Refugee status and asylum seeker visa Statelessness A refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted by reason of his or her race, tribe, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his or her former habitual residence is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it (section 3 of the Refugees Act (130 of 1998). If the child does not qualify for South African citizenship, and after approaching relevant embassies, it is found that no country recognises them as a citizen, they must be stateless. If a child appears to be a refugee, they must be assisted to apply for refugee status at a Refugee Reception Office (RRO). They may be assisted by their parent, or a family member in whose care they are. If unaccompanied, they must be assisted by a social worker, after being brought before a Children’s Court. Solutions to statelessness: - If the child is born in South Africa and are stateless, they automatically qualify for South African citizenship by birth (section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act). If a stateless child was born outside of South Africa, an application to the Minister of Home Affairs can be made for permanent residence by way of exemption. Section 31(2) (b) of the Immigration Act authorises the Minister to grant permanent residence to nonnationals, without complying with the usual requirements for permanent residence, if special circumstances justify it. The application must be made through VFS Global. The cost is R1350 per application. The RRO will first issue the child with a section 22 asylum seeker visa. This visa will allow the child legal residence until their refugee application is finalised. It is valid for 6 months at a time, and must be renewed. When a child’s application for refugee status is approved, they are issued with a section 24 Refugee permit. This permit is valid for two years at a time. Both an asylum seeker and refugee permit allows a child to study, access health care and other services.” ASYLUM SEEKER VISA EXAMPLE 20 HOW TO GET DOCUMENTED REFUGEE PERMIT EXAMPLE HOW TO GET DOCUMENTED 21