Home Affairs turns to AI to tackle decades-old asylum backlog

The Department of Home Affairs has launched the first phase of a new Digital Asylum System as it moves to overhaul South Africa’s asylum process and tackle a backlog that has accumulated over decades.

The first phase of the system is now live for a limited batch of test cases and is expected to open for public intake following the department’s next scheduled software release this weekend.

The online platform allows people seeking asylum to register their intention to apply digitally by providing personal information, facial biometrics and supporting documents.

However, Home Affairs has stressed that registering an intention to apply does not amount to a formal asylum application and does not grant an individual asylum, refugee status, South African citizenship or any other immigration status.

Applicants will still have to follow the formal asylum process prescribed by South African law.

The department said the first phase will help it determine expected application volumes, allowing it to plan capacity and resources ahead of the rollout of further phases.

These phases are expected to introduce appointment scheduling, additional biometric verification and checks against existing Home Affairs records, before the system is fully digitalised.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools will eventually be incorporated to help process asylum applications and appeals more efficiently.

Home Affairs said the technology will be used to help clear the decades-old asylum appeals backlog and reduce the time required to process new applications.

The department said the faster processing of cases would also allow failed asylum seekers to be deported more quickly, while ensuring that people with genuine claims for protection are dealt with appropriately.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said lengthy delays in the asylum application and appeals system had created opportunities for abuse.

“The central problem we are working to solve is the inordinate delays traditionally associated with the asylum application and appeals processes,” Schreiber said.

He said these delays had been caused in part by chronic shortages of funding and personnel.

According to Home Affairs, at the beginning of the current administration, only nine officials were responsible for dealing with thousands of outstanding appeals.

Schreiber said the department was now using biometric, machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to overcome these capacity constraints.

“Over the next few months, we will roll out subsequent phases of this project until the time required to adjudicate an asylum application and appeal is dramatically reduced,” he said.

The department said the new system would also help reduce opportunities for corruption by limiting reliance on manual processes.

People who do not have access to digital devices or the internet will be able to receive assistance with registration at Refugee Reception Offices.

Home Affairs also warned that registering an intention to seek asylum does not provide blanket protection from immigration enforcement, with deportations continuing in accordance with the law.

The Digital Asylum System forms part of the department’s wider digital transformation programme, which also includes the Electronic Travel Authorisation system aimed at modernising immigration processes and strengthening security.

The rollout follows the Constitutional Court’s judgment of 7 July 2026, which Home Affairs said the new system helps implement in a sustainable way while strengthening national security and protecting the department’s operational capacity.