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Fin24 reports that Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Minister Leon Schreiber has gazetted groundbreaking regulations to make it easier for skilled immigrants to work in SA while protecting jobs at the bottom end of the labour market.
The regulations introduce a points system to evaluate applications for general work and critical skills visas. Applicants must have 100 points to qualify for a visa. Previously, individuals could only apply for a general work visa if an occupation was on the government-approved critical skills list. An earnings threshold of R650,976 a year will apply, limiting foreigners' access to work visas for jobs at the lower end of the spectrum. Under the new regulations, all applicants on the critical skills list qualify immediately for a visa with 100 points. An applicant whose occupation is not on the list is evaluated by qualifications; earnings plus an offer of employment; experience; language proficiency in one official language; and offer from a trusted employer. To become a trusted employer, companies must meet certain criteria, including employing 60% South Africans. The Remote Work Visa will enable highly paid individuals who earn above R650,976 a year who are employed abroad and do not compete with local workers to work legally in SA. Foreigners who are not tax resident abroad will be required to register with SARS, as will foreigners who spend more than 183 days of a 12-month period in SA, where a double taxation agreement applies. The new regulations circumvent the highly politicised process around the composition of the critical skills list, which has been the responsibility of the Department of Employment & Labour.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24 (trial registration required)
- Read too, Visa relief for SA employers as Schreiber gazettes reforms, at BusinessLive
- And also, Home Affairs introduces visa reforms to boost economic growth, at The Citizen
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page