HOME Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday announced a special visa dispensation for business people from SA’s Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) partners.
This follows an uproar over new migration regulations since their introduction in June last year, with complaints that requirements for unabridged birth certificates for travelling children and other issues would harm tourism in SA.
It has been reported that tourist arrivals from other Brics countries are dramatically down since the introduction of the new regulations, which require travellers to apply in person for their visas and to provide detailed biometric information.
Speaking at a Cape Town Press Club lunch on Thursday, Mr Gigaba said it was decided in December to allow business people from Brics countries to obtain port of entry visas that were valid for 10 years and allowed multiple entries for 30 days at a time during that period. He also announced that Brics business people could get a visa within five days.
Mr Gigaba said the new regime for Brics came after discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Brics Business Council, and it was anticipated that the move would enhance investment from those countries.
Responding to a question, Mr Gigaba said he did not think the new Brics dispensation would offend some of SA’s traditional trading partners in Britain, elsewhere in Europe, and the US.
At present, these people can obtain visas that are valid for 30 to 90 days.
Mr Gigaba said the Department of Home Affairs was creating a "trusted traveller" dispensation that would ease visa restrictions for those from other parts of the world.
However, the programme was still being developed.
"It could be that in the future, the Brics dispensation could be extended to business people from other countries with significant investment in SA."
The minister said the Brics countries were responsible for 25% of global gross domestic product and that SA was a strategic entry point for other Brics countries into Africa.
Mr Gigaba again defended the provision that if visitors to SA wanted to change the type of visa they had, they would have to return to their home country to do so.
But a visa could be extended while the traveller was in SA.
He said there were occasions when employees of large companies entered the country on tourist visas, then applied for jobs, and "our sense is that this was done knowingly to avoid compliance with the new regulations, and that abuse had to end".
Mr Gigaba promised that the panel of experts due to review the migration regime would be announced soon, but stressed that it would not review the regulations or migration law but rather the systems that applied to the process of granting visas.
He also defended the provision that travelling children should have unabridged birth certificates as well as an order of court if one parent did not approve of the child travelling.
He said if an abducted child were to travel with the permission of home affairs, the department would be vulnerable to civil action in the courts.
Malusi Gigaba. Picture: SUNDAY TIMES
HOME Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday announced a special visa dispensation for business people from SA’s Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) partners.
This follows an uproar over new migration regulations since their introduction in June last year, with complaints that requirements for unabridged birth certificates for travelling children and other issues would harm tourism in SA.
It has been reported that tourist arrivals from other Brics countries are dramatically down since the introduction of the new regulations, which require travellers to apply in person for their visas and to provide detailed biometric information.
Speaking at a Cape Town Press Club lunch on Thursday, Mr Gigaba said it was decided in December to allow business people from Brics countries to obtain port of entry visas that were valid for 10 years and allowed multiple entries for 30 days at a time during that period. He also announced that Brics business people could get a visa within five days.
Mr Gigaba said the new regime for Brics came after discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Brics Business Council, and it was anticipated that the move would enhance investment from those countries.
Responding to a question, Mr Gigaba said he did not think the new Brics dispensation would offend some of SA’s traditional trading partners in Britain, elsewhere in Europe, and the US.
At present, these people can obtain visas that are valid for 30 to 90 days.
Mr Gigaba said the Department of Home Affairs was creating a "trusted traveller" dispensation that would ease visa restrictions for those from other parts of the world.
However, the programme was still being developed.
"It could be that in the future, the Brics dispensation could be extended to business people from other countries with significant investment in SA."
The minister said the Brics countries were responsible for 25% of global gross domestic product and that SA was a strategic entry point for other Brics countries into Africa.
Mr Gigaba again defended the provision that if visitors to SA wanted to change the type of visa they had, they would have to return to their home country to do so.
But a visa could be extended while the traveller was in SA.
He said there were occasions when employees of large companies entered the country on tourist visas, then applied for jobs, and "our sense is that this was done knowingly to avoid compliance with the new regulations, and that abuse had to end".
Mr Gigaba promised that the panel of experts due to review the migration regime would be announced soon, but stressed that it would not review the regulations or migration law but rather the systems that applied to the process of granting visas.
He also defended the provision that travelling children should have unabridged birth certificates as well as an order of court if one parent did not approve of the child travelling.
He said if an abducted child were to travel with the permission of home affairs, the department would be vulnerable to civil action in the courts.
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