Home Affairs waives medical report requirement for permanent residency and in‑country visas

Home Affairs has removed the need for medical reports for permanent residence and for temporary residence visa applicants already inside South Africa. The waiver was gazetted by Minister Leon Schreiber after he signed an immigration directive on 8 July.

What changed

The directive grants a “waiver to applicants for a visa to temporarily sojourn in the Republic, as well as applicants for a permanent residence permit” and alters two sub-regulations of the Immigration Act. The affected sub-regulations are 9(1)(c) and 23(1)(f) of the 2014 immigration regulations. The waiver applies to all future applications and those currently pending adjudication.

Protections and rationale cited

Legal advisers cited the original public‑health purpose of medical certificates while noting the law already contains a safeguard. In the article, Eisenberg and Associates said medical certificates were intended to “guard against the spread of infectious diseases” and noted that “South Africa’s Immigration Act still protects that public health interest directly: section 29 already bars entry to anyone falling into prohibited categories, including those with certain serious infectious diseases.”

Eisenberg and Associates also commented that medical reports had caused delays when documents were rejected for technical flaws rather than legitimate medical issues. They wrote: “These technical disputes generated avoidable rejections and unnecessary appeals, adding pressure to an already stretched immigration system.”

Who still needs to submit medical reports

The waiver does not apply to applicants applying for temporary residence visas from outside South Africa. In the article, IBN Immigration Services explained:

“If you are applying for a temporary residence visa from outside South Africa through an embassy, consulate, or visa facilitation service office abroad, you must still submit a medical report with your application. Omission will put your application at risk of rejection.”

The article notes temporary residence visas are for stays longer than 90 days and include categories such as general work visas, spousal visas, retirement visas and study visas.

Other requirements remain

While the medical report requirement for permanent residence has been waived for applications submitted anywhere, the article points out that other required documents remain mandatory. These include valid passports, proof of financial means, employment and relationship documentation, and police clearance certificates from countries where the applicant had lived for longer than 12 months. IBN warned that “a shorter document checklist does not mean a lighter adjudication” and that incomplete or incorrectly prepared applications remain a leading cause of delays and rejections.

Scope and next steps

The directive is presented in the source as part of Home Affairs’ wider effort to streamline processes. The waiver was gazetted the week following the directive’s signing on 8 July.