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I was born and raised in South Africa and have been declared undesirable for 5 years. I didn't realise I could be banned! I didn't have a clue. I showed them my birth certificate and was told it's not a full birth certificate, so I pointed out the writing where it says full birth certificate. I was horrified to be banned as I still have my fiance and family in South Africa.

I entered South Africa on a British passport which was obtained for me by my mother when I was 16 I didn't have a choice of leaving as I was underage. I have a British passport. I'm currently in Ireland staying with family but it's only temporary. I've currently got 2 lawyers and still no response from the home office. I haven't had any response from phone calls, emails to DHA or overstay appeals. I am beyond desperate. As I said I made the big mistake of travelling in and out of South Africa on a British passport and obviously overstayed by a few months.

I have now been waiting for almost a year for some kind of response from anyone. I did make sure to send my appeal within the recommended 10 days. I have spent thousands on lawyer's fees still with no response. What can I do?

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    When did you last enter SA and on what basis? When did you leave? Is it possible you lost your SA citizenship? What is your citizenship (as it seems it’s not SA) and where are you living now? No response at all from your lawyers?
    – Traveller
    Commented Mar 17 at 16:38
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    Sorry, if your lawyers weren't able to help you, your chances of finding something better here are close to zero especially if you provide no relevant details. Losing your citizenship (if you ever had it) is fairly serious and that requires professional help.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Mar 17 at 16:51
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    @Lp123 please stop posting nonsense. Have you contacted a RSA embassy in the UK? Ask if your citizenship is still valid and if yes, request a RSA passport. If your citizenship is lost, you'll have to wait until your travel ban is over.
    – Johnnyjanko
    Commented Mar 18 at 12:19
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    What is the citizenship of your parents? If they were not SA nationals, were they permanent residents in SA when you were born? What is your travel history in and our of SA? You may very well never have been an SA citizen, and if you overstayed, then there is probably no valid reason for an appeal.
    – jcaron
    Commented Mar 18 at 13:53
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    Ask a lawyer if you are more likely to be admissible if you married your fiance, assuming he/she is a SA citizen. Most countries look more favorably on admitting spouses of citizens than tourist visitors.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Mar 18 at 15:40

1 Answer 1

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Contact the embassy of South Africa in the country in which you are located. Ask them if you have South African citizenship. If you do, apply for a passport. If you don't, wait until your travel ban is over.

Perhaps your fiance and you can both travel to a third country with a liberal visa/immigration policy.

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    Actually, it is quite possible OP never had South African citizenship, if both parents are UK citizens they would not have received SA citizenship at birth, but only at majority if they had stayed in SA since birth with the correct status (which was apparently not the case if I understand the comments correctly).
    – jcaron
    Commented Mar 18 at 13:57
  • @jcaron True. Removed the word "still".
    – gerrit
    Commented Mar 18 at 15:02

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