South Africa one step closer to rolling out a remote working visa, says Home Affairs

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) says it will meet a June deadline to specify requirements for remote working visas. The department was briefing the Western Cape legislature on remote visas on Wednesday, 3 May. 

During the briefing, the department’s Nischal Jaynarayan said a “comprehensive” report on the review of the work visa system had recently been handed over to the Presidency by former DHA director-general Mavuso Msimang, who was tasked in 2022 by President Cyril Ramaphosa to review of the visa system. In his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in February 2022, the president said the review was “exploring the possibility of new visa categories that could enable economic growth, such as a start-up visa and a remote working visa”. In his Sona 2023 speech, the president said: “We will also be introducing a remote worker visa and a special dispensation for high-growth start-ups.”

The remote working visa came under the spotlight during Wednesday’s meeting of the provincial Standing Committee on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism, which learnt that the DHA is in the process of completing an implementation plan for its introduction.

One of the recommendations of Msimang’s report – which fell under Operation Vulindlela, a massive project by the government to accelerate structural reform and support economic recovery – is the introduction of new visa categories to cater for remote workers and start-ups. 

Jaynarayan told the committee a new visa category such as a start-up visa or remote working visa could enable economic growth. 

On the DHA’s side, the changes would mean the DHA would have to specify visa requirements for remote workers – including the specific requirements for partners or children. The DHA also needed to specify visa eligibility for start-up founders and amend certain sections of the Immigration Act. The timeframe for the DHA to complete this would be three months. 

Jaynarayan said the new visa categories would be included in the revised immigration regulations to be published “by the end of June”, subject to State Law Adviser approval as well as public comment. 

When asked by committee member Isaac Sileku (DA) if the DHA would meet the three-month deadline, Jaynarayan said “we are still on target for now”. He said the target was not ambitious; if people worked “efficiently and quickly”, the target would be met. 

In response to a question by committee chairperson Cayla Murray about when and how people would be able to apply for the visa, Jaynarayan said the department would announce when applications would be opened as “we move through the legislative process”. DM