South Africa Introduces a Remote Work Visa

South Africa has introduced a Remote Work visa. It allows you to stay in South Africa while working remotely for a company abroad.

The minimum salary requirement to get this visa is R650,976 per annum, which is about US $3,000 a month. The Visa is for 3 years, which you can renew thereafter. You will work for a foreign employer without being taxed in South Africa, provided your home country has a double taxation agreement with South Africa.

The new visa was gazetted this week by South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber. It is now in effect and people can apply.

What is a Nomad Visa?

Generally called Nomad Visas, they allow you to migrate to a country and stay while working remotely for an employer that’s not in that country. You of course need to prove this employment and the income from it.

Because it’s remote work, such visas are commonly used by people in technology like software engineers.

South Africa joins a growing list of countries offering nomad visas, including Portugal, Seychelles, Mauritius, Estonia, Iceland, and more. These visas are designed to attract skilled professionals who can contribute to the local economy by spending their income on housing, dining, entertainment, and tourism. In return, nomads enjoy the opportunity to live and work in a new environment, experiencing a different culture and lifestyle.

South Africa offering this Visa is a significant step. Immigration in South Africa has been an issue for a few years now. Politicians have jumped onto it using it as an election campaign issue, with some politicians promising South Africans they will be tougher on immigrants to ensure, Jobs are reserved for South Africans only immigrants adding value to SA are allowed to stay. A Nomad Visa allows to attract people that bring their money without taking local jobs.

Does this Visa make sense for Zimbabwean professionals?

A South African nomad visa is interesting because all along we have assumed people want to work in SA without necessarily needing to live there. Why? Well, the crime. The media suggests hard crimes are very common. Bad things are good for news.

What we hear when we talk to Zimbabwean techies working remote jobs is that they love the flexibility of living in Zimbabwe while working remotely for a company outside Zimbabwe

A Zimbabwean software engineer working for, say, a South African company paying them $5k a month would want to live in Chimanimani. They’d have their solar electricity solution that’s completely off grid, their Starlink kit offering great rural internet speeds. Or they could be working for a EU company, and South Africa would just be where they go for gadget and clothes shopping once every 6 or so months.

It sounds ideal until you think about the health situation in the country. In Zimbabwe health emergencies can easily go south and unless you can be airlifted to South Africa. Good luck getting to SA within a few hours from Chimanimani.

Zimbabwe is beautiful, but needing to have your own little solution (or paying premium prices) for things a government would otherwise be responsible for – health, education, neighbourhood roads, water, electricity, constantly figuring out the value of things – can be exhausting (or liberating depending on your lifestyle).

Reports of crime aside, South Africa does offer some stability allowing you to focus on the work you love doing.

Curious to know your thoughts on this visa. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.