USA Entry Restrictions And Appraised Visas currently

USA Entry Restrictions And Appraised Visas Currently

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However, the Consulates do provide limited immigrant visa services, restricted to namely, IR-1, IR-2, CR-1, CR-2, IR5, and K visas. They also offer limited non-immigrant visa services for crewmembers, certain student and exchange visitors’ categories, journalists, and petition-based workers who qualify for an exception to current travel restrictions. This is only applicable if you have an urgent life-or-death matter, or work/study in a critical medical field, and need to travel immediately.

According to most missions in South Africa, travelers must avoid unnecessary movement between Provinces due to the high number of Covid infections in the country. The 3rd Covid wave is more perilous than the 1st and 2nd waves and individuals must be aware of the dangers around the new delta variant.

Please note that the following USA visas can currently be considered:

IR-1– This is a type of immigrant visa issued to foreign spouses of US citizens. (Spouses, New arrivals)

IR-2– This is a family based green card for minors under 21 years of age. (Children, new arrivals)

CR-1– This is a United States immigrant visa that allows a spouse of a US citizen to enter the USA as a conditional permanent resident. (Spouses, new arrivals, conditional, certain family members of U.S. citizens)

CR-2– This type of visa is issued to the unmarried child of a foreign spouse.  For a child to qualify as a stepchild, the marriage would need to have taken place before the child’s 18th birthday. The child must also be under the age of 21 at the time of the visa application. (Children, new arrivals, conditional)

IR5– This type of visa is a Family Based Green Card which is designed for parents of U.S citizens who are least 21 years old. The IR5 parent visa allows U.S. citizens to bring foreign-born parents to the United States as permanent residents. (Parents of adult U.S. citizens, new arrivals, certain family members of U.S. citizens)

K- This type of visa, include K-1’s, which allow a fiancé(e) of a United States citizen to travel to the USA and marry the United States citizen within 90 days of admission. Both the United States citizen and the foreign fiancé(e) must be free to marry, meaning they must both be unmarried, and any previous marriages must have ended through divorce, annulment, or death. Additionally, the United States citizen must have met with the fiancé(e) in person within the last two years before filing the K-1 visa. K-2 visas allow the children of the fiancé(e) to enter the United States if their parent qualifies for the K-1 visa. (Fiancé(e) to marry U.S. citizen & live in U.S)

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Retention of SA Citizenship

Retention of South African Citizenship

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Marisa Jacobs
Marisa Jacobs
Director

It is however imperative for South Africans to be mindful when applying for another country’s Citizenship that they do not unknowingly renounce their South African Citizenship.  Consequently, the most prominent hurdles in obtaining dual citizenship have become the 1) retention of SA Citizenship 2) application for foreign Citizenship and 3) physical and / or financial emigration. Here is a quick look at the differences:

What is Dual Citizenship

Dual Citizenship is the right to become a citizen of more than one country. It sounds fairly straight-forward, but South Africans need to apply to keep their South African Citizenship. Many first world countries no longer allow individuals to keep Dual Citizenship with other countries.

Countries like Singapore, China, Japan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have become firm favourites with South Africans looking to earn a foreign income. However, none of these countries make provision for Dual Citizenship.

While the act of having dual nationality can hold many rewards, it can also create a tax maze and have other, more complex, implications to consider.

Can I Lose My Citizenship?

While South Africa allows its citizens to hold Dual Citizenship, it’s important to understand the requirements and the correct way of applying for it. For instance, you must first apply to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to request retention of your SA Citizenship before applying for foreign citizenship. Where this step is not completed, you will automatically lose your SA Citizenship.

This section of the Citizenship Act is currently being put to task because it is believed to be unconstitutional. Whether this is true or not, thousands of South Africans lose their Citizenship every year without knowing.

If you have already lost your Citizenship, it is a complex and onerous process to get it back again. One of the ways to reclaim or resume your Citizenship, is that you will be required to move back to South Africa on a permanent basis and then make application to the DHA in accordance. This can be a massive setback for professionals who were under the impression that they indeed have Dual Citizenship and already made the big move.

Physical- and Financial Emigration

Emigration is the act of moving away from a country. It’s important to note the difference between Physical Emigration and Financial Emigration, as these are two entirely separate matters, and you can do one without necessarily having to do the other.

What is Physical Emigration?

Although Physical Emigration indicates the act of packing your bags, jumping on the first flight and leaving South Africa, it requires a decision on whether you would like to take up Residency or Citizenship of the country you are relocating to. Where you do decide to apply for Citizenship, there is the all-important further decisions of whether you would like Dual Citizenship (where allowed) or give up your SA Citizenship. As noted earlier, where you intend to retain SA Citizenship you must initiate the process with the DHA before applying for other Citizenship. This can be a daunting and uncertain process and many are unfamiliar with the steps, resulting in them not properly concluding this process.

What is Financial Emigration?

Financial Emigration is the process of cutting financial ties with South Africa. This means that, for exchange control purposes, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) changes your residency status from resident to non-resident. Because SARS requires a tax clearance certificate before considering financial emigration, it is wise to consult a specialist who can help you with this procedure.

Always remember that, through financially emigrating, you do not alter your status as a South African Citizen.

How can we help? 

Our service offering includes extensive expat tax assistance, work visa services and international travel permit applications. More often than not, complications hinder the financial emigration process. We are there to help expats with all their emigration woes. 

Regardless of what your needs might be, or which of the above scenarios would best suit your situation, be sure to partner with someone who knows the legal and technical ins-and-outs of working abroad. 

3rd Covid-19 wave and resultant restrictions for South Africans

3rd Covid-19 Wave And Resultant Restrictions For South Africans

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Based on the limited sequencing that’s been done, the Delta variant has emerged as the dominant variant in this resurgence. According to the latest research, it is much more transmissible and possibly more virulent compared to previous variants. This simply means that further restrictions will apply on travellers exiting South Africa and that further lockdown measures will be implemented.

The European Commission is doing its utmost best to ensure free movement of citizens, goods, and services – with full respect to health and safety measures. However, we are expecting that South African travellers might not be able to travel abroad due to the current Covid-19 situation.

Non-essential travel has been banned to most countries from South Africa, or have been imposed with strict regulations, until the epidemiological situation is better controlled. Restrictions on travel will be in line with the Council’s recommendation, including testing of travellers.

The good news is that employees who are required to enter France and Italy can submit their visa applications and depart to their destination with no issues.

France and Italy both accept work permit and seafarer visa applications, provided that the travellers deliver the following:

  • Negative PCR test in the last 48 hours of travelling
  • If vaccinated, a 7-day quarantine in France
  • If not vaccinated, Covid tests to be conducted and travellers quarantined for 10 days
  • Give a compelling reason to be admitted entry
  • A sworn statement certifying the absence of Covid-19 symptoms or contact with any confirmed case of Covid-19
  • Complete letter with name, travel details, why the need to travel and accommodation details.
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SA Companies Import Critical Skills As Local Pool Can’t Plug The Hole

SA Companies Import Critical Skills As Local Pool Can’t Plug The Hole

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Yet government’s draft list of critical skills now contains only half as many engineering professions as it did six years ago.

Marisa Jacobs, managing director at Xpatweb, which conducted the survey, says that chemical and electrical engineers, for example, were excluded from the department of home affairs’ new draft list.

The list was published in February after being updated for the first time since 2014.

Foreigners with skills on this list who want to come to work in South Africa can get a work visa much faster than those who are not. If your skill isn’t on the list, you may wait for up to six months longer for a work visa, says Jacobs.

The list contains skills that are important for the country’s strategic priorities, which are acute or may be in short supply in the future. It also contains skills that take a long time to develop.

Xpatweb, which helps companies recruit experts abroad, has been conducting surveys to collect real data among listed and multinational companies for the past five years on critical skills they are struggling to fill from the local market.

Jacobs says the latest survey, the largest to date, involved 220 respondents.

It shows that most respondents recruit foreigners for critical positions through LinkedIn (31%) and recruitment agencies (25%).

A total of 15% recruit from Europe, 14% from India and 13% from the UK, while 7% recruit largely in China and the US.

Jacobs said in a workshop this week that the survey shows that engineers, scientists, tradespeople (especially electricians), specialists in healthcare and accounting, as well as senior financial managers are among the positions that businesses in South Africa struggle the most to fill.

More than 80% of respondents are looking for engineers with three or more years of work experience, while 35% need engineers who have an honours degree.

On the new draft critical skills list, however, there are 22 fewer occupations in the category for engineers than there were on the 2014 list.

The 2014 list contained 41 occupations in the category, but now there are only 19 – 11 of which appear for the first time, Jacobs says.

Certain skills were re-included after the results of the survey became known and Xpatweb submitted comments on the draft list.

They include industrial engineer and technologist; engineering manager; mechanical engineering technologist; fitter and turner; registered nurse for child and family care, and for mental health; actuary; food and beverage scientist; and quantity surveyor.

Jacobs says media and marketing specialists, executives, information communication technology specialists and foreign language-speaking workers are also scarce locally.

The draft list does not provide at all for people who are proficient in foreign languages.

City Press reported earlier that this has implications for call centres. The greatest need is for French speakers, followed by those who speak Dutch and Mandarin.

According to Jacobs, companies also have a great need for CEOs, as well as executive operations and financial managers, but of these so-called C-suite skills, only “chief information officer” currently appears on the draft list.

She says the category “general manager”, one of the most popular visa categories under which companies can now bring in CEOs, has also been omitted.

Encouraging is the inclusion of eight new professions or skills in the accounting sector after they were identified as scarce skills by the first survey. These include accounting officer, financial accounting and forensic accounting, and tax expert.

According to Jacobs, the business world still needs to provide its input on what it needs because the list has not yet been finalised. That will probably happen later this year.

Once it is finalised, foreign workers with skills that do not appear on the list will not be able to obtain a work visa swiftly, even if a company urgently needs their services.

Other visas will then have to be applied for and this process can take much longer, she says.

Jacobs advises companies to apply for the renewal of work visas for foreign employees whose skills are no longer on the new draft list. This will prevent them from being caught off-guard.

Sourced: Netwerk 24

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Some Light At The End Of A Dark Tunnel For Mauritius

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The government was forced to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the economy. With a larger public service, it will be hard to recalibrate these economic challenges. However, the 2021-22 Mauritius budget speech comes concurrently with the relief of the recent announcement that the country is opening its borders.

On the 11th of June 2021, the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, presented the Mauritius Finance Budget for the next fiscal year. With the aim of rebooting the economy, he discussed investments, economic strategy, restoring confidence, tax, and energy measurements.

The speech provided the government’s vision in terms of balancing social spending, its commitments against collections of revenues, boosting of the economy and preservation of public wealth under the Covid pandemic. The increase in the provision of incentives for small and medium enterprises will assist with the creation of jobs for social and economic stability in both the public and private sectors.

According to the Minister, the Mauritius strategy will be implemented based on the following points:

  • Recovery: This involves job preservation and creation;
  • Revival: Forecasting a GDP growth of 6% for the world and 9% for the country; and
  • Social Resilience: Unemployment kept at 9.2% for 2021 and forecasted to go under 4% in 2022.

The emphasis on the above items will contribute to the increase of the local economy, job market and propel additional consumption. Whilst the attentive focus is on overall reform, public care is the pillars of this budget, without any major changes to the tax regime. This is a refreshing relief for all, including industry and enterprise.

An island economy that is subordinate to foreign investments and the introduction to the relaxation in residency/occupational permit rules will enable the country to boost its tourist attraction. Having said that, it will be easier to obtain residency in Mauritius. The reviewed occupation permit rules indicate the following:

  • Foreign nationals wishing to apply for an Occupation Permit to work and reside in Mauritius can do so under the three categories: Investor, Professional and Self-Employed.
  • The validity period for an Occupation Permit as a Professional will be extended to 10-years.
  • Foreign nationals holding an Occupation Permit as a Professional will be given the flexibility to interchange between employment opportunities without having to submit a new application, provided that the minimum criteria are met.
  • Spouses of Occupation Permit holders wishing to invest or work in Mauritius will be exempted from applying for an Occupation Permit or Work Permit.
  • The maximum age limit of 24-years for dependants will be waived.
  • Foreign nationals may apply for an Occupation Permit irrespective of their visa category upon arrival.
  • A new permit category is being introduced under the Occupation Regime; A 10-year Family Occupation Permit for those contributing USD250,000 to the Covid-19 Projects Development Fund.
  • Holders of a 10-year Permanent Residence Permit will automatically be extended to 20-years.

The Mauritius government has taken a proactive approach by acknowledging the current short comings in positioning Mauritius as a long-term, family friendly jurisdiction. This is evident in the above suggested extension of the right of spouses of Occupation Permit holders to freely invest and/or work as well as the waiver of the dependent maximum age limit, a long-standing contentious issue of concern for non-citizen families seeking an inclusive destination conducive to long-term settlement.

From an immigration perspective, there are many factors, both immigration and tax-related, that can make planning invaluable. Therefore, to avoid costly mistakes, you must seek professional assistance and follow due diligence when travelling to Mauritius.

Xpatweb expatriate solution specialists and partners provide expert advice focused on your circumstances and requirements and are well-versed with intricate knowledge of the Mauritius Immigration Law.

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