Business Visa
South Africa

What Is a Business Visa and Who Qualifies

A business visa is a Section 15 visa for foreign nationals who invest in or run a business in South Africa. You qualify if you can prove the capital, register the business with the required authorities, meet the 60% local-staff undertaking, and secure a DTIC recommendation.

This temporary residence visa is issued under Section 15 of the Immigration Act, 2002, read with Regulation 14 of the Immigration Regulations, 2014. It covers two situations: a foreigner setting up a business that does not yet exist, and a foreigner buying into or expanding a business already trading in South Africa. The visa is granted for a maximum of three years at a time and is renewable. Its stated purpose in law is to attract investment that contributes to the national interest, which is why the DTIC assesses every application before Home Affairs sees it.

Who Qualifies

• Investors and entrepreneurs establishing a new business or investing in an existing one.
• Applicants with proven capital of R5 million, or a reduced amount if the business is in a priority sector.
• Businesses that can be legally registered with SARS, CIPC, the UIF and the Compensation Fund.
• Businesses that secure DTIC support confirming feasibility and national interest contribution.

You do not qualify if your business falls in an excluded sector, regardless of how much capital you hold. Compare this against a critical skills work visa if you have an in-demand occupation but no capital. 

Business Visa Requirements

You need R5 million in capital, a registered South African business, a DTIC recommendation letter, a completed DHA-1738 form, and an undertaking that 60% of your workforce will be South African citizens or permanent residents. The checklist below is mandatory under Regulation 14.

Mandatory requirements:

• Capital: A certificate or factual findings report from an accountant registered with SAICA, SAIPA or CIBA confirming that at least R5 million in cash, or cash plus a capital contribution, is available or already invested. A capital contribution can take the form of new machinery or equipment.
• DHA-1738: The completed and signed business visa application form.
• DTIC recommendation letter: Confirming business feasibility and contribution to the national interest.
• 60% staff undertaking: A written commitment that at least 60% of the total staff complement will be South African citizens or permanent residents in permanent positions.
• Registration undertaking: A commitment to register with SARS, the UIF, the Compensation Fund for Occupational Injuries and Diseases, CIPC (where legally required), and any relevant SAQA-recognised professional body.
• Police clearance certificate: From each country where you lived for 12 months or longer after age 18, during the five years before applying. This narrower rule comes from Immigration Directive 5 of 2023.
• Medical report: On the prescribed form. The radiological report is no longer required, also under Directive 5 of 2023.
• Valid passport, photographs and proof of funds for personal maintenance during your stay.
  
  

The 60% quota is not a submission-day test. You give the undertaking upfront, then you have 12 months from the date the visa is issued to prove compliance. Within that same 12 months, you must also submit a letter from the Department of Labour confirming the workforce report and lodge all registration certificates with the Director-General. Registration itself runs across several bodies at once: SARS for tax, CIPC for company registration, the UIF and Compensation Fund for staff. Missing any of these registrations after the visa is granted puts the visa at risk.

Fund Combining and Partner Capital

No. The R5 million requirement applies to each foreign applicant, not to the business as a shared pool. Two or three foreign partners cannot combine their money to reach one R5 million figure and each qualify for it. Every foreign applicant must independently prove R5 million.

Regulation 14 ties the capital to the applicant’s own accountant certificate confirming that the required amount is available or invested. The law sets the figure per applicant, not per company, so a single R5 million spread across three partners does not satisfy any of them.

What this means in practice:

• Each foreign partner needs their own R5 million (or their own waiver in a priority sector), confirmed in their own factual findings report.
• A local (South African) partner does not carry a capital requirement, since the R5m applies to the foreign applicant seeking the visa.
• Each foreign applicant files separately: their own DHA-1738, their own police clearance, their own DTIC recommendation, and their own capital proof.
• A written partnership agreement is required where the business is or will become a partnership, but it does not reduce or share the per-applicant capital.
  
  

If you and a foreign co-founder each need a business visa, budget for two full R5 million contributions, not one split between you. If only one of you needs the visa and the other is a South African citizen or permanent resident, only the foreign applicant carries the R5 million.

Get your police clearance certificate early, since foreign clearances can take weeks. If you hold less than R5 million, see how the R5m capital requirement can be waived.

How to Obtain the DTIC Recommendation Letter

You obtain the DTIC recommendation letter by submitting your business plan, proof of capital, and job-creation commitments to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, which assesses your economic contribution before issuing it. Without this letter, Home Affairs refuses the visa.

This is the step most applicants underestimate. The DTIC recommendation is a separate application that happens before the visa application, and it is where most time is lost. In practice it takes roughly three to six months, so it should be your first action, not your last.

The process:

1. Prepare your business plan. It must set out the business, market, financial projections, job creation, and how the venture serves the national interest. Weak or generic plans are the main reason for a negative recommendation.
   
   
2. Compile proof of capital. Bank confirmation of the R5 million, or documentation of committed foreign capital, prepared with your accountant.
   
   
3. Submit to the DTIC. Lodge the business plan, capital proof and job-creation commitments for assessment.
   
   
4. DTIC assessment. The department evaluates the economic case. If your capital is below R5 million, this is where you motivate for a waiver or reduction.
   
   
5. Issuance. A positive recommendation letter is issued, addressing feasibility and national-interest contribution. Only then do you proceed to the visa application.
   
   

What the DTIC Assesses

• Feasibility of the business, short and long term.
• Job creation, especially the 60% local-employment commitment.
• Sector priority, whether the business sits in a national-interest sector.
• Source and legitimacy of capital, including where the funds originate.
  
  

The DTIC recommendation is mandatory for both the visa and any later permanent residence application, and a fresh recommendation is required at renewal.

Industries Where the R5m Capital Requirement Is Waived or Reduced

The R5 million capital requirement can be reduced or waived for businesses in DTIC-designated priority sectors deemed to be in the national interest. Certain undesirable industries are excluded entirely and cannot qualify for a business visa regardless of capital. This list comes from Government Gazette 37837 of 15 July 2014.

Priority Sectors Eligible for Capital Waiver

• Agro-processing (food processing, beverages, natural fibres, biofuels)
• Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT-enabled services
• Advanced manufacturing (capital and transport equipment, metals, electrical machinery, electro-technical)
• Textile, clothing and leather
• Consumer goods, boatbuilding, pulp, paper and furniture
• Automotives and components
• Green economy industries (renewable power, energy efficiency, waste and circular economy)
• Tourism infrastructure (hotels, resorts, adventure, eco- and cultural tourism, leisure complexes)
• Chemicals, plastic fabrication and pharmaceuticals (including APIs and vaccines)
• Creative and design industry (film, jewellery and fashion design)
• Oil and gas
• Mineral beneficiation
• Information and communication technology (ICT)
• Infrastructure development
  
  

To use a waiver, you motivate for the reduced amount during the DTIC recommendation stage, supported by a business plan that shows how the venture serves the national interest. Waiver assessment is done case by case and adds several months.

Excluded / Undesirable Industries

• Businesses importing second-hand vehicles into South Africa for export to other markets
• Exotic entertainment
• The hospitality industry
• Fast-food outlets and franchises
• The cosmetics and beauty industry
  
  

These sectors cannot be approved under the business visa or renewed in this category, so confirm your sector before spending on a business plan. If your occupation rather than your capital is the strength, check the critical skills occupations list.