Intra company Transfers

An Intra-company transfer is a type of work visa that allows for a staff member to transfer from an overseas company to a branch, subsidiary or affiliated business that is operating in South Africa.

Who should apply for an Intra-company transfer work visa?

Ideal for the multi-national company, the Intra-company work visa (Intra-company transfer) allows for an obvious temporary immigration route for staff members to South Africa. Employers should however note that the Intra-company transfer option is only appropriate where the employee is required in South Africa for a maximum period of a 4 years.

If the employee is required for longer than 4 years, the Intra-company work visa will not be appropriate and you should view further options here or you can contact us to discuss your needs.

If you have staff you need to relocate to South Africa, we have a dedicated corporate department that you can contact here.

How long is the Intra-company transfer work visa valid for?

An Intra-company transfer is a temporary work visa only, and as such its validity period is for a maximum of four years. Please note an Intra-company transfer work visa cannot be extended.

About applying for an Intra-company transfer work visa

Importantly it should be noted that if a company is transferring an employee to work at a location in South Africa, you must have an Intra-company transfer work visa to enter the country. This means that the Intra-company transfer work visa needs to be applied for outside of South Africa.

What are the employers responsibilities?

The responsibilities of the employer can be broken down into those that the company abroad must adhere to and those that the branch, affiliate or subsidiary in South African must adhere to.

Responsibilities of the South African branch, affiliate or subsidiary

The South African company needs to confirm:

• Acceptance of the transfer of the employee to them in their capacity as a branch, subsidiary or an affiliate of the company abroad.
• That the employee will only be employed in the specific occupation and capacity for which the intra-company transfer work visa was granted.
• That the foreign employee will at all times comply with the provisions of the Act and
  conditions of their visa.
• That they undertake to immediately notify the Director-General if the employee does not comply with the provisions of the act or conditions attached to the visa.
• Any potential deportation costs that maybe associated to the employee and his or her dependent family members, will be born by the company should it become necessary.
• That the employee holding the intra-company transfer work visa will have at all times a valid passport for the duration of his or her employment;

The South African branch, affiliate or subsidiary also needs to demonstrate that they have an appropriate plan in place for the transfer of skills from the Intra-company work visa holder to a South African citizen or permanent resident holder.

Responsibilities of The South African branch, affiliate or subsidiary

The application will need the company abroad to demonstrate the following:

• The employees contract of employment (with the company abroad) is valid for a period of not less than six months.
• Confirmation that the applicant shall be transferred to a branch, subsidiary or an affiliate of that company in South Africa.
• That the employee will not be staying in South African more than 4 years.

What you need to apply for an Intra-company Transfer

The application would need to include amongst other :

• A completed temporary visa application form.
• A valid passport must with an expiry date no sooner than 30 days after the expiry of your intended visit.

NB – different consulates and embassies have different requirements regarding the application content for an Intra-company transfer work visa. An example of this is that some require a certified copy of the employee’s birth certificate. Care needs to be taken to ensure that all information and documentation (as required by the specific embassy) is included within the application.

Can partners and dependents accompany the employee?

Yes they can. Partners would need to apply for an accompanying visa whilst dependents of a school age would require a study visa.

Can permanent residency be applied for with an Intra-company transfer work visa?

No application can be made for permanent residency purely as a result of holding an intra-company work visa.

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That said, applications for permanent residency can be made by those individuals who have held a work visa for 5 years and the period you have held an intra-company work visa for counts towards this time period.

Therefore if you have previously held, or subsequently hold, another type of work visa for 12 months or more, this combined with 4 years on an Intra-company work visa would allow for a permanent residency application.

Finding out more about Intra-company transfer work visa

Intergate Immigration has successfully assisted companies to submit applications in over 80 South African embassies and consulates around the globe. Offering South Africa’s premier dedicated corporate service, you can trust us with your companies and employees needs. Contact us here to be impressed.

Getting help with your visa or permit application

We welcome the opportunity to consult with you as to your eligibility for a visa /permit and answer any questions you may have with no obligation.

General Work Visa 

A General Work Visa South Africa, is one of 5 types of work visa categories that you can make a work visa application under.

Unlike the others types of work visa, the general work visa requires that the employer has made every attempt to try to fill their vacant position with either a South African Citizen or permanent resident.

Below we give you 10 important facts you need to know about a General Work Visa South Africa.

1. Background to a General Work Visa South Africa:

The whole basis on which general work visa are issued is two fold: To protect South African labour by ensuring that positions filled by foreign workers can not be met through locals. To enable companies to recruit foreign workers where they are unable to locally.

2. Who should apply for a General Work Visa South Africa?

Applicants for a general work visa should first ensure that they do not meet the qualifying criteria for any of the other work visas. This can be done by taking advantage of our free assessment. In addition they shouldn’t be applicants who are being transferred by their employer from an international branch or whose employer holds a corporate work visa.

3. Do spouses and partners need to apply for a general work visa?

No general work visa application is required for spouses or partners of South African citizens or permanent resident holders. The correct visa application for spouses and partners is a spousal or partner visa. This visa can then be endorsed to allow the applicant to work for a specific employer.

4. What is the basic qualifying criteria for a general work visa?

The following will be required for a general work visa application:

• Job offer and acceptance.
• CV.
• Proof of the employer’s attempts to first recruit a South African permanent resident or citizen for the position.
• SAQA registration, confirming the applicant’s qualifications.
• Proof of good health and character.

5. Where can applications be made?

Applications for a general work visa should be made at the embassy or consulate in the applicants home country. Renewing of a general work visa can take place in South Africa.

6. Can spouses and partners of general work visa holders also work?

Only the holder of a general work visa is entitled to work. An accompanying partner or spouse visa can be applied for but this only allows for entry and stay in South Africa. Should the spouse or partner also wish to take up employment they would need to apply for the appropriate work visa themselves. Also children would need to have separate applications made for study visa.

7. How long does the application process take?

Time frames for processing general work visa vary greatly. Once the application has been submitted it generally takes around 8 – 12 weeks but delays in this are common. Please note that compiling the application also takes some time as adverts must be run and SAQA obtained.

8. How long is a general work visa valid for?

The validity period can vary but is typically between 2 and 4 years. General work visa can also be extended by a making a further application towards the existing general work visa expiry date.

9. Can I apply for permanent residency with a general work visa?

The first step is to secure temporary residency and you cannot apply straight away for permanent residency. However once you have held your general work visa for a unbroken period of 5 years you may apply for permanent residency.

10. What comes first the job offer or the work visa?

Prospective immigrants to South Africa are often frustrated as they attempt to secure jobs. Often employees will not entertain the prospect of offering positions to foreigners who are not in possession of a work visa. Some of this is down to not understanding the process. You can however increase your chances of success. Start the process by obtaining your SAQA and informing the prospective employer that you have started the work visa process and retained an immigration company already.

Next steps

You may be surprised at the work visa options that are available to you. In the first instance we recommend you speak to one of our experts . They will provide you with a free assessment that carries no obligation. So to get started and find out more about a general work visa South Africa call us today.

Getting help with your visa or permit application

We welcome the opportunity to consult with you as to your eligibility for a visa /permit and answer any questions you may have with no obligation.

www.samigration.com

Critical skills work visa permit for South Africa

Welcome to the critical skills work visa and permit category. For those potential applicants for a work visa or permit to South Africa, and even those existing work permit or visa holders, this category of work visa may well be great news.

Introduced in the new Immigration regulations in June 2014, the Critical skills work visa and permit saw a refreshingly forward thinking approach by the Department of Home Affairs to attracting much needed skills to South Africa and improving the visa and permit application process.

Some highlights of the critical skills work category include:

• It allows you to get a work visa without a job offer.
• It allows you to enter and stay in South Africa for 12 months to secure a position.
• Is based on a well researched list of occupations that are badly needed in South Africa, increasing your chances of finding a job.
• No restrictions in terms of the numbers in each listed occupation.
• No department of labour recommendation so quicker turnaround times.
• Deals with the professional bodies specific to the occupation.
• Can be a pathway to permanent residence immediately as well an immediate 5 year working visa.
• Qualification for a critical skills visa if you completed a post graduate (Phd) in South Africa.
• Less obligation on employers.

Both permanent and temporary residency options

A temporary critical skills work visa is issued for a 5 year period of time. After 5 years you can then apply for permanent residence.

If you already have 5 years experience in your occupation then there is every chance you can immediately apply for permanent residence as well.

What is the key criteria for a critical skills visa or permit application?

You must feature on the critical skills list, this is firstly based on your educational subject and then further broken down into occupations within these educational areas.

What If I am not on the critical skills list?

There are other visa alternatives that you may qualify for and we recommend you contact us

Great news I am on the list critical skills!

The best next step is to e-mail us and attach your CV, if you don’t have a current CV why not call us on any of the above numbers or request a call back.

Getting help with your visa or permit application

We welcome the opportunity to consult with you as to your eligibility for a visa /permit and answer any questions you may have with no obligation.

www.samigration.com

Corporate Workers Visa Corporate workers certificate

Where a company is in possession of a valid corporate work visa, it has in effect a permission to recruit a certain number of foreign workers, into specific positions for finite period of time.

As an example the company may have applied for 200 civil engineers, if successful, they will be issued 200 corporate workers certificates. These certificates can then be used in the subsequent application for a corporate workers visa. These corporate workers certificate negates many of the criteria normally associated with applications for certain type of work permits.

Is the corporate workers visa for temporary or permanent residency?

The corporate workers visa is issued as a temporary residency visa for a maximum of 4 year, or for a period not exceeding the corporate visa held by the company.

In itself the corporate workers visa may not lead to permanent residency. However the time the worker has held it for can be utilised for permanent residency applications made under the 5 year rule. The 5 year rule says that applications can be made for permanent residency by individuals who have held appropriate work visas for 5 years in South Africa.

What must be submitted with a corporate workers visa application?

Applications must include:

• The applicants valid passport;
• Biometrics of the applicant;
• The relevant corporate workers certificate as issued under the corporate visa;
• A contract of employment;
• Proof of the foreign employees qualifications;
• Proof of registration with the appropriate professional body;

What are the restrictions?

It should be remembered that the employee may only be utilised by the South African company in the capacity for which the corporate workers certificate was issued.

The corporate workers visa cannot be extended.

Getting help with your visa or permit application

We welcome the opportunity to consult with you as to your eligibility for a visa /permit and answer any questions you may have with no obligation.

www.samigration.com

Corporate Visas Immigration South Africa

A corporate visa can only be issued to South African registered company or branch (the applicant) and it offers the possibility to employ great numbers of employees from abroad, all under the remit of one application.

The Corporate Visa may be issued to a corporate applicant to enable them to employ foreigners who may take up employment for the applicant for a limited period of time.

Who should apply for a corporate visa?

The application is directed for corporates with a need for a predetermined number of foreign personnel. This predetermined need, will have to be proven against a backdrop of there being an insufficient number of South African citizens or permanent resident holders that are capable of filling certain roles within the organisation.

What is required in the corporate visa application?

There are a large number of requirements that are associated with the corporate visa application . It is however important to understand the mindset behind these requirements:

The corporate visa is not an open invitation to recruit on mass from abroad for reasons such as cheaper labour. The company applying has to include in its application detailed job descriptions and the proposed remuneration in respect of each employee. The company will also need to provide proof of the specific job requirements to show the skill sets required as well as illustrate the recruitment efforts they have employed to historically try and find South Africans to fill their vacancies.

As such the corporate visa’s role is to protect suitably qualified South Africans from being prejudiced within the local job market, whilst affording companies with a genuine need, to seek large numbers of staff from overseas.

How a corporate visa works?

If a successful application is made, upon receipt of the corporate visa a company may then recruit individuals that fulfil the roles specified within their corporate visa application by means of issued corporate workers certificates.

Upon identifying the appropriate foreigner to fulfil the role, a job offer is made, and subsequent to this a corporate workers visa can be applied for utilising the corporate workers certificate.

In essence it is a two stop process. Firstly to obtain the corporate visa and then to apply for a corporate workers visa. .

What are the advantages of a corporate visa?

A corporate visa represents an excellent way for companies to manage their human resource needs. Due to South Africa’s fast growing economy and increasing demands for services and products from the domestic and international market, your company may struggle to fill all available positions with South African personnel. Certain professionals in highly specialised areas may simply not be accessible in South Africa.

To apply for work visa’s on a case by case basis may not be in the best interests of your company. With the Corporate Visa allowing your company to obtain permission from Home Affairs to recruit a certain number of foreign employees to fulfil certain roles over a finite period of time, this visa may be an attractive option.

One of the advantages of the Corporate Visa has been approved, the individual employees then apply for a corporate workers visa which is far less onerous, than for example, a general work visa. It is also quicker in theory to process and leads to cost-saving.

Are there any disadvantages?

Yes there are, the compiling of the application. Obtaining permission to recruit a large number of foreigners within one application is a lengthy process. Mainly due to the fact that you need to prove that you require not just one, but many foreign workers. In some cases this may be hundreds of positions covered in just one application. Providing such proof means the compilation of the application along with the decision making process can add up to many months.

Note there is every likelihood that you will have to utilise other work visa options whilst awaiting for your corporate visa application to be processed simply due to the time involved

Getting advice

In the new immigration amendments, published in June 2014, the criteria for a corporate visa application became more complex. It is therefore essential you seek professional guidance on this option as an incorrect decision could leave you with severe human resource issues, not to mention wasted money and frustrations.

Introducing Intergate Immigration’s corporate division

The needs of corporations are very different to that of individual applicants, after all you have a business to run. Our unique approach to corporate visa and permit requirements has seen us become the trusted partner for over 250 large corporates, including a number of South Africa’s and the worlds leading companies.

We are the only South African immigration company to have been accredited ISO 9001 and are also able to offer our clients immigration solutions for other African countries as well.

Getting help with your visa or permit application

We welcome the opportunity to consult with you as to your eligibility for a visa /permit and answer any questions you may have with no obligation.

www.samigration.com