Home Affairs Dept officially introduces remote work visa

CAPE TOWN - The Home Affairs Department has officially introduced a remote work visitor visa for South Africa. 

It will allow highly paid individuals employed abroad to work in the country.

Another new reform gazetted this week is a points-based system to adjudicate applications for work visas. 

Minister Leon Schreiber said this system is intended to curb corruption.

Schreiber said the new visa reforms are in line with the president’s call to overhaul the system to attract skills and investment, and to grow the tourism sector.

It’s intended the remote worker’s visa will result in high-earning individuals spending their valuable foreign currency in South Africa.

The points-based system for work visas on the other hand is intended to create a transparent system for determining who is eligible for such a visa.

Applications submitted outside the trusted employer scheme will require that the applicant earn a threshold of more than R650,796 in gross annual income to protect local jobs at the lower end of the market.

“Home Affairs’ 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.”

Until the shift to the digital submission of applications, all work visa applications - which will be assessed according to the new points system - will still have to be submitted through recognised agencies, and South African missions abroad.