The Department of Home Affairs has officially gazetted two groundbreaking reforms: the Remote Work Visitor Visa and a new Points-Based System for Work Visas. These reforms are set to overhaul South Africa’s visa regime, delivering on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s July 2024 mandate to attract skills and investment while growing the tourism sector.
In just three months, Home Affairs has made significant strides toward modernising the visa system, with the new regulations being lauded as pivotal in positioning South Africa as a leading global destination for both investment and tourism.
The Remote Work Visa is aimed at highly paid individuals employed abroad who do not compete with the local workforce but can still contribute to the South African economy. By living and working remotely in the country, these individuals will spend their foreign earnings on local goods and services, pay Value-Added Tax (VAT), and boost the domestic tourism and hospitality sectors.
In parallel, the new Points-Based System for Work Visas seeks to reduce corruption and inefficiency by streamlining the visa application process. The system introduces a transparent points scale to objectively evaluate Critical Skills and General Work Visa applicants. A notable change includes a threshold of R650,796 in gross annual income for General Work Visa applications, which is intended to protect jobs in the lower end of the market while attracting high-end talent.
As the Department of Home Affairs moves towards a fully digital system for visa applications, applicants for the Remote Work Visa, Critical Skills Visa, and General Work Visa will continue to apply through existing service providers and South African missions abroad in the interim.
To view all supporting documents, click in the links below:
- Immigration. 2024. Points Based System – October 2024
- Immigration. 2024. Third Regulation Amendment re Points Based System – October 2024
- Immigration Directive to Missions – no 9 of 202 – 8 Oct 2024
Read the full statement released by the Department here.
