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.