The main criteria for a business visa is a cash investment of ZAR5 million or the capital equivalent. Your business might not need that much capital to get off the ground or you might not have ZAR5 million available. If either is the case, you could get the stipulated investment amount reduced by applying for a capital investment waiver with your South African business visa application.
Simply applying does not guarantee success though. Your business would need to satisfy certain requirements in order to be considered for a waiver.
To help the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry decide if your business do indeed meet the criteria, are likely to ask themselves these questions:
Does the business fall within the prescribed industries?
In order to qualify for a waiver, a business must fall within certain industry sectors. These sectors are determined by the Department of Home Affairs and updated from time to time.
The categories are as follows, but please talk to one of our consultants for more information:
- Agro-processing.
- Business process outsourcing and IT enabled services.
- Capital/Transport equipment, metals and electrical machinery and apparatus.
- Electrotechnical.
- Textile, clothing and leather.
- Boat building and associated services industry.
- Pulp, paper and furniture.
- Automotives and components.
- Power generation.
- Renewable energy.
- Advanced manufacturing.
- Tourism infrastructure.
- Chemicals, plastic fabrication and pharmaceuticals.
- Creative and design industry.
- Oil and gas.
- Mineral beneficiation.
- Downstream processing and value addition.
- Infrastructure development.
- ICT.
What is the job creation potential of the business?
In our experience, the amount of jobs a business will create is an important factor when applying for a waiver. It is to be expected in a country like South Africa, where the unemployment rate is high. Hence, a business that will create a lot of jobs is likely to be viewed in a more positive light than one that won’t.
Does the business plan show why a waiver should be granted?
A business plan should be submitted with a South African business visa application. It should be comprehensive and detailed, but where a waiver is applied for it is vital that the business plan supports the waiver application. The evidence should be provided in all the most important parts of the business plan, such as the planned activity, the market analysis and the financials.
How much capital is available for investment?
There is no published prescribed minimum investment amount that a waiver application can be made for, but experience has demonstrated that the investment amount still need to be substantial. If the business is likely to create a high number of jobs, the Departments might consider a lower investment amount than normal.
Contact Intergate Immigration today
You could make an application for a business waiver with your South African business visa application yourself, but we recommend that you speak to one of our consultants on how and whether to proceed.
Since Intergate Immigration’s inception in 2005, our team has helped thousands of foreign immigrants set up or buy businesses in South Africa. Our staff are not only experienced, they are also tested and registered with the Department of Home Affairs.
You can speak to a consultant by calling +27 (0) 21 424 2460. If you’d like us to contact you instead, simply request a free call back or complete our online assessment form. It’ll only take a few minutes of your time. Once we’ve received your details, one of our consultant will endeavour to contact you within 24 hours.