The Remote Working Visa was first gazetted at the end of March 2024. Unfortunately, the Minister of Home Affairs (in his wisdom) gazetted it before the public participation process had ended thus leaving it susceptible to legal challenge. It was thus withdrawn, but has now been “re-gazetted” on the 20th May 2024 and is now formally part of the Immigration Regulations of South Africa.
The Regulations provide that a person may apply for a Remote Working Visa either if they are employed by a foreign employer or if they derive foreign source income. The new regulations contain a quite significant change to the aborted regulations in that they now include not only those that are employed by a foreign company but also those that earn “foreign source income”. Accordingly, this will now include freelancers and those working on a “contract basis” provided they can show they earn the minimum income threshold.
In order to qualify for the Remote Working Visa the applicant must earn a gross amount of not less than the equivalent of R 1 million per annum. The previous regulations did not specify whether the R 1 million threshold was a gross or net amount and this has now been clarified. Finally, the applicant will have to register with the South African Revenue Services should they be issued with a visa for longer than 6 months.
The Remote Working Visa has been a long time in the making but the fact that it has finally been formalised should be welcomed.
