Immigration South Africa - Julian Pokroy Immigration Law Attorneys

MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS SET TO AMEND THE DURATION OF INTRA COMPANY TRANSFER WORK PERMITS

The Minister of Home Affairs yesterday announced an intention to extend the two-year limit for intra company transfer work permits to five years. This will require an amendment to the Immigration Act number 13 0f 2002 (as amended in July last year), and in specific Section 19(5) thereof, which, according to the Ministers office in a media statement released on the 29th June 2006 should be done by year end.

Minister Mapisa-Nqakula said revisions became necessary due to problems in executing the amended Immigration Act, "particularly in relation to the attraction of skills and foreign investment".

The Minister had previously ignored inputs by various stakeholders, specifically the South African Chamber of Business and the organised legal profession through the Law Society of South Africa, during the Parliamentary hearings on this topic, who had contended that the condition she intended imposing was restrictive and would impede economic growth. Now, less than one year from the coming into operation of the provision, it is being amended. This has also been due to the Cabinet instruction to this effect last month which was brought about, inter alia, by intensive lobbying.

In the meantime, the Minister further announced that interim measures will be put in place to assist multinational companies. What these will be is unknown at this stage.

As soon as news becomes available we will follow up with a further update.

The Minister also announced on Thursday that foreigners will no longer need to apply for transit visas for South Africa.

"I have decided to suspend the requirement for transit visas for all countries," Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said in a statement. "In the meantime, I will commission a study into international best practice relating to transit visas."

The study, to be completed by September, will look at the impact of such visas on the country's economy and security.

The Minister, in her press statement indicated that she had received input from Chambers of Commerce and Business representatives that had revealed that transit visas, used to protect the country's borders, are affecting the profit margins of airlines operating in South Africa.

The Minister also announced that work is progressing well to identify skills required in the country in order to develop permit quotas.

A workshop to this end is to be held on July 5, where the Departments of Trade and Industry and Labour will present a list of scarce and critical skills for discussion.

"It is envisaged that I will be able to publish the next list of quotas in September," the Minister said.

Whether this will impact on the current quotas as gazetted on the 8th February 2006 or not, remains to be seen.

The Minister is also required in terms of Section 27 of the Immigration Act to prescribe “ yearly limits of available permits for each sector of industry, trade and commerce, after consultation with the Departments of Trade and Industry, Labour and Education”.

The Minister did not publish such lists to date thereby depriving thousands of skilled persons from applying for permanent residence under this section of the Act.

Organised business, which is also one of the most important stakeholders in the spectrum is not included in the spectrum of consultation, but as the ultimate employer of skills, hopefully will be.

Regular updates will follow in later newsletters on this topic. February 2006

Julian Pokroy has been practicing immigration law as a specialist practitioner for his own account or in partnership since 1980 but has been involved in immigration law since 1970.
During this period he has served on the Immigrants Selection Board of the Department of Home Affairs from January 1993 to December 1996, served on the Parliamentary Task Group which drew the Green Paper on International Migration in 1996, is a member of the Immigration Advisory Board to the Minister of Home Affairs and has chaired the Immigration and Refugee Law Committee of the Law Society of South Africa since its inception and for the last five years has chaired the Law Society of the Northern Provinces Immigration, Nationality and Refugee Law Committee.”

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