Pretoria - The backlog in permits for foreign nationals has been cleared, Home Affairs director general Mkuseli Apleni said on Wednesday.
All applications up to the end of January 2011 have been adjudicated and processed, he told a media briefing.
All of the 80 053 applications between November 2010 and January 2011 have been processed.
The applications for study permits, work permits, business permits, temporary and permanent residence permits did not include the applications made by undocumented Zimbabweans under the special dispensation, which required them to apply for permits before the end of 2010.
Apleni said 119 009 of these applications have been processed to date. A further 156 753 applications still need to be processed by the end of July 2011.
He said the department has streamlined and centralised its permit application system in Pretoria.
The turnaround time for a temporary residence permit is now four weeks, and for a permanent residence permit six months.
Last month Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said she hoped to cut red tape in the country's permit regime, while at the same time stepping up controls designed to keep criminals out of the country.
All applications up to the end of January 2011 have been adjudicated and processed, he told a media briefing.
All of the 80 053 applications between November 2010 and January 2011 have been processed.
The applications for study permits, work permits, business permits, temporary and permanent residence permits did not include the applications made by undocumented Zimbabweans under the special dispensation, which required them to apply for permits before the end of 2010.
Apleni said 119 009 of these applications have been processed to date. A further 156 753 applications still need to be processed by the end of July 2011.
He said the department has streamlined and centralised its permit application system in Pretoria.
The turnaround time for a temporary residence permit is now four weeks, and for a permanent residence permit six months.
Last month Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said she hoped to cut red tape in the country's permit regime, while at the same time stepping up controls designed to keep criminals out of the country.