What is a corporate Visa
A South African corporate visa allows a corporate entity or farm the right to employ a prescribed amount of foreign nationals, in specific positions, within a South African business.
It is also a popular choice for companies who prefer to look further afield than their base country in finding quality staff. Factors such as language proficiency, scarce skills and specialised training play a part in this issue of recruitment.
A corporate visa is notorious for being one of the hardest visas to obtain, but is an invaluable asset to a business once it is issued.
Who is a corporate visa for?
The application is designed to help corporates with a need for a predetermined number of foreign personnel. This predetermined need, will have to be proven against a backdrop of there being an insufficient number of South African citizens or permanent resident holders that are capable of filling certain roles within the organisation.
Qualifying for a corporate visa
A corporate visa can only be issued to a South African registered company or branch (the applicant).Your business would also clearly need to demonstrate the reason for wanting to employ a foreign work force and confirm that the terms and conditions are not inferior to those offered to South African citizens or permanent residents.
Once the Department of Labour and the Department of Trade and Industry have given their recommendations, then the corporate visa in South Africa is considered by the Department of Home Affairs.
Pros of a corporate visa
A corporate visa represents an excellent way for companies to manage their human resource needs. Due to South Africa’s fast growing economy and increasing demands for services and products from the domestic and international market, your company may struggle to fill all available positions with South African personnel. Certain professionals in highly specialised areas may simply not be accessible in South Africa.
One of the advantages of the Corporate Visa has been approved, the individual employees then apply for a corporate workers visa which is far less onerous, than for example, a general work visa. It is also quicker in theory to process and leads to cost-saving.
Cons of a corporate visa
Time constraints can prove a stumbling block as compiling of the application, obtaining permission to recruit a large number of foreigners within one application is a lengthy process.
The delay is normally due to corporates who need to prove that you require not just one, but many foreign workers. In some application cases the corporate may require hundreds of staff to fill the vacant positions covered in just one application.
Providing such proof means the compilation of the application along with the decision making process can add up to many months.
Note: there is every likelihood that you will have to utilise other work visa options whilst awaiting for your corporate visa application to be processed simply due to the time involved
Duration and validity of a corporate visa
A corporate visa can be issued for a maximum period of 3 years.
View the complete list of terms and conditions for corporate visas here