High court denies Nigerian man permanent residency after two fake work visas and a fraudulent police clearance

A Nigerian man who wanted to be granted permanent residency had his application dismissed by the Cape Town High Court after it was revealed that his methods to remain in the country were riddled with inconsistencies and illegal conduct.

Peter Sunday Akinsanya took the department of home affairs in the Western Cape to court after it had rejected his appeal for a permanent resident application. He first applied for permanent residence in February 2019.

Akinsanya initially arrived in South Africa in November 2014 under a visitor’s visa that allowed him a 10-day stay. However, following the expiration of his visa, he overstayed his welcome and attempted to convert his visitor's status into a work visa—a move that is prohibited under South African immigration laws. 

He claimed he applied for the work visa after using the services of an agent only known as Sam who he met at Gautrain station and paid him R23,000. He said he was already eyeing a job at a company called Mortu Mortu (Pty) Ltd.

Moreover, he wanted to be allowed to live as a permanent resident because he owns property in the country and has a valid driver’s license which for him, was compelling enough to have his application considered.

In response, home affairs said that when Akinsanya applied for permanent residence, it was discovered that prior to his 2014 visitor's visa, there was a work visa issued in December 2013 for employment in the same company he had applied for when he first came to the country. The visa expired in 2018.

However, no clarification was provided by Akinsanya regarding how this prior work visa predated his visitor’s visa. In court, he denied having knowledge of the 2013 work visa.

In 2021, he attempted to change his status once more by applying to be declared a non-prohibited person and amongst other things, he supplied a fraudulent police clearance certificate.

As expected, home affairs rejected his application and also considered the fact that he had overstayed his visitor’s visa, and he had attempted to change his status from a visitor status to work status, which is not allowed. Additionally, the discovery of two fraudulent work visas further tarnished his case.

Despite the setback, he filed another application in February 2024, and this application was subsequently rejected in September 2024 on the grounds of dishonesty. Following this rejection, he applied for reconsideration in October 2024, specifically challenging the stated reasons for the denial, but his application was unsuccessful once more.

He sought relief in the Western Cape High Court where acting judge Sungaree Pather presided over the matter and remarked that the events surrounding the application could only be characterised as a "calamity of illegal conduct" by Akinsanya, noting that he had made an error "almost at every turn" in his attempts to remain in the country.

Analysing the evidence, Judge Pather said she was certain that Akinsanya was in possession of two fraudulent work visas and she rejected his reasons that he didn't know the person who issued the visas.

"The applicant (Akinsanya) met the agent, he was told that the agent can assist. He knew that the agent was not an employee of Home Affairs, or else he would not have met him at the Gauteng train station. He paid him R23,000 in cash for the work that was to be done. This is suspicious and clearly was a contact being used to short-circuit the process and bypass the systems, rules and regulations that were in place," said the judge.

Moreover, the judge said there was overwhelming evidence showing that Akinsanya came to the country with a visitor's visa but had no intention to leave the country and was willing to use illegal means to stay.

"He started off with his visitor’s visa, then he attempted to seek asylum. He is told the process is long and he should rather apply for a work visa. At that point, he knew that he wanted to short-circuit the legal systems that were in place.

"He then applies for a work visa, then he finds out there was an existing work visa application in 2013, then he applies for a student visa. The application for a student visa is riddled with further queries. According to his permanent residency application is a Software Engineer, yet in his student visa application, he wants to enrol to study to be an IT Software Developer," said the judge.

Judge Panther said Akinsanya was a disingenuous applicant and it was also concerning how he acquired the property.

"No proper information was put up of the transfer, but rather a letter from the conveyancer. There are strict compliance requirements to transfer immovable property and none of these documents were put up. I am concerned that the acquisition of the property could have been done so fraudulently or irregularly," she said.

Having considered all the evidence, Judge Panther said there was no other conclusion to reach other than supporting home affair's decision in refusing Akinsanya permanent residency.

His application was dismissed.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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He sought relief in the Western Cape High Court where acting judge Sungaree Pather presided over the matter and remarked that the events surrounding the application could only be characterised as a "calamity of illegal conduct" by Akinsanya, noting that he had made an error "almost at every turn" in his attempts to remain in the country.

Analysing the evidence, Judge Pather said she was certain that Akinsanya was in possession of two fraudulent work visas and she rejected his reasons that he didn't know the person who issued the visas.

"The applicant (Akinsanya) met the agent, he was told that the agent can assist. He knew that the agent was not an employee of Home Affairs, or else he would not have met him at the Gauteng train station. He paid him R23,000 in cash for the work that was to be done. This is suspicious and clearly was a contact being used to short-circuit the process and bypass the systems, rules and regulations that were in place," said the judge.

Moreover, the judge said there was overwhelming evidence showing that Akinsanya came to the country with a visitor's visa but had no intention to leave the country and was willing to use illegal means to stay.

"He started off with his visitor’s visa, then he attempted to seek asylum. He is told the process is long and he should rather apply for a work visa. At that point, he knew that he wanted to short-circuit the legal systems that were in place.

"He then applies for a work visa, then he finds out there was an existing work visa application in 2013, then he applies for a student visa. The application for a student visa is riddled with further queries. According to his permanent residency application is a Software Engineer, yet in his student visa application, he wants to enrol to study to be an IT Software Developer," said the judge.

Judge Panther said Akinsanya was a disingenuous applicant and it was also concerning how he acquired the property.

"No proper information was put up of the transfer, but rather a letter from the conveyancer. There are strict compliance requirements to transfer immovable property and none of these documents were put up. I am concerned that the acquisition of the property could have been done so fraudulently or irregularly," she said.

Having considered all the evidence, Judge Panther said there was no other conclusion to reach other than supporting home affair's decision in refusing Akinsanya permanent residency.

His application was dismissed.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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