IBN Consulting & Immigration:

Looking for foreign staff? – A brief overview of the current immigration law.

South Africa is a sought after destination for business owners, investors as well as employees who need work permits, in order to take up employment in the Republic. It is possible for almost everybody to reside in South Africa on either a temporary or permanent basis.

Many companies in South Africa and abroad are not aware of all the possibilities that the Immigration Act offers with regard to employing foreign nationals. Besides the general work permit, one has at ones disposal a variety of other work permits, which, depending on the given circumstances, may be applied for.  These include the Intra Company Transfer Work Permit and the Exceptional Skills Permit, both of which are of considerable practical relevance because they are easier, faster and more cost effective to process than a general work permit. For corporations intending to employ larger amounts of foreigners or have fluctuating foreign staff, we recommend the application of a Corporate Permit. The Corporate Permit provides a facility for your company to obtain the permission from Home Affairs to recruit a certain number of foreign employees to fulfill certain roles. There are also a number of foreign nationals who have the intention to come to South Africa to work, but not for longer than six (6) months. These visitors are normally being issued with the short-term Section 11 (2) permit. In other words, a visitor’s permit is issued with the authorization from the Director-General to undertake employment at his / her South African company.