The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has gazetted the remote work visitor visa and the new points-based system for work visas.
This, in an effort to narrow SA’s skills deficit by attracting highly-skilled remote workers, commonly referred to as digital nomads.
In a statement issued yesterday, the DHA says the move is in line with the Government of National Unity’s (GNU’s) collective mandate to “overhaul the visa regime to attract skills and investment, and grow the tourism sector”, as outlined by president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Says home affairs minister Leon Schreiber: “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.
“The department’s meticulous attention to detail to ensure these reforms are fit-for-purpose and market-friendly 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.”
Key among the DHA’s core functions is the management of identity, civil status and migration of citizens.
According to the department, the remote work visa enables highly-paid individuals who are employed abroad, and thus do not compete with local workers, to spend their valuable foreign currency in SA, pay value-added tax into the local fiscus, and buy South African goods and services from local producers.
In addition, the new points-based system for work visas aims to combat corruption and inefficiency by cutting red tape and introducing a transparent points scale to objectively determine who qualifies for a critical skills or general work visa.
For a general work visa, applications submitted outside of the Trusted Employer Scheme, a newly-introduced threshold of R650 796 in gross annual income – which amounts to double the median income in the formal sector – will protect existing jobs at the lower end of the market, while injecting skills at the top.
The department notes an exclusively online application and adjudication platform for these visas is in the works, urging applicants to continue submitting applications through the relevant service providers and South African missions abroad in the interim.
Schreiber adds: “By harnessing the power of market-based regulatory reform to cut red tape and enhance transparency, home affairs is fighting corruption in our immigration system, while delivering on the GNU’s apex priority to grow the economy and create thousands of new jobs for the people of South Africa.”
An advocate of the remote working visa, the City of Cape Town has welcomed the move. Cape Town has actively urged an overhaul of the DHA’s visa system, to make it easier to travel to SA for tourism, business and work. Furthermore, the city has set in motion efforts that position it as the remote working destination of choice.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis comments: “We warmly welcome these major visa reforms and the exciting economic and job-creating potential to bring substantially more tourism to our shores. Cape Town is an ideal remote working destination and now people will be able to stay longer in our city, and spend more money here to the benefit of local businesses.”
Alderman James Vos, mayoral committee member for economic growth, adds: “In the coming weeks, my team and I will engage Cape Town’s business leaders on the various reforms and how they can capitalise on it for the benefit of economic and job growth in the city.
“In my consultations with role players in Cape Town’s high-growth industries, it was made clear that companies often needed to bring foreign experts into the country to properly train staff. These reforms now make it easier for companies to access the necessary specialists to provide skills development.”
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