VFS Appeal (Rejected Visa Applications)

vfs appeal

This article discusses rejected South African visa applications how to submit a VFS Appeal against the rejection.

What is a VFS Appeal?

It’s the unfortunate reality that currently South African visa applications are frequently rejected, sometimes for reasons that seem insignificant. However, the South African Immigration Act allows applicants who are dissatisfied with the rejection to appeal the decision.1

Upon receiving a rejection letter for your visa application in South Africa, you have 10 working days (14 calendar days) to submit an appeal through VFS. This appeal should include detailed written representations addressing the reasons for the rejection, along with any necessary supporting documentation.

Applicants are entitled to submit two appeals for any application. The first appeal is directed to the Director-General under section 8(4) of the Immigration Act, while the second appeal is addressed to the Minister under section 8(6) of the Immigration Act.

It’s important to note that appealing rejections received outside South Africa may not be advisable, as all appeals are sent to South Africa for adjudication. In many cases, it may be quicker and simpler to resubmit your application with documents addressing the rejection rather than pursuing an appeal.

need to submit a VFS appeal
An example of a Visa Rejection Letter received by a Iustitia client.

How does the appeal work?

The first step is to schedule an appointment at your nearest VFS Centre within 10 working days from the date you received the rejection letter. We always suggest that as soon as you have decided to appeal, you should book your VFS appointment immediately in order to ensure that you obtain an appointment date within the 10 working day timeframe. We recommend counting out the 10 working days and booking the appointment for the 9th working day – this ensures you will be able to appeal on time, while giving you the longest possible period of time to obtain any/all necessary supporting documentation.

During the appointment, you’ll need to submit your written representations along with all required supporting documentation.

After submission, VFS forwards your appeal to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Head Office in Pretoria for processing.

If your appeal is successful, you’ll receive notification to return to the VFS Centre where you submitted the appeal to collect the outcome and, if approved, your visa will be issued accordingly.

What is required for the appeal?

The exact requirements will differ on a case-by-case basis, but all VFS Appeals should include the following:

Iustitia will also request a copy of the application that was rejected from you. If you don’t have a complete copy, please provide us with copies of as many documents as you can provide from the ones you submitted in the initial application.

How long does a VFS appeal take?

Currently, VFS Appeals take approximately the same amount of time as visa applications. Therefore, you should anticipate waiting between 8 to 12 months, at minimum, to receive a decision on your appeal. That said, you should also be prepared to wait for over 12 months in extreme cases.

How can Iustitia assist with your VFS Appeal?

  1. South African Immigration Act (Act 13 of 2002 as amended), section 8(4) & 8(6). ↩︎