ASYLUM seekers will soon be able to register their intention to apply for asylum online, as the Department of Home Affairs digitises the refugee application process.
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The department has developed a new digital platform now live for an initial batch of test cases.
Public registration is expected to begin after its next routine software release this coming weekend.
The platform is the first phase of a project to introduce a fully digital asylum system aimed at reducing corruption, cutting processing delays, and addressing abuses in the asylum application process.
Applicants must provide their personal information, upload supporting documents, and submit facial biometric information when registering online.
However, the department has stressed that registering an intention to seek asylum doesn’t amount to a formal asylum application, nor does it grant anyone asylum, refugee status or South African citizenship. Applicants must still follow the formal asylum application process in line with South African law.
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The new system follows the Constitutional Court judgment of 7 July 2026.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said the digital system presented an opportunity to address the long-standing abuse of the asylum process.
“The end-to-end digitalisation of the asylum seeker process presents a major opportunity to finally end the long-standing abuse of this system,” he said.
Schreiber said delays in processing applications and appeals had allowed opportunistic applicants to abuse the system.
He attributed the delays to years of staff and funding shortages, revealing that at the start of the current administration, the department had only nine officials handling thousands of outstanding appeals.
He said the department would use biometric technology, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to overcome these challenges.
The system will be phased in over the coming months to include appointment scheduling, further biometric verification, and checks against existing Home Affairs records.
It will eventually allow the department to process asylum applications and appeals faster.
Schreiber said the aim was to ensure protection for applicants genuinely in need while speeding up the deportation of those whose asylum applications are rejected.
The department said people without access to digital devices or the internet would be assisted with registration at Refugee Reception Offices.
It also emphasised that deportations would continue in accordance with the law.
