South Africa – Proposed Immigration Policies
The South African Department of Home Affairs released a proposed immigration policy to revamp its outdated immigration strategies. The proposed strategies are open to public comment until September 30th, in which a new set of detailed immigration policies will be released by the Department of Home Affairs.
The proposals include the introduction of a points based system for work permits, investor, and other economic based immigration applications; a new work visa category, specifically for nationals of South Africa; the automatic right of asylum seekers to work and study in South Africa will be removed, creation of a national training scheme, funded by the foreign nationals South African employer to close the skills gap. The permanent residency and citizenship to foreign nationals will be limited based on the foreign national’s skills, investment, and or family criteria. There will also be a new Border Management Authority, incorporating customs and immigration.