Digital asylum portal enters test phase; public intake still to follow

Home Affairs’ digital asylum portal is live for an initial batch of test cases, with public intake expected only after a routine software release this coming weekend.

The department’s 10 November statement says this first phase records an intention to apply for asylum. It is not a formal asylum application and grants no immigration, refugee or citizenship status.

The process requires facial biometrics, personal information and supporting documents. A receipt confirms the person’s declared intention to seek asylum; it does not confer status. The formal application process still has to be followed.

People without digital devices or internet access can receive assistance at Refugee Reception Offices, according to the statement.

Later phases are planned to add appointment scheduling, further biometric verification, checks against Home Affairs records and digital adjudication. The department also envisages machine-learning and artificial-intelligence tools.

Faster decisions and reduced opportunities for corruption are departmental objectives, not outcomes demonstrated by this test launch. The announcement does not establish that general public intake is already open.

Archive photograph of the Home Affairs building on Harrison Street, Johannesburg, taken on 13 March 2016; not today’s digital-system launch. It does not establish current branch services or identify asylum applicants. Photo: Adamina / Wikimedia Commons, originally on Flickr, CC BY 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johannesburg_Harrison_Street_02.jpg . Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ . Cropped and resized for display.