With the current political and socio-economic climate in South Africa, particularly for White South Africans, daily life has become increasingly precarious!
Everything you have worked so hard to achieve, grow and maintain is now in dire jeopardy! The South Africa you once knew is no more, and it’s becoming less so with every passing year.
What are YOU willing to do
to protect YOURSELF,
YOUR LOVED ONES, YOUR FAMILY?
Do you want your children to continue living in South Africa under these conditions? Is this still a safe and thriving place to raise a family, to have grandchildren?
THE GOOD NEWS: Especially, IF you have children (under 21), you can make a very good claim — in good faith! — that your home country of South Africa is no longer safe for you and your family.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS: You cannot approach a U.S. Consulate or Embassy outside the United States and bring your claim for asylum in the United States directly to them. They will NOT help! They will NOT issue you any legal travel document for this specific purpose of arrival in the U.S.
But don’t worry!!
There’s still hope!!
- THE ALTERNATIVE PATH 1: IF you happen to have a U.S. Visa already, or can obtain one, you CAN use it to at least get past the airlines and airport security to board an airplane bound for a U.S. destination (called “Port of Entry”). Once you land in the United States, you get off the airplane, and BEFORE you head to passport control, you get rid of your S.A. passport and any U.S. visa it may contain, and once you are at the Border Inspector’s window, then ask for asylum in the United States, and begin your processing.
- THE ALTERNATIVE PATH 2: You do NOT have any U.S. Visa, nor will you or can you apply for one (in good faith), and you WILL likely have to apply for another travel visa to another country, such as MEXICO, or CANADA, or nearby areas, where you can enter there as a “Visitor” / “Tourist” and then make your way to the U.S. border to make an in-person asylum claim there, using the previous country as a “stop-over”.
How DETERMINED are you??
This is not an “easy” route. It has it’s own temporary inconveniences and minor hardships, including temporary detention, financial bonds, possible ankle-monitoring, hearings.
What PRICE can you place on the safety and well-being of your loved ones (and yourself) if you choose to REMAIN in South Africa? While the exodus from South Africa may appear daunting to you, and you are rightfully afraid of the journey ahead, the inconveniences you might face along the way are only temporary and most likely significantly less harmful than what could possibly await you and your family if you choose to remain.
Other Options?
EVEN IF POLITICAL ASYLUM / REFUGEE STATUS may not be right for you, we can still look at OTHER LEGAL options for emigrating from South Africa to the United States (or other possible destinations). There are a host of other possible Visas and Permits which might be available to you, depending on a combination of factors. Only a thorough legal consultation will provide the answers.
Please also take a moment to watch South African blogger Scott’s videos on his YouTube channel “LOVING LIFE”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU_YexIXYnE .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaFVypW9AoM .
Even if YOU Cannot
(or Need Not) leave,
How Can You and Others HELP?
Attorney Laurel Scott has also put up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for South African families who are taking upon themselves the adventurous asylum-seeker journey: https://www.gofundme.com/south-african-asylum-applicants . Please Donate if you can.
IF YOU (or someone you know!) are living in the United States and you have some extra space, to take in a South African family on a temporary basis, until they can obtain their temporary work permit (usually about 6 months after arrival in the U.S.) and get on their feet, please contact Peter Dykes, or Attorney Steven Culbreath, to coordinate.