Tag: visa application

Are we there yet? E-visas could boost SA’s tourism competitiveness, but we are not yet geared for arrivals. Properly rolled-out digital visas will boost inbound travel. They will also dismantle long-standing entry hurdles. For anyone returning to South Africa after time abroad, there’s an unmistakable sense of homecoming – the warmth of a genuine South African welcome, coupled with the relief of the end of a long-haul flight.

From the winner of the National Jewish Book Award. Theodore “Teddy” Hartigan is the scion of a wealthy Washington DC family who place him into a comfortable job at the State Department and a placid diplomat’s career. In 1938, as Hitler’s inexorable rise continues, Teddy is re-assigned to the US Consulate in Amsterdam to replace fleeing staff.

The standardisation of port-of-entry visa requirements heralds positive change at Home Affairs. We encouraged by the work being done by Minister Leon Schreiber and his team at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). This includes the launch of the remote working visa scheme (officially gazetted on 9 October) and the new immigration directives. These changes bring welcome reforms to the country's immigration policy.

According to the recent Africa Wealth Report by Henley & Partners, titled 'Predetermined Bias: Comparing the Visa Rejection Rate of Africans versus the Rest of the World’, the rejection rate for African applicants seeking Schengen visas went up 12% in the last eight years, reaching a shocking 30%. This surpassed the global average by 12.5%.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has launched the re-packaging of the Corporate Accounts service with a Pilot Project for Trusted Employers. The Trusted Employer Scheme (TES) aims to provide qualifying companies a means to a flexible pathway for skilled applicants to obtain work visas expeditiously in line with global best practice.

Navigating the various work visa applications is quite tricky. Individuals and HR professionals assisting employees in applying for their work visas often face lengthy qualifying criteria and a complex application process that can be difficult to get right the first time around. 

Unmarried, no kids, and a bank balance that’s a little low? Your chances of successfully getting a visa to travel just got slimmer. Not everyone’s equal when it comes to visa applications. Factors such as your marital status, whether or not you have children, ownership of property, how long you’ve worked for the company, your bank balance, and even your social media activity can count against you.

The now well-known Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) has a longstanding history since it was initially implemented by the Republic of South Africa as the Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project (DZP) in 2009. The objectives of the DZP were to provide Zimbabwean nationals who were in possession of fraudulently obtained immigration documents with amnesty, and to curb their deportation.

For the many Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa – and their employers – the upcoming expiry date for the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), has been a cause for major concern. The ZEP was initially established to allow Zimbabweans in South Africa, legal and illegally living and working here, to come forward and regularise their stay – without the need to apply for regular visas.

Despite South Africa’s political turmoil and energy crisis, there is still significant interest from international property buyers who are drawn by the country’s inimitable lifestyle and the fact that that they can get considerably more bang for their buck here than in comparable areas abroad.