Department announces publication of remote work visitor visa

The Department of Home Affairs has announced the publication of the long-awaited Remote Working Visitor Visa, as well as the new points-based system for working visas.

In July 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) collective mandate in this area through his call to “review the visa regime to attract skills and investment and grow the tourism sector”.

Just three months later, the Department of Home Affairs claims to have fulfilled this mandate through a set of world-class reforms.

“The publication of all the necessary elements for the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based Work Visa System amounts to the most progressive and pro-employment regulatory reform South Africa has seen in decades,” said the Minister of Internal Affairs, Leon Schreiber.

He said the department’s meticulous attention to detail to ensure 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 for awarding visas in order to combat corruption,” he said.

According to the department, the Remote Work Visa “allows highly paid individuals who work abroad and are therefore not in competition with local workers, to spend their valuable foreign currency right here in South Africa, pay Value Tax Added to the South African tax, eat in South African restaurants and buy South African goods and services from South African producers.”

The new Points-Based System for Work Visas combats corruption and inefficiency by reducing bureaucracy and introducing a transparent points scale to objectively determine who qualifies for a Critical Skills or General Work Visa.

Furthermore, for General Employment Visa applications lodged outside the Trusted Employer Scheme, a recently introduced limit of R650 796 on gross annual income – which is equivalent to twice the average income in the formal sector – will better protect existing jobs at the lower end of the spectrum. sector. market while injecting skills at the top.

Independent research commissioned by the Reserve Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute shows that increasing the number of high-level skills as a percentage of South Africa’s total population by just 0.02% could boost annual economic growth by up to 1.2%.

The same research predicts that a strengthened visa regime could create seven new jobs for every additional skilled worker attracted to the economy.

“By harnessing the power of market-based regulatory reform to reduce bureaucracy and increase transparency, Home Affairs is combating corruption in our immigration system, while also delivering on the GNU’s top priority of growing the economy and create thousands of new jobs for the population of South Africa.

“I want to thank the Presidency and Operation Vulindlela for their valuable support and look forward to continuing to work together to implement new reforms that fight corruption and create jobs,” said Schreiber.

As an interim measure, while the department lays the groundwork for digital transformation to move exclusively to online application and adjudication, applicants for the Remote Work Visa as well as the Critical Skills Visa and the General Work Visa under the new System Based in Points, they can continue to submit applications through relevant service providers and South African missions abroad.

Relevant documents can be accessed at dha.gov.za. – SAnews.gov.za