No South African visa is automatic. If a foreigner wishes to operate a business in South Africa, steps must be taken to provide the relevant documentation and the required investment amount is proven  in order for the Department of Home Affairs to process the application for a South African business visa.

The number of partners or shareholders that a South African business holder can have is dependent on the structure of the business that will be operated (i.e. CC, PTY, etc).

For a Closed Corporation, the number of partners or shareholders limited is 10 members.  The required investment of amount of ZAR 5 million is required to be invested by the applicant him or herself.

South African visas are usually issued in line with your passport expiry date but a business visa can be issued for no more than 3 years, and the validity is at the Department’s discretion. The Immigration Act allow for extensions before the expiry of this visa, provided that the requirements are met.

If a spouse or life-partner of a South African business visa holder would like to work as an employee in the particular business, then a work visa would need to be obtained to legally work in the business.

However, if the spouse or life-partner would like to assist and not be remunerated, this is acceptable.

South African Business visas applications can be submitted for more than one business. However, there should be very good reasons why that must be shown to the Department of Home Affairs. If a foreigner opens a PTY business, then more than one Closed Corporation business can be operated.It is best to seek advice from a Registered Immigration Practitioner to avoid confusion and problems once arriving in South Africa.

If a foreigner has a South African life-partner/spouse, then the required investment amount would not be required to be invested. The process to operate a business for a life-partner/spouse is far easier (less documentation required) than applying for a normal business visa.

In order to maintain a granted South African business visa, the holder is required by the South African Immigration Law to ensure that at least 60% of the total staff complement to be South African citizens/permanent residents on a full time basis.

In order to maintain a granted South African business visa, the investment amount would need to be invested into the book value of the company within 24 months of receiving the visa. The Business visa holder is also required to ensure that at least 60% of the total staff complement to be South African citizens/permanent residents on a full time basis, as well as register with SARS (South African Revenue Service) for tax reasons. Proof of the above is required to be submitted to the Department of Home Affairs for the first 24 months, the Department may request to see further proof over the next period of time, this is at their own discretion.

Yes. In order to submit a South African business visa application successfully, the Department requires to see an in-depth business plan outlining all aspects of the business, e.g. where the business will be situated, the goals for the business, the income statements, balance sheets, etc.   It is best to seek advice from a Registered Immigration Practitioner for advice on business plans.

If a family member who is accompanying a South African business visa holder (i.e. wife/life-partner and/or children), then the family member in question could either receive a South African Accompanying Spouse/Life-partner visa or Accompanying children/minors visa to the main applicant (business visa holder).

If the spouse/life-partner would like to work, operate a business or study in South Africa, then the appropriate visa would need to be obtained.  If a child is aged 6 years and older, the child would need to attend school, therefore, a South African study visa would need to be obtained.