South African Business Visa

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

(n) 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.

Home Affairs plans to expand smart ID and passport services to more bank branches – but there’s a catch

The Bharat Express News -  1 April 2022-

 

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) plans to expand its service offering through bank branches in the coming months to reduce growing queues at its offices.

However, the expansion was hampered by several logistical issues, including the lack of available personnel.

Responding to a recent parliamentary question and answer session, Home Secretary Aaron Motsoaledi said his department and the country’s major banks had not signed the necessary public-private partnership (PPP) due to a number of “relevant issues” that still need to be resolved.

These issues include:

• System support in banks;
• Assignment of dedicated officials from the Ministry of the Interior per bank;
• Training of certain banking agents;
• Lack of available staff.

“Currently, the Civic Services team is under capacity in Home Office branches nationwide, with no additional staff to send to banks. This issue applies to all potential banks for further deployment of the service in question,” Motsoaledi said.

He added that once the issue of PPP approval is resolved, it will pave the way for his department to initiate a rollout plan, including human resources, with banks that wish to participate.

Existing partnership

The department has an existing public-private partnership agreement with the banking industry, with 27 banks currently enrolled in a pilot project to offer home affairs services.

The list of branches and departments is expected to be expanded, which will lead to an increased footprint, the ministry said in its 2022/2023 annual report.

“These partnerships could play a key role in reducing long queues at home affairs offices, for example, using the banking sector to receive and collect smart ID cards and passports.

The public-private partnership process could also be used for the appointment of a business partner and the acquisition of a permanent DHA headquarters,” he said.

In a separate space presentation in parliament in February, the department said it was currently conducting a feasibility study on opening dedicated branches inside malls across the country.

The list of bank branches where you can get your Smart ID and passport in South Africa is available here.

www.samigration.com

 

Nightmare at Home Affairs bank branch — where the system also goes offline

Broadband – 1 April 2022

There is no guarantee that using one of the few Home Affairs branches located at South Africa’s major banks will offer a seamless experience.

Many South Africans, including MyBroadband’s journalists, have had relatively trouble-free excursions to apply for and collect their smart ID cards or passports at these offices.

These facilities offer an alternative to standing in snaking queues at large Home Affairs offices, which have become infamous for slow service and frequent downtime.

Bank-based Home Affairs units require that the initial application and payments are handled on the E-Home Affairs portal, cutting down the time spent at the branch.

They also don’t offer the myriad of other services available at main Home Affairs offices, reducing the volume of visitors.

But those benefits were not experienced by one Hillcrest resident and software engineer, who recently applied for a renewal of his passport via one of these branches.

While banks provide Home Affairs with floor space and reliable infrastructure, they do not operate them or provide their systems.

As the engineer’s ordeal illustrates, bank-based Home Affairs branches still rely on government systems and can suffer from similar problems as traditional offices.

My tale begins on 31 January 2022, when I was finally able to log into the Home Affairs e-services website to process an application for a new passport.

The site’s response times were generally slow, and I often struggled to get my one-time pin (OTP) to proceed with the application.

Miraculously, on one of my attempts, I finally did get my OTP and was able to log in.

The online process of applying for the passport and paying for it was relatively painless.

The difficult part was getting a booking at my nearest FNB branch that handles ID and Passport applications.

To do this, I had to manually alter the “from” and “to” dates when looking for an appointment.

I managed to get an appointment for about a month later, on 28 February at 09:00 AM.

My closest branch was at a Cornubia Mall close to Umhlanga, 45km from my home in Hillcrest.

I hadn’t dealt with Home Affairs in a while, but I had heard the horror stories of going to Home Affairs’ main offices located in Pinetown and Musgrave.

I did not want to go through that, so I reckoned it was worth the drive as I surely wouldn’t have to wait long with my appointment time.

A queue at first sight

On the day of my appointment, I arrived at Cornubia Mall and was greeted with a very long queue of more than 100 people outside the FNB branch.

It turns out that you will see this every day that the Home Affairs office operates, which are only weekdays.

After enquiring with other people waiting, I discovered there was a queue for collections, which was very long, and a queue for applications, which was not as long.

Despite being in the latter, I waited for about an hour as they had to do applications for people who didn’t get their applications done the day before, because the system had been offline.

After waiting for about an hour and a half, my ID number was called.

Inside the branch, I had to sit and wait in another queue as they only allowed a certain amount of people inside the bank and then processed them in batches.

Here, it took about another 30 minutes before it was my turn.

During this time. I observed what the actual process was to do a straightforward application.

These are applications that didn’t have any complexities with birth country or the like.

The process for a new passport application was as follows:

• Provide your ID
• Sign your name on an electronic device
• Scan thumbprint
• Sit down to take a picture

If done without any delays, this should not take more than two or three minutes.

The issue was that every time the Home Affairs employee had completed an application, the camera was no longer picked up by the system.

The only way to get the system to detect the camera again was to reboot the computer, which took about 10 minutes.

After it rebooted, there was a modal popup listing all the hardware devices linked to the system — like the fingerprint scanner and camera — with little check marks next to them to indicate that they were functional.

Whenever they rebooted, the camera would have a little cross next to it to show that the system did not pick it up, at which point the Home Affairs employee got up and turned the camera off and on again.

The system then picked up the camera and displayed a tick.

Unplugging the camera and plugging it back in or turning the camera on and off was not enough.

They had to do the whole reboot process to have the modal pop up and show the devices and their online status.

I think adding a button somewhere that could re-initialise all connected hardware without having to reboot the system every time, would most likely make this process much quicker.

My application was eventually processed successfully and I was out two hours after my appointment was booked.

I received an SMS confirming my application and was told Home Affairs would contact me when my passport was ready for collection.

Less than two weeks later, I got an email and SMS that said my passport would be ready for collection from 9 March. I finally had the time to go and collect it on 24 March 2022.

As I work from home, I tell my boss I’ll be online a bit late, and I take the 45km drive to Cornubia.

Because the branch opened at 08:30, I ensured I was there 10 minutes earlier.

Collection chaos

By the time I arrived at the branch, there were already about 20 people in the collections queue and many others with appointments for new applications.

Little did I know that a bunch of those people were there for collections after not getting their IDs or passports the previous day.

They had been added to a special list to be processed first thing on the day of my appointment. There were probably about 30 people on that list.

I started waiting, with the queue growing until there were more than 100 people behind me.

The branch only allowed six people into the bank at a time to be processed and that was going painfully slow. It probably took about 30 minutes per batch of six.

For reference, the process for the collection of IDs and passports was typically as follows:

• Show your ID
• Sign the electronic device that captures signatures
• Scan your thumbprint

In theory, that should take less than a minute.

As I listened to people talk, I learnt that some had been there two or three days without getting their IDs or passports.

I realised that I might be there all day and might still not get my passport.

At one point, a security guard brought out a book for us to make a list of our ID numbers to be processed and I was about 20th from the top of that list.

Around 10:30, after being there for two hours, I started getting worried that I would have to make a tough decision soon — either take a day’s leave and risk not getting processed or rather go home.

Surrender

At about 11:15, the lone Home Affairs employee who handled the collections came out and called the last six people on the list from the previous day into the bank.

He duly informed us waiting in the queue that he had bad news — the system was down.

At this point, I decided that it was not worthwhile to waste a full day’s leave standing in a queue, with the possibility of still not getting my passport.

I left and travelled the 45km home, having wasted three hours of my day.

I don’t know what to do now. How and when will I get my passport? Do I need to take two days’ leave to do this and will there still be a chance that I won’t get it?

I’m a software engineer, and for there to be any downtime in any production system that so many people depend on is unacceptable.

It would also help if there wasn’t just one person dedicated to handling collections at the Cornubia branch with that massive backlog.

They must have some fallback process in case the system is down, like offline processing or signatures on paper.

I’m hoping that Home Affairs fixes their systems and processes so that doing a collection is as it should be — quick and painless — and only then will I go back to try again.

www.samigration .com

 

 

Immigration mess not foreign to SA

By Sowetan – 01 April 2022

 

Often news breaks of the arrest of home affairs officials and foreign nationals running one scam or another meant to bypass immigration laws.

When a police team pounced on a gang of robbers at The Hill, southern Johannesburg, a worrying dimension was added to the story. Police released the nationality of the men arrested in the raid, and it emerged that most of the thugs were foreign nationals.

Mention arrests  these days and  the subtext is “what nationality are they?” It speaks to a crisis those empowered to do something about seem to ignore  – the mess that is immigration in this country.

Often news breaks of the arrest of home affairs officials and foreign nationals running one scam or another meant to bypass immigration laws.

In an interview on Radio 2000 on Tuesday, home affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi spoke of the arrests of home affairs officials along with Pakistani and Somali nationals in connection with a scheme in which locals were hoodwinked and passports were issued in the name of foreigners. In the end locals lost their citizenship when they were  removed from the national registry for a quick buck. 

Many will recall how Motsoaledi came under fire recently and was labelled xenophobic simply for doing his job. Marches were even held to call for his sacking.

Sadly, the minister appears to be the odd one out, left to handle a problem that is nothing short of a crisis.

www,samigration.com

 

 

 

Female Home Affairs Official Bust At Marabastad Over Refugee R500 Bribe

Technical Financials – 1 April, 2022

NO ROOM FOR GRAFT: Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi welcomes the arrest of a female official accused of taking a bribe

A home affairs department female officer allegedly caught taking a R500 bribe from a refugee who wanted to extend his asylum permit is expected to appear in court today.

The Refugee Status Determination Officer based at the Desmond Tutu Refugee Reception Centre in Marabastad, Pretoria, was nabbed on Tuesday.

She allegedly took the bribe to extend the validity of the asylum permit of a Bangladeshi national, whose application for international protection was being appealed at the Refugee Appeals Authority of South Africa.

The official was allegedly seen by a security guard accepting the money from the Bangladeshi national.

The guard alerted the department’s counter-corruption branch resulting in both the official and the refugee being arrested.

While the Refugee Reception Offices remain closed, asylum seekers whose permits cannot be extended online are invited to the offices.

The arrested suspects are scheduled to appear at the Pretoria Magistrate Court on 30 March 2022.

Commenting on the arrest, Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi said: “Bribing an official for a service that is available for free suggests that the person bribing is aware that they don’t have a valid claim for international protection.

“This is another example of the abuse we are rooting out in the asylum seeker and refugee management system.”

The minister again warned that the department had no space for dishonest employees.

“I have instructed the department to conduct a speedy, thorough and full investigation into the matter and action must be taken against anyone who falls foul of the law,” said Dr. Motsoaledi.

Both the arrested official and the refugee are scheduled to appear at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court today, Wednesday 30 March.

www,samigration.com