Government is considering taking visitors’ biometrics on arrival but wholesale changes to South Africa’s immigration regulations are unlikely. This is the message Department of Home Affairs Deputy Minister, Fatima Chohan, delivered to members of the tourism trade, business and immigration lawyers who attended an immigration regulations compliance workshop on Friday, September 18, hosted at the Gauteng Investment Centre.
Under the country’s immigration regulations, tourists who require visas to travel to South Africa are required to make visa applications in person to facilitate the intake of biometric data. However Chohan said on Friday: “Insofar as our consideration of biometrics at the port of entry, yes, that is on the cards.
“One of the things that is being mooted at the moment,” said Chohan “is the idea of having South African tour companies, which have offices in the various regions from which they attract tourists into South Africa, being given a specific status that would allow them to do the scrutiny of their clients themselves.”
She added that the department would set the parameters of what that screening would entail and would also engage the trade on how best to go about this.
The Deputy Minister said that the interministerial committee tasked with reviewing the regulations had had several meetings. However, she stressed that wholesale changes would not be made to the regulations.
According to Chohan, the department has faced challenges engaging with the tourism industry. “The tourism sector doesn’t seem to be able to speak with one voice,” she said, adding that the department was unable to deal with individual requests from the industry.
Chohan said also that the tourism industry had benefited from measures taken by the department. She used the example of Kenya, which has seen its tourism sector suffer since security incidents had taken place in the country. - See more at: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/Home/Detail?articleId=102060#sthash.rkertMOQ.dpuf
