I am living in South Africa for more than 60 years. I have a valid Netherlands passport and also a valid Identity Document.
When, in the past I went on an overseas visit to Europe, I used to obtain a Return Visa stamp in my passport at the Department of Interior.
This procedure now has changed, I'm told at Home Affairs, in that I now have to apply for "PROOF OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE" in order to have my passport endorsed accordingly.
Although in the past the return visa stamp in my passport was free of any charge, I now had to pay a fee of R 100.00 for the initial form and I still have to pay an further service fee of R 1350.00 to VFS Global.
VSF Global is a separate entity registered as a company with the name of VFS Visa Processing S.A. (Pty) Ltd. appointed by Home Affairs to handle South Africa's visa operations.
While in the past a stamp in my passport was done in less than a minute at Home Affairs for free, I now have to go through a long and complicated process costing R 1450.00 leaving me with the question why this processing system has been introduced.