(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s government announced major changes to the nation’s work permit regulations to attract more professionals to its skills-starved economy and grow the tourism industry.
Under the revised rules published by the Department of Home Affairs in the official Government Gazette on Wednesday, a new points-based system will be used to allocate work visas. The system will be faster and easier to navigate than its predecessor and favor those who have critical or scarce skills, a job offer and can speak at least one of the country’s official languages.
Individuals will also be eligible to apply for general work visas that will be valid for up to five years if they earn at least 650,796 rand ($36,894) a year. The threshold was set at double the median income in the formal sector, and will help protect lower-income earners against competition. Remote working visas may also be issued to highly paid individuals who are employed abroad, don’t compete with local workers and can prove they have sufficient means to support themselves.
The revamp should help address complaints from some of the biggest foreign-owned companies operating in South Africa that the nation’s byzantine permitting system hinders their ability to bring technicians and executives into the country. To date, applicants have had to ensure lengthy waits for work permits even though a poor local education system has left companies without skilled workers.
“The gazetting of all required elements for the remote work visitor visa and the new points-based system for work visas amounts to the single most progressive and pro-jobs regulatory reform South Africa has seen in decades,” Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said in a statement. The reforms “will reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism to create thousands of new jobs for South Africans,” he said.
Independent research commissioned by the central bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute shows that an enhanced visa regime can create seven new jobs for every additional skilled worker that participates in the economy, according to the minister.
(Updates with details of new system from second paragraph.)
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