South Africa’s new visa rules take effect from 1 December â€` here’s what you need to know

Source: Bustech, 30/11/2018

The changes â€` which will come into effect from 1 December â€` were
first mooted as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic
stimulus package revealed in September.
Arguably the biggest change will be the reversal of a rule
introduced by former Home Affairs minister, Malusi Gigaba, which
required foreign minors travelling to South Africa to produce an
unabridged birth certificate before being allowed access into the
country.
This birth certificate requirement has been a major point of
controversy, with a 2016 report released by the DA finding that
the rule cost the country as much as R7.5 billion due to lost
business from blocked tourists.
Other changes include:
• Revised rules for spouses entering the country as part of
a permanent homosexual or heterosexual relationship.
• Revised rules for applicants of a general work, business,
and corporate visas.
• Changes for applicants of permanent residency or residency
on other grounds.
More changes expected
While these changes are likely to be welcomed, they form only a
small part of the proposed immigration changes expected to be
introduced in the coming months.
Prior to his resignation former Home Affairs minister, Malusi
Gigaba, said that visitors from India and China will also not have
to apply for visas in person at a South African embassy, while
business travellers from those nations will be issued with 10-year
multiple-entry visas within five days of application.
Other proposed changes include the relaxation of rules for other
countries, with visitors from the UK, US, Germany, France, the
Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Angola expected
to be exempted.
The government also plans to smooth the clearance of travellers
through the busiest border posts, by installing a biometric
movement-control system. The new system is nearing completion,
with several pilot sites already up and running.
Economic impact

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Cannon Asset Managers investment analyst, Tlotliso Phakisi, said
that the urgent amendment of South Africa’s stifling visa regime
could be the quick fix needed to drag the country out of the
economic doldrums.
“Introduced under Gigaba’s leadership, the tourism industry has
been hamstrung for a number of years by unfriendly visa
requirements that have negatively impacted the number of tourists
entering the country,” he said.
“In particular, the controversial requirement that visitors
travelling with children under the age of 18 years provide their
unabridged birth certificates (UBC) upon entering or exiting has
proven especially damaging to tourism numbers.”
Citing figures from the Tourism Business Council of South Africa
(TBCSA), Phakisi said that over 13,246 travellers were prevented
from entering the country between June 2015 and June 2016 after
failing to meet the UBC requirements â€` losing the country many
millions in potential revenue.
“Despite this, however, tourism has been one of the few sectors in
the country to consistently show promise and resilience in terms
of both job creation and economic growth over the past few years,
demonstrating its potential as the lever needed for turning things
around in the short term,” he said.
“These figures help to underscore the extent to which tourism has
outperformed other key industries in job creation. And when
compared to other countries’ tourism receipts, it becomes clear
that tourism should be an easy win for South Africa, especially
given our rich natural and cultural heritage.”
Phakisi said that New Zealand was able to attract $10 billion in
tourist receipts in 2017, while Singapore, a country that is
0.006% the size of South Africa in terms of land area, was able to
bring in $20 billion â€` more than twice that of South Africa.
“This highlights that to unlock the potential of tourism to
stimulate our economy, all we have to do is take our thumb off the
administrative pipeline that chokes the industry,” he said.
“And perhaps of even greater importance is that the cost of this
tourism sector stimulus is zero or even negative â€` meaning that it
will free up resources as we reduce administrative and regulatory
requirements.”
“Ultimately Ramaphosa’s stimulus plan and particularly visa
reforms should be welcomed as the quick fix needed to ignite
economic growth and turn the tide on unemployment.”