The almost 200 000 Zimbabweans currently on permits issued under the Zimbabwean Special Permit (ZSP) project, have to seek alternative permits if they wish to extend their work, study or stay in South Africa beyond 2017, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has said. “Those from Zimbabwe, as we announced last year when we announced the […]
A growing number of countries determined to attract entrepreneurs to their soil are handing “start-up visas” to the best and brightest of them. A start-up visa enables entrepreneurs to live and start businesses in countries where they are not citizens or permanent residents, for a defined period of time. According to global entrepreneur network Startup […]
Effective 1 August 2016, visas will be issued with a “Valid From” date instead of an “Issue date” which will accurately calculate the expiry dates of visas. This is an issue that has been plaguing expatriate employees. The time employers have previously spent on correcting visas to ensure correct expiry date will no longer be […]
The Department of Home Affairs will host an inaugural naturalization in honour of foreign nationals residing in South Africa. In this ceremony applicants who have been permanent South African residence holders for a period of 10 years will be formally awarded certificates, while they will be expected to take an oath affirming their allegiance to […]
Earlier this year Gigaba introduced the Lesotho Special Permit (LSP). It was indicated that the introduction of the permit was largely influenced by the “success” of the Zimbabwean special permit project, and is aimed at regularising the status of Basotho nationals in South Africa. The scheme will ensure that Lesotho and South African Governments have […]
In the past months the Department of Home Affairs indicated that graduates of South African universities will soon be able to apply for Permanent residency, providing that they have completed their studies in “critical skills areas”. This aims at putting the skills and knowledge that the graduates have obtained from South African universities to good […]
South Africa is one of the expatriate jurisdictions where proactive planning makes a significant difference to the tax and exchange control implications of an international mobile employee. The primary reasons are: Unlike most other countries, with good planning, you only become ‘tax resident’ in the beginning of your sixth year in South Africa; and There […]
Foreign companies often need to send employees to South Africa for execution of local contracts or to assist South African group companies for various reasons. While South African income tax considerations, permanent establishment concerns and double tax treaty provisions are often considered in detail, the South African VAT (or ‘goods and services tax’ as it […]
During the Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba’s, visit to Kenya in May this year, plans were made to ease travel between South Africa and Kenya. The discussions were sparked when Kenya’s Amina Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, stated that the applications for clearance to travel, which were to be submitted by Kenyans travelling to South Africa, was a “violation of bilateral the agreement between the countries”. In summary of the discussions the following revelations were made…
Question from Lawrence Thipe I’m in the ICT sector and need to hire a Foreign Employee from Mozambique. Do you have an idea on what I should do? Answer When hiring a foreign national a number of items need to be taken into consideration. The first item to note is to make your offer of […]