United Nations confirms SA not obliged to give citizenship because of birth

10-02-2022

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Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi gives details of their meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The South African Home Affairs ministry has concluded a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) on various issues concerning refugees in the country.

John Perlman speaks to Home Affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi for more details.

A few weeks ago, there was a group of NGOs and human rights groups that clubbed together and marched to Home Affairs and demanded that every child born of foreign parents who are born on our soil must get our birth certificate and citizenship.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Home Affairs

I came out to the media and said we are not obliged to do that and there is no law that forces us. Now the United Nations yesterday accepted it. The United Nations said no there is no obligation on any country to give you citizenship because you were born there.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Home Affairs

www.samigration.com

Kind Regards

How to switch to a Skilled Worker visa in the UK under new rules

Businesstech – 10-02- 2022

Under new rules, workers in the UK who hold a student, youth mobility scheme or intra-company transfer visa are now allowed to switch to a Skilled Worker visa without having to leave the UK, says Darren Faife, managing director, business immigration at Sable International.

Faife takes a closer look at the conditions needed to make this switch.

Switching visas

The Youth Mobility Scheme visa, previously known as the T5 Youth Mobility Scheme visa, is often referred to as the UK working holiday visa and is a great way to gain international work experience as well as travel throughout the EU. This visa allows young people (aged 18-30) from certain countries to live, work and travel in the UK for up to two years.

If you’re in the UK on a working holiday visa and secure sponsorship for a job, under the new Skilled Worker route, which came into effect on 1 December 2020, you are now able to switch into the Skilled Worker route from within the UK.

You will need to meet the following requirements:

• You are aged 18 or over
• You have a valid certificate of sponsorship for the job you’re planning to do
• The job offer is for a genuine vacancy
• The sponsor has paid any required immigration skills charge
• The job is at the appropriate skill level
• You will be paid a salary that equals or exceeds both a general salary threshold and the “going rate” for the occupation.

How a Student visa can lead to a Skilled Worker visa

Like the Youth Mobility Scheme visa, if you’re in the UK on a Student visa (previously the Tier 4 (General) student visa), you can now switch to a Skilled Worker visa from within the country.

Students with this visa can switch more easily to a Skilled Worker visa because they will enter the job market under the new entrant regulations. The advantage of being considered a new entrant to the job market is that there is a much lower salary requirement.

Usually, someone with a Skilled Worker visa is required to earn a salary which equals or exceeds both a general salary threshold (£25,600) and 100% of the “going rate” for the occupation.

A new entrant, however, only needs to be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both £20,480 per year and 70% of the going rate for the occupation. This is a significantly lower figure and will permit new entrants to be paid a lower salary.

New entrant requirements:

Anyone under the age of 26 years old, would be considered a new entrant to the job market.

Other considerations include:

• Your most recent visa was a Student visa.
• That visa expired less than two years before the date of application.
• In that Student visa, or any previous Student visa, you were sponsored to study one of the following courses (not any other qualifications of an equivalent level):
• a UK bachelor’s degree
• a UK master’s degree
• a UK PhD or other doctoral qualification
• a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
• a Professional Graduate Diploma of Education
• You completed (or are applying no more than three months before you are expected to complete) the above mentioned course, or you are studying a PhD and have completed at least 12 months of study in the UK towards the PhD.

The Graduate visa ‘stepping stone’

After successfully completing your course, you can switch from a Student visa to a Graduate visa, which allows you to stay in the UK and work, or look for work, for two years. If you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, you will be able to stay for three years.

You can apply for a Graduate visa if:

• You’re in the UK
• Your current visa is a Student visa
• You studied a UK bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course for a minimum period of time with your Student visa
• Your education provider has told you you’ve successfully completed your course

With a Graduate visa you can:

• Work in most jobs (except as a professional sportsperson)
• Look for work
• Be self-employed
• Continue living in the UK with your partner and children, if they’re eligible
• Do voluntary work
• Travel abroad and return to the UK

The Graduate visa cannot be extended, but you can switch to a Skilled Worker visa which is a route to indefinite leave to remain.

Intra-company transfers and the Skilled Worker visa

Under these new post-Brexit rules, workers who are currently in the UK on a Intra-company transfer (ICT) visa can now switch to a Skilled Worker visa from within the UK. This was previously not possible, and you were subject to a 12-month cooling-off period where you would have to return home before being able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa.

This cooling-off period also applied to Tier 2 (General) visa holders when your visa expired. If you got a new job and required a new Tier 2 visa, you would have to wait until 12 months had passed before applying for a new visa, if you had already left the UK.

In December 2020, the Tier 2 (General) visa was replaced by the points-based Skilled Worker visa. Under the new rules, you can apply for a new Skilled Worker visa from within the UK before your current visa expires.

Unlike an ICT visa, a Skilled Worker visa gives you the opportunity to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years.

Workers on an ICT visa will have to prove the following in order to qualify for a Skilled Worker visa:

• Your job must meet the eligibility criteria.
• You can speak, read, write and understand English

These new rules afford visa holders, who previously had no means to remain in the UK if they wished, the chance to do so. The Skilled Worker visa is a much-coveted visa that presents a route to indefinite leave to remain and possibly citizenship, and the wealth of opportunity that comes with it.

www.samigration.com

New options open for South Africans wanting to move to the UK

Businesstech 02-02-2022

Under the revised points-based immigration system post-Brexit, there’s never been a better time to capitalise upon the business growth opportunities presented by the United Kingdom, says Darren Faife, managing director, Business Immigration, Sable International.

The new system offers South African businesses an excellent opportunity to expand their operations to the UK. In addition, business owners can also apply to obtain residency and sponsor their family members to live in Britain.

Previously, small business owners especially struggled to qualify for visas to the UK. While the Sole Representative visa was an option for senior staff from large corporations, there were limited options for business founders and entrepreneurs, noted Faife.

“Now, senior employees can come to the UK to oversee a new branch, which presents tremendous business growth opportunities and use the newly-formed entity as an immigration vehicle to sponsor Business owners and their family members to life in the UK.”

How to expand your business to the UK, step-by-step

The first step towards expanding a business into the UK is to consult with a business relocation expert who can handle all the logistics and operational aspects attached to the expansion process, said Faife.

Phase 1: Business expansion

“It is important to note that an individual’s business expansion needs must be prioritised before any immigration talks can start.

“For immigration purposes, applicants need to be able to show the Home Office that the prospective UK business is a legitimate one and the role being sponsored is a genuine vacancy. This takes careful planning and consideration.”

The process will broadly include:

• Incorporating the UK entity;
• Setting up a UK bank account;
• Registering the entity for all business taxes required, such as Corporation Tax, PAYE and VAT;
• Registering for Auto-Enrolment (the UK requires businesses to have employees registered for private pension contributions).

Once the operational aspects of the business are taken care of, applicants will need to hire their first UK-based staff member to serve as the authorising officer for the potential immigration phase to be viable.

“An Authorising Officer is a staff member who takes responsibility for the company’s sponsorship licence. This is often an employee with sufficient seniority to take responsibility for administering the company’s UK immigration policies,” said Faife.

Phase 2: Immigration vehicle

He said that the business needs to be a registered licensed sponsor before the owner can recruit staff from abroad and issue them with a Certificate of Sponsorship. Once the business is registered, relevant Skilled Worker or Intra-company transfer (ICT) visas can be applied for.

This process typically involves:

• Getting a sponsor licence to hire foreign workers. There can be multiple candidates sponsored and the licence needs to be renewed every four years;

• Issuing Certificates of Sponsorship. This is specific to the candidate and role that is being sponsored and will need to be applied for and approved prior to moving onto the last step. Certificates may be issued for up to five years, at which point the employee may be eligible for ILR;

• Starting the process of applying for a visa. Using the Certificate of Sponsorship, a relevant visa can then be applied for by the main applicant. A spouse and children under the age of 18 are able to come to the UK as dependants and will be free from any work and study restrictions.

“On receipt of the relevant visa, one can book travel and will be able to live and work in the UK for the duration of the visa. Most applicants choose to apply for a three-year visa initially, although five-year visas are possible. If the former, then a two-year renewal will need to be applied for at the end of the initial three-year validity.

“After five continuous years in the UK, visa holders may qualify for ILR, followed by naturalisation (citizenship) a year later. Many people view this as a six-year route to British citizenship,” said Faife.

No major business decision is without its hurdles, but global expansion comes with its own unique set of obstacles. To ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible, one needs to be able to rely on a business that can offer a diverse relocation service as part of its product offering, he said.

www.samigration.com

U.S. Department Of State Expands Interview Waivers For Certain Non-Immigrant Visa Classifications

09 February 2022 – Sa Migration

On December 23, 2021, the U.S. Department of State announced that it will temporarily suspend in-person interviews for some non-immigrant visa classifications in order to expedite visa issuance as the pandemic heads into its third year. The Department announced that individuals applying for L-1, H-1, H-3, P-1, O-1, and Q visas (and their dependents) will not be required to appear for in-person interviews at U.S. consular posts abroad. This policy is effective until the end of 2022.

Consular officers have the discretion to waive the interview requirement for individuals applying for these visa types who were previously issued any type of visa. Notably, the E visa category is not exempt from interview waivers, whether for first-time applicants or for E visa renewals. The non-immigrant visa application process and in-person interview are the last steps in a lengthy process after U.S. petitioning companies have secured non-immigrant petition approvals from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. F-1 student visas and visas for other temporary seasonal workers as well as M and J academic visa applicants have already been exempted from the in-person interview requirement.

Globally, U.S. consulates have been affected with reduced staffing capacity and further, due to varying country conditions have been unable to process most work visas in the volume and speed as they had in pre-pandemic times. This causes stress for U.S. companies seeking to employ foreign talent and for the foreign worker anxious to commence employment here in the U.S. H-1B and L-1 visas, in particular, had reduced incidents of visa issuance due to consular closures and unpredictable processing times. The suspension of the waiver of in-person interviews will be extended to the end of 2022, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Foreign visa applicants must apply for a visa in their country of nationality or residence and consular officials will have the discretion to waive the in-person requirement for any visa applicant who was previously issued any type of visa, never been refused a visa in the past unless such visa refusal was overcome or waived and who have no other ineligibility or potential ineligibility. The U.S. Department of State has extended the waiver of the in-person interview until the end of 2022.

www.samigration.com

Hospitality blitz: departments of labour, home affairs and SAPS announce Western Cape mega blitz

IOL -  02 Feb  2022

Pretoria - The Department of Employment and Labour’s inspection and enforcement services, accompanied by the Department of Home Affairs and the SAPS in the Western Cape, has announced week-long mega blitz inspections targeting the hospitality sector including hotels, bed and breakfast facilities, and restaurants.

Government’s announcement of the labour law enforcement blitz comes a day after leader of the EFF Julius Malema hogged the public discourse after visiting restaurants in Gauteng to “inspect” the ratio of local and non-South African employees.

The Department of Employment and Labour’s said its “mega blitz” inspections would commence from January 24 to 28 in the Metropole, Cape Winelands and Overberg regions.

The inspectorate will be checking compliance on the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA); Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA); Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) and Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).

The Department of Employment and Labour said not only would inspectors be testing compliance and addressing non-compliance, but it would also serve to advise, educate and provide technical information and support to both workers and employers about the services offered by the inspectorate.

The mega blitz inspections will be led by the inspector general Aggy Moiloa, chief inspector Tibor Szana and the Western Cape provincial chief inspector David Esau.

“The Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Services (SAPS) will also form part of the blitz inspections to ensure that all institutions like hotels, bed and breakfast facilities, restaurants and backpackers are fully inspected,” the department said in a statement.

Chief inspector Esau said that considering the impact that Covid-19 has had on the sector in the last two years, it was important to reinforce compliance to labour laws and ensure that employers still uphold the basic conditions in the workplace, while also maintaining the health and safety of workers at all times.

He said employers can in the meantime ensure that their house is in order before inspectors visit.

“We are changing how we do things by informing employers on the necessary documents that we need when we arrive. With this approach, employers have no reason to tell us they did not prepare the necessary papers for us. We are leaving no gaps for excuses.

“Books that are in order should be able to save both the employer and the inspector time to do the necessary inspection,” Esau said.

During the blitz, the law enforcement teams will inspect:

• Attendance Register. (Last 2 months)

• Signed employment contracts / letter of appointments of an employee.

• Information about remuneration (pay slips/envelopes), overtime, leave pay (Last 2 months)

• Unemployment Insurance, registration number, as well as proof of last payments.

• Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) registration number as well as proof of last payments.

• A copy of the CIPRO Certificate.

A list containing the names and ID numbers of all employees are some of the records inspectors will be expecting employers to produce.

Esau said the Department of Employment and Labour did not want employers to exploit employees.

“Many businesses are up and running now following the impact that Covid-19 had, particularly on the hospitality industry. While we support the economic recovery, we also don’t want workers to be exploited. It’s imperative that we get on the ground to evaluate if conditions of work are still adhered to,” said Esau.

On Thursday, the Human Science Research Council’s Dr Steven Gordon said the much-publicised visits by Malema to inspect restaurants’ compliance with labour laws was a campaign to drum up support for the EFF, which may fuel animosity and anti-immigrant sentiments.

“Obviously the EFF’s actions over the recent period show a party trying to push the anti-immigrant button, despite their rhetoric to the contrary. This, I assume is an attempt to show up support within certain constituencies following a disappointing performance in the recent local government elections,” Gordon told TV channel Newzroom Afrika.

He said politicians should avoid sowing inter-group animosity to drive political support.

“South Africa has a very long history in which politicians used divisive rhetoric around inter-group relations to obtain power, and that divisive and tragic history is still borne in the legacy of South Africa today,” said Gordon, who is a public opinion scientist.

He said debates about economic opportunity and immigration in South Africa should acknowledge that a significant minority in South Africa holds very strong anti-immigrant views, and when activated, these views can cause violent anti-immigrant activity.

Samigration.com