she has not received an outcome yet, as visas usually take 60 days max.

Regarding the undesirable-issue, if she were to exit the border of SA, she will be declared undesirable. She could try to strike a bargain with the DHA before leaving so as to not be declared undesirable due to the extra-ordinary circumstances, but in our experience, this hardly ever works. Given the time-sensitive nature of the problem, it is probably not your best option to try and arrange this before-hand. 

Should she still wish to leave the country and subsequently be declared undesirable, it will not be the end of the world. She would be able to appeal her overstay ban through the prescribed appeals process. Given the nature of her situation and reason for overstaying (and then leaving) as well as the fact that she has already submitted an application, the chances of overturning such a ban/undesirability is very good, based on our experience with some of our cases.
The time frame for those appeals are anything from 2 weeks to 3 months. This will however have to be done from outside the country (but fortunately happens all via e-mail).

If she does not leave the country, she will still need to clarify exactly what type of application she launched. If it was a PR application [27(g)], she either has to wait for the PR permit to be issued in the coming months and hope it is positive, or further details would be required in order determine what her options would be.
If she did in fact apply for the right visa (section 18 Relative's visa or Section 11(6) visitor's visa with an endorsement) and it has been 3 months, a letter of demand can be sent to the DHA to demand an outcome to the application.

I hope this helps,


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