VFS is truly the pits. I was instructed in 2016 to obtain a new Permanent Residence Permit, the one issued to me in 1961 and also a green letter from HA in 1999 now being invalid. One of the questions on their form was your arrival date in SA, so I wrote 6th May 1952. The clever-dick clerk asked me for proof of the date, so I showed him my 1961 Passport Sticker which said 6-5-52. He said this was an invalid date. It took a further 30 min wait until his supervisor said it was in order. I asked him if this was his first day on the job
Then I had a big row with the HA lady at Cape Town International in May 2016, she said that my receipt from VFS had expired and if I left, I could only return on a visitors visa. The date on the VFS receipt was illegible, having been obscured by a rubber stamp
What saved the day was a German-accented fellow behind me who said in a loud voice "R500 will make this go away". The HA lady looked daggers at him and stamped my passport
It took until Dec 2019 to get the PR permit. It looked identical to the one I already had, even the date. When I went to fetch it, the staff who are supposed to attend to this part of the service had not come to work, so no-one had a clue what to do. They have no phone so you cannot enquire
VFS are totally disorganised and seem to cater for Zim and Malawian citizens.
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