The key drivers of South Africa’s immigration policy are as follows.

• The South African economy is slowly recovering from pandemic-driven shocks and, as a result, the country has been battling high levels of unemployment especially amongst the youth.
• There is little substantive research about immigration into South Africa. Therefore, there is little accurate information to inform immigration policy. The characteristics of economic migration to the Republic of South Africa are also misunderstood. 

• The perception that foreign nationals, whether documented or undocumented, whether blue or white collar, deprive South Africans of work – however skilled or unskilled – and business opportunities, is a major political consideration.

• South African immigration is managed by the Immigration Act, 13 of 2002.

The Department of Home Affairs in South Africa, which oversees immigration matters in South Africa, is trying to manage widespread criticism by business that a combination of its officials and red tape actively hinders the importation of needed skills and workers. 

This has led to various positive measures in the last six months, such as:

• the Trusted Employer Scheme; 
• the ongoing roll-out of an e-visa system; 
• a soon-to-be announced introduction of a remote working visa; and
• simplifying the visa and permit adjudication processes. 

However, in April 2024, the Minister of Home Affairs published a White Paper on South Africa’s immigration policy – with the term “immigration” being used in its widest sense. This policy paper promises: 

• a widespread crack down on the country’s supposedly porous borders; 
• a tightening up of work visa requirements by way of the introduction a points-based system; and
• to make it more difficult for temporary residents to obtain permanent residence permits and to naturalise as South African citizens in the Republic of South Africa.

These policy goals are to be achieved by way of a complete overhaul of South Africa’s immigration and related legislation into single omnibus Act. The Minister of Home Affairs has announced that draft legislation will be tabled in Parliament as a matter of urgency. Realistically, that will likely only happen in 2025 at the earliest.

Short-Term Visas (For Periods up to Six Months)

Section 11(2) of the Immigration Act authorises a visa to be issued to allow an expat to be deployed in order to work “at” a company in the Republic of South Africa but not “for” that South African company. This visa is issued for three months and can be extended for a further three months.

Section 11(1) authorises a visa to be issued for up to three months to allow an expat to travel to the country in order to attend board meetings, trade exhibitions, explore business opportunities or to give training. It too can be extended for a further three months.

Long-Term (Sponsored) Work Visas

• The Intra-Company Work Visa provides for the situation where the expat is deployed to work at a company in the Republic of South Africa for a period of up to four years but will remain employed by the company which sends the expat to South Africa for the duration of the visa.
• The Critical Skills Work Visa is to be applied for where the expat will be employed by the South African company for a period of up to five years, in a field that is defined to be a critical skill.
• The General Work Visa can be issued for up to five years. It is to be applied for where the expat will be employed by a South African company but does not have a critical skill. The South African employer will have to first satisfy the Department of Employment and Labour that it was unable to find a similarly skilled South African citizen (which term includes permanent resident) to fill the post.
• The Corporate Work Permit is to be applied for by the employer where it needs to employ large numbers of expats (such as in mining and agriculture) and satisfies the Department of Employment and Labour as well as the Department of Home Affairs that it was unable to find South African citizens to fill the posts. If approved, the employer will then be able to recruit expats located outside South Africa.

There are a number of different types of unsponsored work visas, as set out below.

Long-Term Visitor Visa

Long-Term Visitor Visas are available for the following work-related activities:

• an academic sabbatical;
• voluntary or charitable activities;
• research;
• teaching at an international school;
• in respect of films and advertisements produced in South Africa, including, but not limited to, an actor, cameraman, hairstylist, make-up artist or lighting and sound engineer;
• a foreign journalist seconded to the Republic by a foreign news agency;
• a visiting professor or lecturer or an academic researcher;
• an artist who wishes to write, paint or sculpt (provided that the individual submits a portfolio of their previous work);
• a person involved in the entertainment industry, travelling through the Republic to perform; and
• a tour leader or host of such a tour.

Spousal Visas

A Spousal Visa is available to the spouse of a South African citizen where the couple have been cohabiting for at least two years or are married and the expat spouse wishes to work or be self-employed. There is no skills or Department of Labour checking for these cases.

Relatives Visa

A Relatives Visa grants permission to work without a skills requirement or checking by the Department of Employment and Labour. This is available where the expat is responsible for the support and upkeep of a child in the Republic of South Africa and does not qualify for the spousal visa.

Study Visa

With a Study Visa, a student registered at a tertiary institution is allowed to work on a part-time basis for up to 20 hours a week without needing the prior authority of the Department of Home Affairs.

Exchange Visa

With an Exchange Visa, an expat under 25 years of age can get permission to work for up to 12 months on condition a local employer undertakes responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the young expat. There is no skills requirement or checking by the Department of Employment and Labour.

Business Visa

In respect of an investment into South Africa, the only applicable visa is the business visa.

Where the expat is establishing a new company or buying a controlling stake in an existing company in the Republic of South Africa, the expat must obtain a Business Visa. This is usually issued for up to four years and is renewable. Business Visas are not issued for enterprises which are in sectors that are deemed to be undesirable. The Department of Home Affairs maintains a schedule of undesirable business activities. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition must also first give its approval for the business visa application.

The key requirement is that the visa applicant must demonstrate that they have in excess of ZAR5 million available offshore to invest in the South African company. Alternatively, it will be sufficient for the applicant to show that some or all of the funds have been brought into the Republic of South Africa. The investment can also be in a mix of cash and capital.

If approved, the business visa will be issued on the condition that the visa holder submits proof within two years that the funds have been brought into the country and are still reflected in the company books.

All visas are endorsed with the activity that the expat has been authorised to undertake whilst in the Republic of South Africa whether this is to run a business, to be employed, to study, etc. In terms of South Africa’s Bill of Rights, visas cannot restrict or otherwise manage any other activity on the part of the expat other than that described in the visa. 

There are other activities which expats may not undertake or which are subject to conditions. These restrictions are contained in legislation managed by other government departments and are not overseen by the Department of Home Affairs.

On 20 May 2024, the Department of Home Affairs gazetted the introduction of a remote working visa. A key feature of this visa category is that the applicant can either be employed by an offshore company or be an independent contractor working for an offshore company. The applicant’s income must be “foreign-sourced”. If the applicant seeks a remote working visa that is valid for more than six months in a 36-month period, the applicant must register with the South African Revenue Service. If the applicant seeks a remote working visa for a period that is less than six months in a 36-month period, the applicant may apply for an exemption from taxpayer registration from the South African Revenue Service. The Department of Home Affairs has as yet not gazetted the specific requirements that will be required for an application for a remote working visa.

There are no prescribed language requirements in order to apply for a visa of any kind. 

However, all documents forming part of a visa application must be in English and the applicant must submit the application in person to a South African Embassy where they may be asked about their application. That process may therefore indirectly impose an English-language requirement.

All persons applying for a visa for a period in excess of six months must submit a medical certificate.

Radiological reports are no longer required.

A person who has travelled to or transited a yellow-fever country must produce a copy of their WHO yellow fever vaccination card.

The COVID-19 vaccine is no longer a requirement.

Intra-Company Transfer Work Visas

The key features/requirements of the Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa are as follows.

• The employee has to have been employed by the foreign company for at least six months before the Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa application is submitted.
• The employee must remain employed by the offshore company for the duration of the Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa.
• The Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa cannot be changed whilst it is still valid and the person remains in South Africa – other than through a company buyout.
• The company in South Africa to which the person is being deployed must be a branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the foreign company sending the individual to South Africa.
• The company in South Africa must already be conducting operations.
• The Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa is issued for periods between six months and four years. The period is dictated by the deployment contract and the term left on the applicant’s passport. This Visa cannot be extended beyond the four years.
• A skills transfer plan will be required as part of this visa application. As a matter of practice, the plan must set out which skills the individual will transfer – how and when – to South African employees at the South African company.
• If after the individual’s visa has expired and they have gone home but thereafter need to return to South Africa after their visa has expired in order to complete tasks etc, then a second Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa must be applied for.
• Whilst there is no formal law on the matter, policy is that the person being sent out should be a senior or other key executive being sent out to fill a key post, but there is some flexibility on this. The applicant should be in a senior position within the offshore company. Similarly, a low salary will imply that that the applicant is not in a senior post, irrespective of their job title.
• Other than as stated above, there are no prescribed minimum qualifications or thresholds to be met by an applicant for an Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa in order to work at a company in South Africa.

Critical Skills Work Visas

There are approximately 150 professions or skills that are deemed by the Department of Home Affairs to be “critical”. The schedule of such professions/skills stipulates the minimum academic or other requirements the applicant must already have in order to qualify for a Critical Skills Work Visa. The Department of Home Affairs aims to update the schedule of critical skills on an annual basis. Whilst there is no prescribed minimum salary and benefits package, informally the fact that an applicant such as a chemical engineer will be paid a token salary package will warrant close scrutiny.

• If the expat who is looking to be employed in South Africa by a South African company satisfies the Department of Home Affairs that the individual has one of those skills/qualifications, they will be issued with a Critical Skills Work Visa.
• To show that they have the required skill or qualification for the Critical Skills Work Visa, the visa applicant must obtain and supply confirmation of this from the appropriate professional body in South Africa which has regulatory oversight in respect of that profession.
• If the person has secured employment in South Africa, the visa will be issued for five years. Alternatively, if the applicant submits proof that they have applied for the necessary professional requirement which application is still pending, it can be granted for up to 12 months to allow the person to submit confirmation of that membership.

General Work Visas

There is no prescribed minimum salary or similar threshold in order to qualify for a General Work Visa. However, and as with the Critical Skills Work Visa, whilst there is no prescribed minimum salary and benefits package, informally the fact that an applicant for a senior position (such as a company’s chief executive) will be paid a token salary package will similarly warrant close scrutiny.

Because the General Work Visa applicant does not have a critical skill, the intended employer must first submit proof to the Department of Employment and Labour that it properly advertised the vacancy in the national media and was thereafter unable to find a similarly skilled South African citizen or permanent resident to fill the post and that the expat is the best candidate for the position. In such cases, it is not uncommon for the Department of Employment and Labour to furnish the South African company with a list of South African citizens which it has on its databases and to require the company to interview and assess those persons. If after screening those candidates, the South African company still cannot find a suitable South African candidate to fill the position and the Department of Employment and Labour is not persuaded that the South African company has conducted a proper search, it will issue the Department of Home Affairs with a “negative recommendation”. The visa applicant is not told of the contents of that report and is told merely to proceed with their application. In reality that negative recommendation will result in the subsequent General Work Visa application being declined.

The process of applying to the Department of Employment and Labour and getting its report will usually take anything between two and nine months. 

The visa applicant can instead first apply to the Minister of Home Affairs to waive the whole Department of Employment and Labour-scrutiny process as being a requirement for the General Work Visa application. The applicant has to satisfy the Minister that they have very good reasons to justify such a waiver. Currently, the waiver process is taking considerably longer than the advertisement route. 

All employment-based work visas are limited to a specific employer. That South African employer will be named in the visa. 

There is no prescribed or guaranteed visa processing time provided for in South Africa’s immigration laws. There is also no procedure for seeking an expedited outcome.

Short-Term Visas

South African embassies strive to process Short-Term Visas in approximately ten working days. It is, however, not unknown for some embassies to take considerably longer, especially if there are problems with the application paperwork.

Visa applications submitted inside the Republic of South Africa are likely to confront the ongoing massive visa adjudication backlog. It is not unknown for a Short-Term Visa application to take a year or more.

Long-Term Visas

South African embassies strive to process Long-Term Visas in approximately 35-40 working days. It is, however, again not unknown for some embassies to take considerably longer, whether due to work volumes or problems with the application paperwork.

In-country work-related visa applications are benefitting from the government’s undertaking to expedite such applications. Results are now being obtained in as little as two weeks.

Non-work-related visa applications submitted inside the Republic of South Africa will join the ongoing massive visa adjudication backlog. It is not unknown for non-work-related long-term visa application to take years to be processed.

The Trusted Employer Scheme

The Trusted Employer Scheme is a pilot project at present managed by the Department of Home Affairs. After assessing how the pilot scheme has worked, that Department will decide whether to announce a second round of applications.

The primary benefit of Trusted Employer Scheme status is that much-improved timeframes for deciding long-term work visas (and visas for accompanying families, etc) are promised whether in-country or at embassies. The Department of Home Affairs has announced that this turnaround time will be approximately two weeks. The Department is keeping to these timeframes at present.

There are also some concessions about visa requirements. 

The essence of the Trusted Employer Scheme is that qualifying employers will be allowed or “trusted” to prepare and submit visa applications to the Department of Home Affairs or to a South African embassy having jurisdiction, the paperwork will be accepted in good faith and the visa(s) will be issued without the Embassy or Department screening the actual paperwork. This will help reduce irrational decisions and the timeframes. The intended employee would still have to meet the requirements for the specific work visa being applied for.

In October 2023, the Department of Home Affairs provided final details of the scheme, how a company qualifies, along with the application form and documents to support such an application. 

The minimum qualifying criteria for the Trusted Employer Scheme pilot project are:

• the South African company must have a minimum of 100 employees; and
• the company must either have pledged an investment into South Africa of over ZAR100 million, proven investment since 2018 or historical fixed capital investment (but not operational expenditure) in excess of ZAR100 million.

There was also a sectoral qualification requirement. The broad sectors into which the South African company must fall are:

• manufacturing;
• advanced manufacturing;
• services;
• resource-based industries;
• energy; and
• infrastructure.

Whether a company fits into one of these sectors requires that the company obtain formal certification by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition – which certification must be included in the application.

Where the South African host company is a member of the Trusted Employer Scheme, the Department of Home Affairs is processing those applications in about two weeks. 

This also applies to Trusted Employer Scheme-sourced applications which are submitted at a South African embassy. In other words, where the person will be taking up employment for or at a South African company, the visa application must include a copy of that company’s membership of the Scheme, and the application will be processed on the basis of the terms of the Scheme.

One of the requirements for a visa application submitted at a South African Embassy is that, as a matter of practice, the applicant’s passport must accompany the application. It will be retained by the South African Embassy until the application has been adjudicated.

If the applicant advises the South African Embassy that they need to retain their passport, more often than not the South African Embassy will return the passport and the application to the individual and instruct them to re-submit the application once they are in a position to also submit their passport.

Some Embassies will accept the visa application without the passport; this occurs where the applicant is not a citizen of the country in which the South African Embassy is located.

There is no mechanism whereby visa processing times at South African Embassies or in-country can be expedited.

Once a visa has been granted and the visa-holder has entered the Republic of South Africa as allowed by the visa, the individual must comply with the conditions of their visa. 

Critical amongst these conditions is that if the individual exits the country with an expired visa, they will be banned from returning to the country for a period that is determined by the duration of the overstay. 

A copy of the visa and passport must be supplied to the host South African employer.

The filing fees for a short-term work-related visa range from ZAR450 to ZAR2,500.

The fees for a long-term work-related visa range from ZAR1,520 to ZAR3,600.

These fees exclude the costs of disbursements such as for the authentication of documents or the verification of an applicant’s skills.

Some embassies require that the visa fees must be paid in advance whether electronically or by credit card to the South African embassy. In this case, the fees may be paid by the employer.

Where that is not provided for, the applicant must pay the visa fees upon submission of the application; in this event, the applicant needs to make that payment.

In accordance with Section 48 of the Immigration Act (the “Act”), all visitors to the Republic of South Africa bear the duty of ensuring that they are in South Africa on the correct visa.

The individual cannot “hide behind” an error that might have been made by the embassy ‒ even if the South African embassy makes the mistake and the visa-applicant had no part in that mistake.

Section 49 of the Act makes it a criminal offence for a foreign national to either:

• not have a valid visa; or 
• to have the incorrect visa, having regard to what the individual is coming to do in the Republic of South Africa. As a minimum, a court may impose a fine or a custodial sentence of up to two years. 

Anecdotally, if convicted, court practice for a first offence appears to be a custodial sentence of six months whereafter the person will be deported. 

A person who has been deported is automatically deemed to be a “prohibited person”. 

This sanction carries a lifetime ban from qualifying for a South African visa. One can approach the Department of Home Affairs to have this prohibition lifted. However, a person who has been deported cannot make such application until they have been absent from the country for at least four years.

Due to its non-extra-territorial nature, the Act does not make provision for sanctions in respect of errors committed by the offshore company as part of the application. However, embassy officials have been known to “flag” serially errant offshore companies which would subject future visa applications which they have sponsored to extra-rigorous assessment.

Section 38 of the Act imposes a duty on all employers in the Republic of South Africa to “make a good faith effort” to ensure that all persons working at their facilities are properly authorised or permitted to undertake that work. The term “good faith effort” is not defined. 

Section 49 also makes a contravention of Section 38 a criminal offence for the South African company and/or the human resources person responsible for engaging the expat(s). 

The custodial sentence can be for up to five years or longer for repeat-offender employers.

Section 38 of the Immigration Act imposes a duty on all employers in the Republic of South Africa to “make a good faith effort” to ensure that all persons working at their facilities are properly authorised or permitted to undertake that work.   

The Department of Home Affairs deploys inspectors to conduct workplace inspections. These inspectors have sweeping powers, but due to capacity limitations, the inspections tend to focus on “high-risk” sectors such as fast-food and hospitality.

Family members who will be accompanying an individual who has been granted a Long-Term Visa to work in South Africa qualify to apply for a Section 11(1)(b)(iv) visitor visa as read with Regulation 11(4)(a) to the Act:

• this visa can be applied for the spouse or dependent child of the holder of a long-term visa; and
• a spouse includes anyone who is married.

The term “spouse” also includes an unmarried person who has been in a long-term spousal relationship for a period in excess of two years. The term excludes the accompanying spouse who is in a pre-existing spousal relationship – for example, they are in a marriage which has not been terminated. 

The term “dependant child” is not confined to children who are minors.

This visa can be issued for up to three years and is extendable from within the Republic of South Africa.

The Section 11(1)(b)(iv) visa does not give the accompanying spouse permission to work in the Republic of South Africa – it expressly excludes permission to work, whether paid or unpaid.

If the accompanying spouse wishes to work in the Republic of South Africa, the individual must meet all the requirements of whichever type of work-related visa they qualify to apply for.