Zimbabwe Exemption Permit: Current Status and Deadlines

Current status, updated on 6 November 2026: existing Zimbabwe Exemption Permits are valid until 28 May 2027. No new deadline decision has been announced since the April 2026 Home Affairs statement; a consultation on the permit's long-term future is under way. This page is updated whenever the Department of Home Affairs publishes a new directive or statement.

The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit has been extended four times since 2021, and from the outside the pattern is easy to misread: an announcement, a gazette notice, a new deadline, then another. The short version of where things stand: existing ZEPs are valid until 28 May 2027, residence and employment under the permit remain lawful until that date, and the question of what happens afterwards is still open. This page tracks the status, the deadlines and the documents, in one place. Checked on 6 November 2026.

Where the ZEP stands right now

On 7 October 2025 the Minister of Home Affairs extended the validity of all existing Zimbabwean Exemption Permits by 18 months, to 28 May 2027, under Immigration Directive No. 21 of 2025, published in Government Gazette No. 53484. Two practical consequences follow. First, residence and employment remain lawful until that date even where the date printed on the physical card has passed; the extension lives in the gazette notice, not in a new card. Second, the permit's conditions are unchanged: it allows the holder to live and work in South Africa, and it does not qualify the holder for permanent residence, a position Home Affairs restated in April 2026.

That April 2026 statement, issued after confusing headlines about a possible policy change, confirmed there is no change to the current position. The department is running a consultation on the longer-term future of the ZEP and the Lesotho Exemption Permit, with recommendations to be presented to Cabinet by the end of the 2026/27 financial year. For a permit holder the meaning is practical, not political: check the current status before any big decision, because the dates move by ministerial notice, and an out-of-date page about permits is worse than no page at all.

The ZEP timeline: every extension so far

One reading of this table matters more than the rest: each deadline so far has ended in an extension or a court order, but none of them has ended in a decision about the future. The permit is stable in the short term and undecided in the long term, and planning around it means holding both facts at once.

What the ZEP is, and what it is not

The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit is a special dispensation for Zimbabwean nationals who were already living in South Africa, first introduced in 2009 and renewed under new names in 2014 and 2017. It gives the holder the right to live and work in South Africa, which is what makes it different from an ordinary visitor's stay. What it does not give is permanent residence: the permit's conditions exclude it, and the route to long-term status runs through a mainstream visa. For the full picture of the four routes, the waiver and how each work visa works, the guide to work permits for Zimbabweans in South Africa covers them in detail.

The ZEP waiver: the route to a mainstream visa

Since the 2023 High Court judgment, confirmed by the Constitutional Court in June 2024, ZEP holders may apply for mainstream visas from within South Africa. The obstacle was never the right to apply; it was the paperwork, specifically an evaluation of foreign qualifications by SAQA and a recommendation letter from the Department of Employment and Labour. The waiver Home Affairs introduced removes both requirements for ZEP holders moving to a General Work Visa. Applications run through VFS Global, the department's visa application partner, and since late 2024 the waiver letters are delivered as PDF documents by email. The process takes time, so a holder in stable employment who wants ordinary status should start well before any deadline, not at it.

The ZEP extension letter: proof when the card looks expired

Because the extensions live in gazette notices rather than in new cards, a valid ZEP can look expired on paper. That is the gap the extension letter closes: a dated document issued by the Department of Home Affairs confirming the permit's current validity. Three groups ask for it most often: employers, who carry a legal duty to confirm the right to work; landlords and schools, who need proof of lawful stay; and financial institutions, which need current status documents for identity and address checks. If an institution asks for status proof, a copy of the gazette notice extending the ZEP to 28 May 2027 usually answers the question on its own, and an extension letter answers the rest. Keep scanned copies of both, separate from the original permit.

What this status means for your money

Status questions and money questions are connected in one direction only: the permit keeps the right to work in place, and the salary does the rest. A salary needs somewhere to land, and a wallet account opens with a foreign passport only, without an SA ID, a work permit or proof of residence, the same way anyone opens an account in South Africa without an SA ID. From there the salary can be received directly, as explained in the guide to getting paid without a traditional bank account, and the part that matters to most ZEP holders, supporting family back home, is one transfer to Zimbabwe from South Africa away.

How this page is updated

This tracker is updated whenever the Department of Home Affairs publishes a directive, a gazette notice or a statement affecting the ZEP, and whenever a court decision changes the picture. Between updates, the safest primary source is the department itself and the gazette notices it publishes; anything not in a gazette is a proposal, not a deadline.

Page history: 6 November 2026, page published with the status as described above.

Short answers

Is the ZEP still valid?

Yes. Existing ZEPs are valid until 28 May 2027 under Immigration Directive No. 21 of 2025, gazetted in October 2025. Residence and employment remain lawful until that date even where the date printed on the card has passed.

Was the ZEP extended?

Yes. On 7 October 2025 the Minister of Home Affairs extended all existing ZEPs by 18 months, to 28 May 2027. It was the fourth extension since 2021, each granted by ministerial directive.

Can a ZEP holder work in South Africa?

Yes. The right to live and work is part of the permit's conditions, and it remains in force until 28 May 2027. Employers may ask for dated proof, such as a copy of the gazette notice or an extension letter.

Can a ZEP holder get permanent residence?

No. The permit's conditions exclude permanent residence, a position Home Affairs restated in April 2026. The route to long-term status runs through a mainstream visa, with the waiver applied first.

What is the ZEP waiver?

It is a Home Affairs concession that removes the SAQA evaluation of qualifications and the Department of Employment and Labour recommendation from a General Work Visa application by a ZEP holder, with applications handled through VFS Global.

What happens after 28 May 2027?

That depends on the outcome of the consultation Home Affairs is running, with recommendations due to Cabinet by the end of the 2026/27 financial year. This page is updated as soon as a new directive or statement is published.

Sources

Checked on 6 November 2026. Official notices first: Immigration Directive No. 21 of 2025, Government Gazette No. 53484, Department of Home Affairs (DHA gazette notice); the Home Affairs statement of April 2026 (gov.za); the Helen Suzman Foundation media statement on the extension to 28 May 2027 (HSF); and the visa application portal of VFS Global (VFS Global). The timeline was cross-checked against published legal updates by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Webber Wentzel and Fragomen. This article is general information about a permit status, not legal advice on immigration status; for a specific case, speak to a registered immigration practitioner.