The British Chamber of Business in South Africa is a British Chambers of Commerce accredited Chamber, part of the Overseas Business Networks initiative, a key program of the British government that intends to stimulate and strengthen international business networks and UK exports.
The Chamber’s main objective is promoting trade and commercial relations between the South Africa and the United Kingdom. The Chamber collaborates with other business groupings, and fosters strong ties with the British Chambers of Commerce and regional counterparts.
Membership is drawn from a broad spectrum of British, SA, and international businesses with a common interest in developing business in either region.
Benefits of membership include regular Chamber events, as well as other networking events including receptions and product launches. Benefits also involve access to macro-economic reports, security reports, sector insights, seminars, newsletters, and advertising opportunities, as well as briefings by British High Commission, and SA parliamentary reports relevant to members.
Relocation Africa has been a proud member of the British Chamber for over two years, and the insights we gain by maintaining the membership assist us in ensuring that we are up-to-date with what is happening in our industry, and can best satisfy our clients’ needs.
For more information about the Chamber, visit http://www.britcham.co.za, and for more information about membership benefits, click here.
To speak to us about your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, send an email to marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Immigration changes in Angola, Mozambique and South Africa
MOZAMIBIQUE | DIRE Residency Document No Longer Required for New Foreign Hires
Effective immediately, foreign nationals entering Mozambique with a work visa will no longer be required to obtain an Identification and Residency Document for Foreigners (DIRE). Instead, their work visas will be extended up to one year based on the length their employment contracts.
This change only affects new hires going forward. Current DIRE holders will continue to use their DIRE until their current work visa expires. Also note that this change only applies to the work visa holder, and dependent family members of work visa holders are still required to obtain a DIRE.
SOUTH AFRICA & ANGOLA | New Reciprocal Visa Waiver
Effective December 1, the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will implement a reciprocal visa waiver for Angolan citizens for stays of up to 30, to a maximum of 90 days per year. Angolan passport holders will no longer require Port of Entry Visas in advance of travel to South Africa for the purposes of general business, tourism, or family visits and will be issued a 30-day Visitor’s Visa at the Port of Entry upon arrival in South Africa. Reciprocally, Angolan authorities are expected to no longer require visas for South African citizens to enter Angola for the same purposes and periods of stay.
Note, however, that this visa waiver does not include visits for the purposes of work, study, or self-employment. Angolan nationals who are conducting short-term work in South Africa are still required to obtain a Port of Entry Visa with authorization to conduct work under Section 11(2) of the Immigration Act prior to travel. These may be applied for at the VFS Visa Application Centers of the South African Embassy in Angola or at the appropriate South African overseas diplomatic missions for Angolan citizens residing abroad.
Source
Johannesburg and Cape Town are voted 2 of the best cities for expats to live and work by Internations
InterNations recently released its 2017 list of the best cities in the world for living and working abroad… and two South African cities feature in the Top 27 Best Places where expats (from other countries obviously!) are happiest. They are Johannesburg and Cape Town… and Joburg actually features way ahead of Cape Town.
The city rankings are based on survey responses from nearly 8,000 expats (7,985 to be exact) in 40 countries. A city had to be mentioned at least 45 times to be included, and rankings were based on the quality and cost of urban living, quality of work life and finances, and ease of settling into the city.
Johannesburg came seventh in the list, with a cost of living apparently 56.9% lower that that of living in New York City.
The site’s respondents say that the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom in the city centre is $480.83, a Cappuccino on average costs $1.67 and local beer $2.07.
Cape Town just made it into the list at number 26. Its cost of living is even better than Joburg’s – 59.1% lower than New York, but the average rent for a one-bedroom in the city centre is set at $716.30. Cappuccino is slightly less at $1.62, and local beer is the same.
The best city for expats from other nations is apparently Manama in Bahrain… followed by Prague (Czech Republic) and Madrid (Spain). Popular South African expat locations Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) are fourth and fifth favourite.
Manama is apparently easy to settle in and 92% of respondents said you can live there without speaking Arabic.
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on the other hand came second to last – apparently not easy to feel at at home there. Paris came third to last with expats also finding it hard to settle into the French capital. Nigeria’s Lagos came last with many complaints, including terrible medical care…
Source
Relocation Africa is a Proud Member of The British Chamber of Business in South Africa
The British Chamber of Business in South Africa is a British Chambers of Commerce accredited Chamber, part of the Overseas Business Networks initiative, a key program of the British government that intends to stimulate and strengthen international business networks and UK exports.
The Chamber’s main objective is promoting trade and commercial relations between the South Africa and the United Kingdom. The Chamber collaborates with other business groupings, and fosters strong ties with the British Chambers of Commerce and regional counterparts.
Membership is drawn from a broad spectrum of British, SA, and international businesses with a common interest in developing business in either region.
Benefits of membership include regular Chamber events, as well as other networking events including receptions and product launches. Benefits also involve access to macro-economic reports, security reports, sector insights, seminars, newsletters, and advertising opportunities, as well as briefings by British High Commission, and SA parliamentary reports relevant to members.
Relocation Africa has been a proud member of the British Chamber for over two years, and the insights we gain by maintaining the membership assist us in ensuring that we are up-to-date with what is happening in our industry, and can best satisfy our clients’ needs.
For more information about the Chamber, visit http://www.britcham.co.za, and for more information about membership benefits, click here.
To speak to us about your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, send an email to marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Relocation Africa Attended IBA Global Immigration Conference 2017
Relocation Africa recently attended the 8th Biennial IBA Global Immigration Conference, from 16-17 November 2017, in London, UK.
The conference was be presented by the IBA Immigration and Nationality Law Committee and topics included:
– The new age of global immigration and mobility: challenges and opportunities
– Global mobility report
– Skilled workers and compliance
– Global battle for the entrepreneur and investor
– Dual citizenship – renunciation and expatriation
– Economic and political risk migration in Africa and Middle East – the effect of the rest of the world
– Between cooperation and competition: the place of immigration lawyering in a global mobility world
– South Asia, Asia Pacific, Central and South America
– What future for EU and Schengen border controls
– US immigration and visa policy in the Trump era – what has changed and what has not?
– Navigating the storms: ethical dilemmas in immigration law
Relocation Africa ensures to attend as many relevant conferences as possible, as part of an effort to continuously improve our knowledge of what is happening in our ever-evolving industry.
For more information about the conference, visit: https://www.ibanet.org/Conferences/conf786.aspx
To arrange a meeting with our Director, Rene Stegmann, to find out more about how we can help you with Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration services, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call +27 21 763 4240.