Introduction
Having a business visa can be life changing for you as a business owner in South Africa as it opens a world of opportunities in terms of your business operations and/or possible business opportunities. Acquiring this visa means that you can fully run your business independently and legally in the country.
With the business visa, not only do you have access to long-term finance giving you the opportunity to expand your business operations, but you can also purchase machinery and equipment independently. In some instances, some people have even been forced to partner with a South African citizen or PR holder to help them gain access to amenities and funding, but once you have your business visa and ultimately permanent residency, this would not be required.
The benefits of having SA permanent residency are limitless. You are no longer required to renew the business visa and can fully run your operations without fear or anxiety of your visa coming up for expiry and if you are the family businessperson, there are education opportunities for your children, and you have access to quality health care facilities for you and your family in SA. So not only does the business visa lead to SA permanent residency enabling you to run your business with little to no stress, but it also provides you with limitless opportunities for your continued stay in SA, running your business/other business opportunities and for your family as well.
What does it mean not to have a business visa?
Not having a long-term visa for an already established businessperson or one intending to invest/operate a business in South Africa can be very limiting, frustrating, and hinder the success of any business. A foreign national without the relevant visa cannot independently run a business or invest in a business and in some cases, must use third parties as fronts (SA citizens/Permanent Residents) to get operations going, obtain long-term loans, purchase equipment or machinery and compliance with some statutory regulations. The fear of being unable to run their own businesses independently and the risk of losing their investments or being bought out of the business is very real, without a long-term visa that allows them to run their businesses legitimately and successfully in South Africa as foreign nationals.
The benefits of having a business visa
If you are an entrepreneur and investor who wishes to establish a business or intend to invest in an already existing business in South Africa, you have the option of applying for the business visa. This is a temporary visa, issued to foreigners who intend to establish or invest in a business in South Africa for a period of up to three (3) years. The minimum financial capital contribution required is R5 million (approximately USD343 668,59).
The R5 million may be reduced or waived in respect of certain types of industries/businesses.
Apart from the minimum R5 million capital requirement, an applicant for a business visa must employ or at least undertake to have a staff complement of a minimum of 60% South African citizens or permanent residents. There are other statutory requirements that will also need to be met.
As the business visa is meant for applicants who either want to invest in an existing or brand-new business in SA, the business can either be a start-up, a purchased company, or a partnership.
The story of Donald, now a South African businessman
Acquiring the business visa entails a two-step process, firstly with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and then the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). The DTI process can be overly complex and assisting our clients to seamlessly go through this process and acquire the business visa thus increasing their business operations/investments in South Africa, is our passion.
We have a client, Donald (real name withheld), who came to us with a need for a visa to allow him to run his business operations in South Africa. He has existing businesses in other countries in Southern Africa. From his experience, it has been particularly “easy” to operate his businesses in the other countries except for South Africa, the main hindrance being the lack of a long-term visa to run a business in SA and comply with statutory regulations as a foreign national, despite the huge amount of investment he has made.
So, in his mind, when he came to us, the ideal visa that would work for him would have been the intra-company transfer work visa as he has existing businesses abroad and wanted to come and work in South Africa in his SA business.
Donald was extremely frustrated with having to commute between South Africa and the other countries in the region every three months to run business operations in South Africa. This was not sustainable for him financially, for his family and practically as well as he did not have full control of the operations on the ground and having to rely on others to conclude agreements and deals on his behalf since he had no long-term visa. There was a high risk of him losing out on his investments, theft, or even being bought out of his own business because he had no long-term visa enabling him to fully operate his business in South Africa.
Upon our guided advice, Donald applied for the business visa as he qualified for this visa, and the intra-company transfer work visa was not the appropriate visa for his intended purposes in SA. We took him through the two options, explained to him the purpose of the intra-company transfer work visa and how it did not align with his proposed intentions in South Africa. We also gave him full details on the business visa, how it works, what the process entails. Donald took our advice, and now he has his business visa, for three years, and the next step is for him to apply for permanent residency.
Having the three-year business visa has made a tremendous difference in Donald’s life. Now he can run his South African business with a complete peace of mind, without fear of being bought out of the business by third parties used to act on his behalf, he can fully comply with all statutory requirements and to top it all, he sleeps well at night knowing that he has provided job opportunities to South African citizens and permanent residents, thus giving back to the community which he has invested in.
He also has access to long-term finance enabling him to expand on his business opportunities as well as purchase personal property in SA. Because the business visa allows for the accompanying family to apply with the main applicant, Donald has options in terms of education and good health care facilities for his family in South Africa. His next dream is to apply for permanent residency and tap into those limitless opportunities as a South African businessperson with SA permanent residency.
If you would like to operate a business or are thinking of investing in an existing business in SA and need our assistance, please click on the link below and provide us with your information. One of our consultants will call you for a quick obligation-free assessment.
