South Africa | Validity of Lesotho Exemption Permits automatically extended

South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced the validity of the Lesotho Exemption Permits (LEP) has been granted an automatic extension to Nov. 28, 2025.

Key Points:

• As BAL reported, Zimbabwean nationals were also recently granted automatic extensions of their Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs).
• Existing LEPs shall be deemed to remain valid for the next eleven months.
• An exemption permit holder is entitled to conduct business, work and seek employment as well as free movement between South Africa and any other country.
• Lesotho nationals cannot apply for permanent residency regardless of the period of stay in South Africa and cannot change their immigration status during the validity of the permit.

Background: The ZEP program began when the South African government granted “special dispensation” for Zimbabweans who were in the country illegally, many of them having had fled violence and instability in Zimbabwe. The South African government replaced Special Dispensation for Zimbabweans with Zimbabwean Special Permits in 2014 and again in 2017 with the introduction of the ZEP. A similar exemption was granted to nationals of Lesotho to provide them relief and to ease the burden on the asylum system. The exemption affects approximately 54,653 nationals of Lesotho.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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