South Africa implements new work-visa reforms to attract global workforce

South Africa on Wednesday published several guidelines to reform the country’s existing work visas in an effort to draw workforce from abroad to bolster its economy.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced the changes signalling a significant change from South Africa’s past immigration policies that critics have labelled xenophobic.

Under the previous system, foreigners with job offers in South Africa had to wait months or years for a visa and were sometimes denied for unexplained reasons.

What are the new reforms?

The two reforms that are expected to overhaul the visa processing system are:

• Remote Work Visa: It allows well-paid foreign employees, who work for companies outside of South Africa and therefore do not compete with the local workforce, to reside in the country. By doing so, they contribute to the local economy by spending their foreign earnings, paying Value-Added Tax, dining at local restaurants, and purchasing goods and services from South African businesses

• Points-Based System for Work Visas: This new system aims to reduce corruption and inefficiency by simplifying the application process and using a transparent points-based scale to objectively assess eligibility for Critical Skills or General Work Visas. Moreover, General Work Visa applicants who are not part of South Africa’s Trusted Employer Scheme must meet a new gross annual income threshold of R650,796—double the median income in the formal sector. This measure helps safeguard lower-income jobs while attracting high-skilled talent

“The gazetting of all required elements for the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based System for Work Visas amounts to the single most progressive and pro-jobs regulatory reform South Africa has seen in decades," Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said.

He added, “The Department’s meticulous attention to detail to ensure that these reforms are fit-for-purpose and market-friendly, has resulted in two products that begin to reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism to create thousands of new jobs for South Africans. Importantly, the new points-based system also introduces a transparent framework to adjudicate visas in order to tackle corruption.”

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With inputs from agencies