25 Jun South Africa’s Stringent Visa System
South Africa’s stringent visa system has businesses and skilled workers frustrated by its stifling visa requirements. This has left many investors disillusioned, abandoning their plans in the country. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) visa system problems have hurt investment and business activity.
Mireille Wenger, the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, has stated that a key challenge to attracting investment and expanding business is “the broken South African visa regime.”
Wenger further stated that “to facilitate foreign investment, companies need to be able to easily access South Africa, and those who apply for critical skills visas typically help to develop new and existing sectors in line with international best practices or by helping new industries through skills development.”
Loss of Foreign Investment
Companies looking to invest in South Africa are required to invest a minimum of R5 million and have at least 60% of their staff be South African nationals.
Many have found applying for a work visa to be a long and unnecessarily complex process. This is made worse by an inefficient system that will add to the already mounting backlog. A visa process that usually takes weeks can now take months.
Over 4,500 jobs, R1.6 billion in economic value, are at risk of being lost as a result of the Department of Home Affairs’s infamous backlog and delayed visa processes.
The delays are due to unprocessed and unfinalised visas. These are mostly for spousal work, critical skills, life partner visas, and permanent residency visa applications, essential for training experts, who are needed to upskill employers in the sector. This, in turn, makes room for more South African jobs.
What Businesses Have to Say
Recently, a survey was conducted involving 150 businesses from a variety of sectors. From technology, finance, and manufacturing to agriculture and tourism, the survey’s findings concluded that 78% of the respondents rated South Africa’s immigration application system as “very poor” in comparison to other countries they’ve operated in.
Further results have shown that 26% of businesses have decided to move their businesses abroad as a result of the serious challenges faced by the national visa system.
This highlights the fact that the current system in place by the DHA is negatively impacting South Africa’s investment and expansion of existing businesses. This is a huge loss for job creation and economic growth.
To ease these constraints, there have been new regulations implemented to replace the highly contested critical skills lists. These include a new point-based system as well as a new remote working visa category. These new regulations have been warmly welcomed and have received positive feedback from businesses in South Africa.
With a decade of experience successfully handling thousands of immigration applications, June Luna Immigration Attorneys is well-equipped to help you navigate the intricacies of the South African visa process.
With our team of legal specialists, we offer guidance and practical steps to ensure your visa applications and legal requirements are handled. For a smooth immigration process and favourable outcomes, contact us today.