Cape Town – The City of Cape Town has welcomed the introduction of the remote working visa after Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi gazetted a new set of immigration regulations on Monday.
The introduction of a remote working visa will allow foreign nationals who work for a foreign employer, or who derive their income from a foreign source, to work remotely from within South Africa.
One of the requirements for the remote working visa is that the foreign national must earn a gross income of no less than R1 million a year.
The department previously faced backlash after publishing the aforementioned regulations a day before the closing date for comments. This led to the minister formally withdrawing the regulations on April 12, this year, in order to follow due process before the regulations would be gazetted again.
Marisa Jacobs, the Managing Director at Xpatweb and a Business Representative on the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) immigration and migration committee, gives a brief overview of the key points addressed in the newly gazetted regulations.
Jacobs said that an area of concern in the first draft of the legislation centred around the exemption from tax for remote workers, where they secure a visa for six months or less.
The revised version of the regulations instead provides that remote workers “may apply to be exempted by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) from registering as a taxpayer” and those who are issued with a remote work visa for a period longer than six months in a 36-month period “must register with SARS”.
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s employment law expert Taryn York, and its immigration paralegal Mapaseka Nketu, also touched on other additional amendments to the immigration regulations, which include:
- the introduction of a points-based system in the adjudication of an application for a general work visa as determined by the Minister from time to time. The points-based system includes an assessment of a foreign national's age, qualifications, language skills, work experience, offer of employment and salary. This amendment seeks to make a general work visa more accessible to foreign nationals who don’t qualify for an alternative work visa; and
- a reduction in the period in which police clearance certificates must be obtained by a foreign national before applying for a work visa to the five years immediately preceding the date of their visa application.
“Whilst the above amendments may be welcomed by some foreign nationals, how they will be applied practically by the Department of Home Affairs remains to be seen,” they said.
Mayco Member for Economic Growth James Vos said that he was thrilled by the announcement and sees it as “a significant victory in our ongoing efforts to have the national government revise the visa regulations” to include a remote worker visa.
Vos said this new category will be a game changer for Cape Town’s visitor economy.
“The new amendments advise that those applying for the visa category must either work for a foreign source or 'derive foreign source income on a remote basis' which is just as the City has recommended.
“By enabling remote workers to stay longer in our city, we can substantially boost our tourism value proposition as these visitors will spend more money, benefiting various local businesses and services,” Vos said.
“To prepare the sector, we have convened industry sessions to demonstrate our eagerness to have this category included in terms of product and service offerings.”
Vos added that they have signed partnerships with industry bodies and marketing agencies to ensure Cape Town is showcased effectively and are working on a “special marketing campaign that will connect with digital nomads the world over”.
“Now it is up to the national government to focus its efforts on making sure that the visas can be effectively issued and that the entire visa system is effective and efficient as it will be a major boost to our country’s economy and drive investments and jobs for millions of desperate South Africans,” he added.
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za