Upon application to the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister may under terms and conditions determined by him or her allow distinguished visitors or members of his/her family to be administered and sojourn in South Africa and or waive any prescribed (regulatory) requirements for good cause and/or grant any foreigner or category of foreigners the rights of permanent residence for a specified or unspecified period when special circumstances exist justifying such a decision.

Who has the power to exempt
S 31(2)(b) provides that the Minister may, upon application, grant a foreigner or a category of foreigners the right of permanent residence for a specified or unspecified period, when special circumstances exist justifying such a decision. The Minister may also exclude a foreigner or a group of ‘identified’ foreigners from such dispensation and may, for good cause, withdraw such right(s) from a foreigner or a category of foreigners. S 31(2)(c) provides that the Minister may for ‘good cause’ waive any prescribed requirement or form, in respect of any such application by a foreigner for the grant of permanent residence.

Does the Act allow for a waiver or exemption
There are a myriad of circumstances that may arise wherein an applicant may apply to the Minister of Home Affairs to grant certain concessions in terms of section 31(2)(b) or under 31(2)(c) under the Immigration Act (the “Act”) that may pertain either to the acquisition of permanent residence “when special circumstances exist” or “for good cause, waive any prescribed requirement or form”.

Who can waive and who has the power to do so
The Minister is empowered in terms of the Immigration Act to “waive” any regulatory requirement or form. A foreigner may apply for such waiver on the basis that “good cause” exists for the granting of such waiver.

So What is a “ good cause “
The term “good cause” has never been defined, either in terms of legislation or by the South African judiciary. In practical terms an applicant must demonstrate that there is compelling justification for the waiving of a regulatory requirement or form, and if the Department of Home Affairs (on behalf of the Minister) determines that a violation of a constitutional right, or an irrational consequence, will arise by a refusal to grant such waiver, waivers are normally granted.
A typical scenario necessitating a waiver under section 31(2)(c) would be where a specific requirement or form is applied to the Minister to be dispensed with.

Here are a few examples of waiver applications:
• A foreigner, sojourning in South Africa, has in the past submitted police clearance certificates from his country of residence of more than 12 months since his 18th One of those countries is Saudi Arabia. Since his last submission to the Department of Home Affairs of his Saudi Arabian police clearance certificate he has never returned to such country. He now intends to apply for permanent residence in South Africa and will, in terms of Immigration Regulation 23(2)(e) require a police clearance certificate from Saudi Arabia. Since he will not be able to acquire a new Saudi Arabian police clearance certificate without, at great expense and inconvenience, returning to that country physically to obtain one, he applies for a waiver from the aforementioned regulatory requirement in relation to a Nigerian ,USA or Saudi Arabia police clearance certificate if perhaps you have not lived there for 10 to 15 years and would have difficulty to obtain same . Such applications have been largely successful.
• A refugee sojourning in South Africa in terms of the Refugees Act wishes to apply for a critical skills work visa in terms of section 19(4) of the

Immigration Act. In terms of Ahmed and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Another [2018], ZACC 39 an asylum seeker or refugee sojourning in South Africa must first apply for a waiver from the requirements of Immigration Regulation 9, which includes the requirement that any temporary residence visa applicant must submit his or her application in person to a foreign South African mission where such applicant ordinarily resides or holds citizenship. Once the waiver from such requirement is granted only then may the asylum seeker or refugee proceed to submit an application for a temporary residence visa application in South Africa. These waivers must ordinarily be granted otherwise a ruling by the Constitutional Court will be violated.
A regulatory waiver application made in South Africa may take anywhere between 4 – 7 months on average to be processed and adjudicated by the Department of Home Affairs. In order to apply for a waiver the applicant must be in possession of a valid refugee or immigration status.

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A business visa may be issued by the Department of Home Affairs to a foreigner intending to establish or invest in a business in South Africa in which he or she may be employed, and to members of such foreigners’ immediate family providing that certain requirements have been met.
The Act calls for investment of R5,0 million in a business and you need to make sure you employ 60% South African citizens or permanent residents to get both a temporary and permanent business visa, you can get these visas with less capital investment - sometimes for as low as R600,000 investment using our expert team at SA Migration.
Many businesses do not require a capital investment as large as R5 million and in certain cases, you are allowed to reduce this amount and commit to a smaller investment if your business falls within the certain industries. The following businesses to be in the national interest, and therefore qualifying for reduction or waiver of the capitalisation requirements as determined to be in the national interest in relation to a Business Visa: Many of these business owners do not have the required investment amounts. If this is the case and the business falls in line with one of the following industries, a capital waiver can be requested. This would mean a reduction in the required investment amount.
The industries are:
(a) Agro-processing
• Fisheries and aquaculture i.e. freshwater aquaculture and marine culture
• Food processing in the milling and baking industries
• Beverages viz. fruit juices and the local beneficiation, packaging and export of indigenous teas
• High value natural fibres viz., organic cotton and downstream mohair production
• High value organic food for the local and export market
• Biofuels production viz. bioethanol and biogas
• oils: tea extracts, including buchu, honeybush: and other oil derivatives (avocado, amarula etc.)
• Diversification / beneficiation of biomass sources i.e. sugar, maize
(b) Business Process Outsourcing and IT Enabled Services
• Call centers
• Back Office Processing
• Shared Corporate Services
• Enterprise solutions e.g. fleet management and asset management
• Legal process outsourcing
(c) Capital / Transport equipment, metals and electrical machinery and apparatus
• Basic iron and steel
• Basic precious and non-ferrous metals
• Casting of metals
• Other fabricated metal products: metalwork service activities
• General purpose machinery
• Tooling manufacturing
• Foundries
• White goods and associated components
• Electric motors, generators and transformers
• Electricity distribution and control apparatus
• Insulated wire and cable
• Accumulators, primary cells and primary batteries
(d) Electro Technical
• Advanced telecommunications
• Software development
• Software and mobile applications
• Smart metering
• Embedded software
• Radio frequency identifications
• Digital TV and Set Top Boxes due to migration to full digital television
• Process control, measurement and instrumentation
• Security and monitoring solutions
• Financial software
• Manufacturing sensors
(e) Textile, Clothing and Leather
• Spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles
• Knitted and crocheted fabrics and articles
• Wearing apparel except fur apparel
• Dressing and dying of fur
• Leather skins and hides beneficiation
(f) Consumer goods
• White goods and associated components
(g) Boatbuilding
• Boatbuilding and associated services industry
• Engines and engine systems
• Marine equipment and accessories
(h) Pulp, paper and Furniture
• Manufacture of paper products: publishing, printing and reproduction
• Manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials
• Paper and paper products and furniture
• Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork
(i) Automotives and Components
• engines, radiators, filters and components thereof
• air conditioners / climate control systems
• alarms and Tracking devices
• axles, transmission shafts
• body parts and panels
• catalytic converters, silencers and exhaust systems and components
• wiring harnesses, instrument panels vehicle interiors, electronic drive train components,
• lighting equipment
• seats and parts thereof, seatbelts, leather covers
• suspension and shock absorbers, springs and parts thereof
• steering wheels, columns and boxes
• ignition, starting equipment, gauges and instrument parts
(J) Green Economy Industries
(jj) Power generation:
• Nuclear Build Programmer i.e. joint ventures, consortiums and the establishment of new companies to grow South Africa's nuclear manufacturing capability and nuclear supply industry to supply into the nuclear build programme
• Independent power generation, energy infrastructure and alternative energy
(jjj) Renewable Energy:
• Onshore wind power - manufacture of turbines/blades
• Solar PV and Concentrated Solar Power manufacture/assembly
• Biomass
• Small hydro
• Lowering greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites
• Energy efficiency and energy saving industries
• Solar water heaters
• Waste Management and Recycling
• Reducing landfill
(k) Advanced Manufacturing
• Nano-materials
• High performance materials based on natural resources (advanced bio-composites
• Advanced materials, polymers and composites
• Medical devices, diagnostics and composites
• Space e.g. satellite manufacturers etc. and astronomy e.g. SKA, telescopes, dishes etc.
• Composites (intelligent textiles used in medical, building and construction industries)
• Continuous fibre reinforced thermoform composites
• Biochemical and biologics for applications in agriculture, industry and health/medical sectors
• Electricity demand Site Management Solutions to improve electricity efficiency usage
• Lasers and laser-based additive manufacturing various applications
• Advanced Robotics Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems
• Applications in the mining industry, data collection and analysis
• Bio - manufacturing - Biochemical and biologics for applications in agriculture, industry and health/medical.
• Fuel cells and Technology
(l) Tourism infrastructure
• Accommodation - hotels, boutique hotels, lodges and resorts
• urban integrated tourism/ entertainment precincts
• adventure, - eco-, sport-, conference- and cultural tourism
• infrastructure developments
• leisure complexes and world class golf courses
• harbour and waterfront developments
• trans frontier conservations areas
• Tourism transport - aviation, rail, cruise liners etc.
• green building and green technologies for tourism
• attractions and activity - based tourism.
• museums and heritage
(m) Chemicals, plastic fabrication and pharmaceuticals
• basic chemicals
• water treatment chemical products
• man-made fibres
• plastic products: polypropylene and polyvinculchloride
• medical (drips and syringes), manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredient
• (APIs) for key anti-retrovirals (ARVs)
• Manufacture of reagents for AIDS/HIV diagnostics
• Production of vaccines and biological medicines
👎 Creative and Design Industry
• Film studios, treaty film co-production ventures, distribution infrastructure
• Servicing of foreign productions
• Production of film and documentaries, commercials, stills photography and
• Multi-media
• Post-production
• Design
• Jewellery manufacturing and design
• Fashion design
(o) Oil and Gas
• Maintenance ship and rig repair
• Fabrication - equipment and specialised components
• Specialised services - training and accreditation
• Specialised services - non-descriptive testing, inspection services, SHEQ services
• Exploration - technical services: seismic surveys, logging, environmental impact assessments, etc.
• Exploration - offshore
• Exploration - onshore shale gas
• Exploration - onshore coal bed methane and underground coal gasification
• Infrastructure - refineries (Oil and GTL)
• Infrastructure - terminals LPG/LNG import, storage and distribution
• Infrastructure - ports and associated infrastructure
• Infrastructure - storage
• Logistics - pipeline
(p) Mineral beneficiation
• Downstream processing and value addition
(q) Infrastructure Development
(r) ICT
• Geoamatics and Digital media
• Wireless and Telecom
• Electronics
• IT
• Software Development
• Advanced programming
List of undesirable Business in South Africa;
• Businesses that import second hand motor vehicles into the Republic of South Africa for the purpose of exporting to other markets outside the Republic of South Africa
• The exotic entertainment industry
• Security Industry
Our team of professionals at SA Migration International will assist you and help you to obtain your business visa for you.
South Africa is going through a very exciting stage at the moment and there is lots of opportunity to be involved in this emerging economy and the government welcomes anyone wishing to invest and create employment. Especially for small business owners, the markets are extremely lucrative and the government welcomes anyone who wants to invest.
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The short answer
The Constitutional Court ruled in October 2018 that a blanket ban on asylum seekers applying for temporary or permanent residence visas was not justified.

The whole question
I have been an asylum seeker for seven years. I read a GroundUp article that said asylum seekers can not be banned from applying for permanent residence. Can I apply for permanent residence? It would make my life a lot easier.

The long answer
Thank you for your email asking about applying for a residence visa as an asylum seeker of seven years.
It is true that the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court, ruled in October 2018 that a blanket ban on asylum seekers applying for temporary or permanent residence visas was not justified.

The court said that while it was true that temporary residence permits had to be applied for outside the country, the applicant could apply for an exemption from that part of the Immigration Act, and this exemption could be granted as many asylum seekers could not return to their countries of origin without danger, and did not have valid passports. The court said that there was no reason that asylum seekers should not apply for residence visas, as the Immigration Act should not be in opposition to the Refugees Act.

VSF Global, the company that processes applications for Home Affairs, has issued a statement acknowledging the Constitutional Court's judgement. VSF says that it will immediately accept submissions at all their offices for exemptions from having to apply for temporary residence from outside the country. They say that a directive about permanent residence applications will be made soon.

So it looks as though nothing can prevent you from applying for an exemption at a VFS office

How can we help you , please email us to info@samigration.com or whatsapp message me on: +27 82 373 8415, where are you now? check our website : www.samigration.com

Foreigners may purchase and own immovable property in South Africa without any restrictions, as foreigners are generally subject to the same laws as South African nationals. The only foreigners disqualified from owning property in South Africa are foreigners that are here illegally.

It is thus possible for a foreign individual to own property individually, jointly or in undivided shares. Foreign companies and trusts are also permitted to own property in South Africa, provided that they are registered in South Africa as an external company.

What is required as a foreigner purchasing property?
While purchasing property in South Africa as a foreigner has its advantages, it is important to bear the following considerations in mind, namely:

Visa requirements
Non-residents would need to comply with the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 if they intend to stay in their South African property for extended periods. The permit for which they apply would largely depend on their country of origin, the purpose of their visit and how long they intend on staying in South Africa.
Although there is a lengthy list of countries who do not need visas for visits of less than 90 days, foreign nationals from visa-restricted countries will have to apply for the relevant visa.

Capacity to enter into an agreement
Should the foreign purchaser not be in South Africa to sign transfer or bond documents, such purchaser will need to have the documents signed either at a Notary Public, who (depending on the country of signature) may have to have the documents Apostilled; alternatively the purchaser could also sign the necessary documents at a South African embassy.

Additional costs
Foreign nationals are, as is the case with South African residents, liable for any transfer duty, should the value of the property exceed R900,000. Properties purchased from developers, on the other hand, will generally attract Value Added Tax (VAT) as opposed to transfer duty and which VAT sum will be included in the purchase price.

They will also be liable for the ordinary costs of transfer which are payable by purchasers when purchasing property (kindly consult our tariff guide for an estimate on the property transfer costs).

It is very important to note that foreigners who purchase property in South Africa must register as South African tax payers for their Capital Gains Tax obligation. Should the foreigner wish to sell his property, a withholding tax of a certain percentage on the proceeds of the sale of a property of more than R2-million becomes payable until clearance is received from the South African Revenue Service from any amount to be paid to the seller or the seller’s agent. This can be avoided if the South African Revenue Service is approached prior to the transfer to obtain a tax directive and in which case only the directed amount (if any) will be withheld.

Financing
South African exchange control regulations determine the extent to which foreign buyers can borrow money locally to fund the purchase. Foreign buyers not working in South Africa will typically not be granted more than half of the purchase price to fund the purchase. The balance must then be paid in cash and this may be cash generated in South Africa, or off-shore funding.
Foreigners who have temporary work permits may be granted more than half of the purchase price, but the loan amount will still depend on the bank’s criteria. A condition of the loan would be that the buyer must reduce the bond to less than half of the registered amount before they leave South Africa to go back abroad. Some institutions would possibly require a work permit of at least four (4) years before they would consider a bond for more than half of the purchase price.
Consult with legal experts before purchasing property as a foreigner
When purchasing property as a foreigner, it is important to partner with a team of experts you can trust. Our Conveyancing and Property Law team are well experienced in assisting foreign nationals purchase property in South Africa, contact our knowledgeable team for more information.
How can we help you , please email us to info@samigration.com or whatsapp message me on: +27 82 373 8415, where are you now? check our website : www.samigration.com