Easing Travel Between Kenya & South Africa

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During the Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba’s, visit to Kenya in May this year, plans were made to ease travel between South Africa and Kenya. The discussions were sparked when Kenya’s Amina Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, stated that the applications for clearance to travel, which were to be submitted by Kenyans travelling to South Africa, was a “violation of bilateral the agreement between the countries”. In summary of the discussions the following revelations were made –

  • agreed that study visas will be issued for the duration of the candidate’s study;
  • transit visas for Kenyans transiting through South African airports will be scrapped; and
  • ten-year visas with multiple entries for business travellers and academics who are required to travel to South Africa frequently will be issued.

Q&A: Foreign Employee

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Question from Lawrence Thipe

I’m in the ICT sector and need to hire a Foreign Employee from Mozambique. Do you have an idea on what I should do?

Answer

When hiring a foreign national a number of items need to be taken into consideration. The first item to note is to make your offer of employment subject to the obtaining of the necessary work or residency permits.

In this regard, where the candidate is required to enter the country urgently to start working as soon as possible, it is recommended they first apply for a Visitor Visa under Section 11(2) of the Immigration Act of 2002, as amended, which allows the candidate to work for a period of up to three months, and this visa takes 5 – 10 days maximum to obtain. These temporary work permits are obtained hassle-free and is far more preferable that running the risk of being caught as illegally working, arrest for breach of immigration rules etc.

Once done, the candidate may enter the country and start working and you need to start looking at the process of applying for the longer term work visa. The Critical Skills Work Visa is favourable for candidates in the ICT sector and we recommend considering this category first and foremost. We strongly advise against the “General” Work visa category because of the involvement of the Department of Labour which is still at this stage lengthy and often unsuccessful. The candidate will be required to return to Mozambique to apply for the visa and may take 30 days to complete.

In terms of remuneration, the candidate must be paid by South Africa and as such will be subject to South African taxes and in accordance with the double tax agreement between South Africa and Mozambique.

Whilst the employee’s remuneration is subject to tax, there are a number of special planning items that can be considered for expatriate employees, these include tax free accommodation for the first two years and up to R25 000 per month, time outside South Africa is exempt and a log book of travel should be kept to calculate this, one month relocation allowance is exempt, and where he has not worked for the complete year in South Africa a portion of his taxes may be refunded and can be claimed back from SARS on personal tax assessment.

Other items to consider include –

  • Split payroll setup, where a portion of his salary is paid locally and the balance is paid offshore (this is not a tax saving mechanism, but allows employees to receive their money where they need it).
  • A correctly setup South African non-resident bank account.
  • Ideally the candidate should not belong to the South African retirement fund but should rather take out private insurances, including life and disability cover.

There are specialised providers in the market and we can refer you to them, if needed.

Cabinet Decision To Revise The Immigration Amendment Acts and Regulations

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The Department of Home Affairs has welcomed Cabinet’s decision regarding the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee the President had established in August 2015 to look at the unintended consequences and mitigating factors relating to the implementation of the Immigration Amendment Acts (2007 and 2011) and Immigration Regulations, 2014. The law, as amended, will remain with adjustments to be made in implementation, to make it easier for people to comply.

In terms of the decision, on the requirement for travellers to apply for visas in person, in countries where there is no SA mission, the Department of Home Affairs will receive applications, including by post, and capture biometrics of travellers on arrival at ports of entry. To address concerns around the geographical spread of countries like China, India and Russia, certain measures will be put in place to ease the process of application, in particular for tourists.

Read more

Where Is The Best Country To Be An Expat?

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A new survey of 21,950 expatriates from around the world has crowned Singapore as the best place to be an expat. The Expat Explorer country league table, commissioned by HSBC and now in its eighth year, uses a variety of criteria including economics, experience and family life. Singapore received a 67% approval from expats living there, who reported being encouraged by the nation’s strong economy and the opportunities available to them for career progression.

In the individual pillars, Switzerland ranked first for best economy, New Zealand for experience (overall quality of life) while Sweden was ranked highest for family life.

Living abroad has benefits beyond career advancement. Over half of expat spouses said that they felt the experience had brought them closer together. Confusion and difficulty over managing finances in a foreign country was cited as the most challenging aspect of living abroad.

The report notes that while the allure of finding better jobs and experiences in other countries is a key factor in moving abroad, even in the top 10 nations, everyone’s experience is different. Potential emigrants should be sure they know that “the grass isn’t greener, just a different colour of green”.

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