+27 (0)82 373 8415 info@sami.co.za Client Area login Assessment Form Visa Renewal Services


News Articles

Firms with foreigners doing work incompatible with visas can be fined

Source: The Citizen, 11/09/2017


Institute for Race Relations CEO Frans Cronje said it was always a
good thing to attract highly skilled migrants, particularly those who
start businesses.
The head of immigration at Immigration & Business Solutions, Sue-Allan
Mehl, told The Citizen there was a serious skills shortage in South
Africa in a number of fields.
Yet it seems from the Gupta e-mails that the Department of Home
Affairs barely understands its own paperwork, issuing visitors visas
for people coming to work here and work visas for people in one
capacity who are ultimately employed in another.
Mehl agreed that if the company was raided and the paperwork â€` as
issued by Home Affairs â€` was at odds with the employee’s reason for
being here, this would create a problem for the company.
“The company can be fined and a representative can be jailed as the
business would need to prove that they had no knowledge of the person
being on the wrong visa. The first thing the human resources
department should check is the validity of the foreign national’s visa.”
Mehl noted the time it generally took to issue a visa varied widely,
even if the paperwork was in order.
“It depends on where the submission takes place. Some SA submissions
abroad take five to 10 working days, others take six to eight weeks.
Home Affairs itself takes approximately six to eight weeks to process
temporary residence visa applications. We find that critical skills
work visa applications usually go quicker.”
Speaking in general terms, Institute for Race Relations CEO Frans
Cronje said it was always a good thing to attract highly skilled
migrants, particularly those who start businesses, invest or have
experience a country cannot reasonably produce itself.
“The example we always quote is that of welders who worked on some of
the big power station projects, which were technical artisan type
people. We could quite reasonably have trained them ourselves, but we
didn’t. For instance, some of the welders who worked on Medupi (power
station) were imported from Asia,” Cronje noted.
“In the community around Medupi and Kusile (the other mega Eskom power
station project) as well, where you have unemployment rates which
approach 50% of the local population, it’s a problem.”
Let us help us help you navigate through this minefield : www.sami.co.za


Search

Search

Latest News

  •    This was revealed in the 2025 Easter border operations report, which saw border management authority officials, saps officers and home affairs workers intensify efforts to prevent illegal travel into the country over the holiday period.JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwean nationals have been identified as the leading individuals attempting to illegally gain entry into South Africa.... Read more...
  •    THE High Court has nullified the re-registration of a birth certificate for a child born out of wedlock, ordering the Registrar-General to strike it from the records.This ruling declared the birth certificate invalid, questioning the legality of attributing paternity to a deceased man decades after his death.The dispute arose from a contested inheritance involving the late Lazarus Mkudu’s estate.Teresiah Mkudu, the applicant, sought a declaratory order to invalidate Ruvimbo Manyonda’s birth certificate, issued nearly 20 years after Mkudu’s death.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
  •    Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...
South Africa Immigration Company