Asylum seekers on average wait rarely less than two years for a decision to be taken on their applications by which time they have already established themselves within the Republic.

On entry the asylum seeker is given a 14 day asylum seeker permit to allow him/her to travel to the nearest Refugee Office to apply for refugee status. Given the delays experienced at the Refugee Offices 14 days is not sufficient. After that 14 days they are deemed to be "illegal foreigners". This in turn puts the asylum seeker at risk of arrest and subsequent deportation.

The asylum seekers and refugees need to wait for hours at the respective Refugee Offices in order to be assisted. There are reports of certain groups of refugees/asylum seekers being turned away from the Offices as they are not from the designated country to be dealt with by the Office on that day.

There are certain Refugee Offices which extend asylum seeker permits for a three month period instead of the prescribed two years. This, in addition to the distance to be traveled as well as the delays experienced (as above) makes it extremely difficult for asylum seekers to maintain a valid permit at all times. Again this puts them at risk of arrest and subsequent deportation.

There are great difficulties in opening a bank account whether as a refugee or an asylum seeker. Asylum seekers who come to the Republic need to make a living for themselves and some of them establish their own businesses. This is made difficult by the fact that refugees and asylum seekers are not readily granted bank accounts.

Often Asylum Seekers are unaware of their rights in respect of the first hearing. The lack of competent interpreters and the inability of many asylum seekers to understand the questions asked often leads to an inaccurate account of the Applicant’s circumstances being put to the Refugee Reception Officer and the Refugee Status Determination Officer.

In 2004 the Durban High Court gave guidance to the Appeal Board on the procedure for taking a lawful decision. A significant number of decisions prior to that date are therefore illegal but unless the asylum seeker have lawyers who can intervene the Refugee Appeal Board will not of its own accord reverse and or revisit those decisions.

In terms of the Immigration Act a refugee who has had refugee status for a period of five years or more and has obtained the required certification from the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs, can apply for permanent residence. For this application the Applicant is required to obtain a South African police clearance certificate. In addition to the time this takes, this overlooks the fact that the basis for granting permanent residence to refugees is fundamentally different to the basis on which all other permanent residence applications are based.

Another problem in this process is the requirement of birth certificates. In some countries there are no birth records or the records have been destroyed in wars and many refugees do not possess a copy of the same.

Once an appeal has been refused the Applicant is given thirty days to leave the Republic. It is uncertain as to the status of the Applicant within this thirty day period. Does the Applicant remain in the refugee system or do they fall within the immigration system? In addition should the asylum seeker challenge the refusal in the courts, the Department refuses to recognise the asylum seeker as such pending the outcome of the court hearing.