Demonstrating economic merit and contribution to South Africa is set to become a central requirement in immigration policy, with proposals to assess applications for work visas, and permanent residency on criteria strongly linked to how foreign nationals contribute to the country’s economy.
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is the bearer of good news for South Africans whose citizenship was unconstitutionally withdrawn: it has just launched the new Citizenship Reinstatement Portal, a first-of-its-kind online platform that allows affected individuals to verify and reinstate their South African citizenship through a simple digital process.
Ahead of the peak holiday season, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued a timely reminder encouraging all travellers to use the SARS Online Traveller Declaration System before entering or leaving South Africa, to help streamline processing at ports of entry.
South Africa recently lost two distinguished international scientists who were set to make a major contribution to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project: all due to an avoidable reason. In terms of South Africa’s immigration rules the spouse — herself a sought-after scientist — was not granted direct work access under her husband’s critical skills work visa.
Amid the global race for critical skills, South Africa’s economic growth hinges on its ability to attract and retain top talent. Companies increasingly report challenges in finding these professionals locally, with the added difficulty of sourcing skilled workers with the right combination of work experience and qualifications.
