Operation Vulindlela says that big changes for South Africa’s visa regime, aimed at making it easier for businesses to attract critical skills, will soon be ready for public comment.
BUSINESSTECH reports that three key changes are:
- Creating new visa categories for remote workers and start-ups;
- Establishing a points-based system for work visa application routes, and
- Introducing a ‘trusted employer’ scheme.
The Department of Home Affairs is expected to gazette the changes soon.
BUSINESSTECH reports that the changes will complement reforms already implemented, which include expanding visa waivers to more countries and publishing a revised critical skills list.
Another change includes streamlining document requirements for work visa applications to ease the burden on applicants.
Home Affairs is also expanding its visa waiver programme to more countries. Presently, visas are waived for about 132 countries. Home Affairs is negotiating extending this programme to 10 more countries.
Where countries do not have a visa waiver, they have been included in the eVisa system rollout.
South Africa’s eVisa platform currently covers 34 countries. This means that visitors from 164 countries have or will have easier access into South Africa.
Operation Vulindlela said it ‘will continue to work with the (Home Affairs) to ensure that these reforms are implemented swiftly and to a high standard’.
The current visa regime has been called by immigration companies a nightmare to work with, and the processes have been ‘chaotic’.
A backlog peaking at over 62,000 at the start of 2023 is only expected to be cleared by mid-2024.
[Image: Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay]