The Department of Home Affairs White Paper on Immigration not only proposes certain changs to South Africa’s visa policy but also to the country’s policy with regards to the granting of Permanent Residence. The following are the proposed changes:

Quota and Window-Period for PR applications:

A quota and window-period based system will be introduced to regulate the number of PR approvals annually. This will be introduced in order to align immigration with the country’s capacity, labour market demands and socio-economic objectives. The quotas will be determined after consultation with other relevant government departments.

Merit-Based PR for Economic Visas (Non-Time Dependent Eligibility)

This is a move away from issuing PR based on the number of years the applicant has been in South Africa, but rather on a merit-based points system. Applicants will be evaluated based on criteria such as qualifications, skills, economic contributions, and alignment with national interests. The goal is to reward those individuals that demonstrate the highest value to South Africa (and not those that have been resident in the country for a specified time).