New laws could affect businesses

MAJOR companies in Nelson Mandela Bay are cautious about the new immigration laws in South Africa.

The new laws, which came into effect last month, have brought about some big changes to foreigners applying for work visas in South Africa.

A Critical Skills List was also released by Home Affairs last week in which suitably qualified foreigners, ranging from qualified sheep shearers to doctoral graduates in galaxy formation and evolution, can apply for work permits in the country.

Volkswagen Group South Africa communications general manager Matt Gennrich described the previous work visa application process as onerous.

"Even when there is a legitimate need and the correct criteria are in place, receiving approval for a residence permit for an overseas specialist is difficult.

"This [new legisltion] will make it more so. [But] there is no impact on SA executives travelling, as we understand it," Gennrich said.

The impact of the new laws on companies could compromise their competitiveness, which in turn could even impact on growth and employment, he said.

On whether the newly released Critical Skills List would help in any way to alleviate the cumbersome process of applying for visas for VWSA employees, Gennrich said in theory it should help, but "we will have to see how well this works in practice".

A long list of engineering and trade positions are on the Critical Skills List.

Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) legal compliance manager Sivuyile Boqwana said the Port Elizabeth tyre firm had not made use of the list in the past.

"This could also be a lengthy process and the documents and statutory requirements to comply with the act will place a huge burden on the local company as well as the assignee," Boqwana said.

CTSA had not had that many challenges complying with immigration laws in the past because the company contracted people with the expertise to assist with the relocation of staff between countries, she said.

"The recently amended legislation has had a positive influence on the company, improved our processes and reduced the cost as we merely make use of the intra-company visa for the transfer of skills and experience to local employees.

"This has been extended from two to four years. The work visa will obviously pose some challenges as this will be a lengthy process to prove that we could not find the skills in our country and to comply with all the stated requirements," she said.

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) spokeswoman Roslyn Baatjies said the Critical Skills List would definitely inform the university's academic planning. "Ongoing environmental scans and market research are done throughout the year to assess the latest policy and other related trends that we should be responding to as a university.

"Our senior director: institutional planning Professor Heather Nel makes inputs to council, management and the deans on these trends with a view to this being communicated to academics and for this to inform our strategies at different levels.

"When NMMU does the annual enrolment capping the faculties are informed of high-level strategic imperatives for our academic programmes and curricula."

The amended immigration regulations became effective on May 26 and Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys partner Niki Gerneke said employees who held Quota and Exceptional Skills work permits would not be able to renew them going forward.

"They will need to apply for a change of status to a Critical Skills Work Visa or change to another work visa."

The requirements for applications for intra-company work visas had not changed too much if the additional documentation historically submitted under the previous regulations was taken into account, she said. - Cindy Preller