Only 142,833 new immigrants in SA?

Based on figures from Home Affairs‚ Stats SA said it processed data on 142‚833 foreign nationals whose permits applications were approved last year.

There were 141‚550 temporary residence permits and 1‚283 permanent residence permits.

The results from the release contribute to information regarding the number and characteristics of documented immigrants in the country.

Ten types of permits were issued to 141‚550 recipients:

• Visitors (44‚828);
• Relatives (37‚614);
• Work (33‚253);
• Study (20‚087);
• Medical (1‚870);
• Business (1‚585);
• Waiver (1‚068);
• Retired persons (978);
• Treaty (206)l

• Exchange permits (61).

The recipients were mainly young adults with a median age of 31 years. About half of them were in the 20 to 34 age group; 11.8% were children aged below 15 years while 85.4% were in the 15 to 64 age group and 2.8% were those aged 65 years and above.

The recipients came from several countries but nationals from Zimbabwe‚ Nigeria‚ India‚ China‚ Pakistan‚ UK‚ Democratic Republic of Congo and Lesotho received 55.5% of the permits.

There were more recipients from the Africa region (54.5%) than from the overseas region (45.5%).

The 1‚283 permanent residence permits were issued based on five categories: Relatives (640); Work (441); Business and finance (94); Retired persons' (58) and refugees (50).

Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge