South Africa’s Cabinet has approved sweeping changes to the country’s immigration system, introducing a points-based framework for visas and citizenship that prioritises skilled workers and economic contributors.
The new white paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection consolidates decades of fragmented legislation into a single piece of law.
For the first time, South Africa will assess both work visa applicants and citizenship seekers based on their potential contribution, rather than the length of time they have spent in the country.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the reforms will replace an “arbitrary, subjective and often highly inefficient” system that left too much discretion in the hands of individual officials.
“The general principle we want to introduce is one of objectivity, one of merit-based assessment, and using a points-based system is the clearest way to do that,” said Schreiber.
Under the new system, applicants will earn points based on their qualifications, skills, financial investments, and social contributions.
The previous approach, where simply spending enough years in South Africa could eventually lead to citizenship, has been scrapped.
The white paper also introduces a major shift in how South Africa processes refugee claims.
Under the new “first safe country” principle, asylum seekers who have already passed through other safe countries or received protection elsewhere will no longer be eligible to claim refugee status in South Africa.
Schreiber said the change is aimed at ensuring a fairer distribution of responsibility across the region.
“What we’ve seen over many years is there is a phenomenon of people picking and choosing South Africa as the only destination where they want to submit an asylum claim, and that really is taking a toll on our society,” he said.
“If you have asylum in a different country or if you have travelled through multiple safe countries that qualify in terms of those UN instruments, we are not going to then accept a situation where we are the destination of choice, because by definition, if you are a refugee, you are fleeing for your life.”
For Zimbabweans in South Africa under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), these changes could have a few important implications — but they don’t automatically cancel or replace the ZEP scheme itself.
First, ZEP is a separate, temporary exemption system that already sits outside the standard visa and asylum routes.
The new points-based immigration system is mainly targeted at future work visas and citizenship applications, so it is more likely to affect what happens after ZEP holders try to transition to longer-term status.
Under the new framework, applications for skills-based visas or permanent residency will be assessed on factors like qualifications, work experience, investment, and economic contribution rather than time spent in the country.
