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Zahida Ebrahim is a director in ENSafrica’s dispute resolution department, and heads up the firm’s immigration unit.

She offers an extensive range of immigration and civic services to individuals and multinational companies, including large corporates and top-tier South African and international companies, as well as to various business chambers and professional bodies.

Zahida’s specialist immigration knowledge and experience enables her to offer an all-encompassing range of immigration and civic services, including relating to temporary and permanent residence applications; applications for waiver of regulatory requirements; applications to the South African Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labour for immigration-related certifications; applications to the South African Qualifications Authority for evaluation of foreign tertiary qualifications; citizenship-related matters, including applications for naturalisation, determination of citizenship status and resumption of citizenship; liaison with the Department of Home Affairs and foreign missions, as well as compliance audits and due diligence investigations.

Zahida actively lobbies for immigration reform by preparing representations to the South African Department of Home Affairs on new and proposed legislative changes, including the amendments to South African immigration legislation in May 2014, where she advised various business chambers and professional bodies on their submissions to government. She previously served on a panel of specialist advisors to the Minister of Home Affairs.

In recognition of Zahida’s expertise, she has been invited to speak at various immigration law seminars. This includes:

• AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) (Las Vegas, 2016 and Maryland, 2015)
• The International Bar Association’s Nationality and Immigration Conference (London, 2015 and 2013)

Zahida has also contributed to a number of texts and publications, including a chapter on immigration issues for Labour Law for Managers: A Practical Handbook; the South African chapter in the Employment Law Review and the Getting the Deal Through Labour and Employment Law publication, Global Mobility Handbook, and Oxford University Press' Corporate Immigration Guide.

From a dispute resolution perspective, her experience includes advising on policy wording reviews, compliance with South African insurance legislation, insurance due diligence assessments, as well as high court litigation relating to commercial and insurance disputes.

Zahida is recognised as a leading/recommended lawyer by:

• Business Women’s Association’s Regional Business Achiever Award 2016 – Professional category
• Who’s Who Legal 2017, 2016 – Immigration (South Africa)

• LLB (University of the Western Cape)
• Admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa