Woes within South Africa’s visa processes have left businesses and skilled workers in limbo, hurting investment and business activity as a result.

Recently, French diplomats warned that South Africa’s strict visa requirements are driving investors away.

In addition to this, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, said that a key obstacle attracting investment and expanding business is “the broken South African visa regime.”

“To facilitate foreign investment, companies need to be able to easily access South Africa and those who apply for critical skills visas typically help to develop new and existing sectors, in line with international best practice or by helping to new industries through skills development,” said Wegner.

Companies aiming to operate in the country must invest a minimum of R5 million and ensure at least 60% of their employees are South African.

However, applying for a work visa has often been described as a lengthy and complex process, exacerbated by an inefficient paper-based system that may take months.

Once those abovementioned boxes are ticked, the process is likely to be stalled by an existing backlog in visa applications.

Recently, the Western Cape government said that over 4,500 jobs and R1.6 billion in economic value are at risk of being destroyed due to continued backlogs and delays at Home Affairs in processing visas.

“These delays relate to processing and finalising of a small number of critical skills, spousal work visas, spousal, life partner, and permanent residency visa applications for training experts, who are needed to upskill and train employees in the sector, thereby enabling the creation of more South African jobs,” said Wegner.

The Western Cape Government previously conducted a survey to gauge the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of South Africa’s visa application process.

They engaged with around 150 business in sectors including ICT/Technology/Software service, tourism, finance and business services, manufacturing, agriculture and business process

outsourcing.

A critical finding of this survey was that 78% of respondents rated the immigration application system in South Africa as “very poor” compared to other countries the respondents have operations in.

Another finding was that 26% of businesses moved their operations overseas as a result of the serious challenges they faced with the national visa system.

Other key results of the survey include:

Reasons for Visa Requirement:

Work purposes, particularly for employing critical skills not available in South Africa, and for businesses needing to employ foreign staff.

Top Three Visas Applied For:

Work visa (19%)
Critical skills work visa (18%)
Immigration visa (15%)

Top Three Complaints/Issues with Visa Application System:

Delays in approval process (17%)
Applicants not receiving feedback on applications (14%)
Lack of an escalation mechanism for complaints (10%)

Impact on Businesses Affected by Visa Application System:

Time delays (25%)
Cost implications (22%)
Inability to hire required skilled workers (21%)

Top Three Measures Taken by Respondents to Address Challenges:

Moving operations abroad (26%)
Employing fewer staff (17%)
Scaling down operations (17%)

“The fact is that the current visa regime is a significant deterrent to investment and the expansion of existing businesses, costing jobs and economic growth right at a time when we can ill-afford to lose either,” said Wenger.

In hopes of easing these constraints recent regulations replaced the highly-contested critical skills list with a new points-based system and introduced the remote work visa class.

This was received positively by businesses in South Africa, with the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa saying that they should ease the administrative burden that international companies with businesses in the country face when hiring skilled foreigners. V.5419

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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