Tag Archive for: Angola

Angolan Exemption Permit Project Information

The following has been confirmed with the South African Department of Home Affairs:

  • If a foreign national is currently in possession of an Angolan cessation permit, or Angolan special permit, they may apply for the new Angolan exemption permit.
  • If a foreign national currently has no status, but had valid refugee status or an asylum seeker permit which was issued prior to 31 August 2013, they may apply for the new Angolan exemption permit, but the fact that they currently have no legal status, will be investigated.
  • If a foreign national currently has a valid or pending mainstream temporary residence visa (a normal temporary residence visa such as relative visa, work visa, study visa, etc.), they may not apply for the new Angolan exemption permit.
  • The new permits will be issued for an indefinite duration.
  • Once the main applicant is in possession of the new Angolan exemption permit, their family members may apply for mainstream temporary residence visas.

 

Angola’s government added a third mobile operator to the mix with the award of an operating licence to Africell, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The move comes after President Joao Lourenco revoked a decision from April 2019 giving operating rights to domestic company Telstar Telecomunicacoes, due to concerns around its ability to meet bidding conditions.

In March, the country’s Ministry of Finance said MTN Group, Africell and Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI) had acquired tender documents, but only Africell submitted its application.

Africell’s head Ziad Dalloul in 2019 revealed the company had $300 million at its disposal to fund an entry into Angola,

The newly awarded licence brings the number of Africell markets to five, adding to its current operations in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Uganda.

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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.

 

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In addition to immigration complexities, security issues and cultural considerations, families relocating to Africa face the challenge of choosing a suitable education pathway. We look at the options.

Assignees moving to Africa often find the process uniquely challenging, owing to immigration complexities, security issues and cultural considerations. Those with school-age children face the added challenge of choosing a suitable education pathway. We look at the availability of international schooling in the region, and offer advice to help parents choose a school.With significant economic growth and one African country forming the ‘N’ in MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), the countries expected to become economic powerhouses of the future, the continent of Africa is coming into sharper focus in the world of global mobility as organisations across the world, in search of growth, look to it for new opportunities.The latest reports bear this out. EY’s 2016 Africa Attractiveness survey, Navigating Africa’s Current Uncertainties, found that, despite current uncertainties, the longer-term outlook for economic growth and investment in Africa remained positive.“The next few years will be tough – partly, even largely, as a result of a fragile global economy – but many African economies remain resilient, with two-thirds of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries still growing at rates above the global average,” said the report.Even though growth across the region is uneven and likely to remain slower in coming years, SSA will continue for the foreseeable future to be the world’s second-fastest-growing region, after emerging Asia. Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ivory Coast are among 17 economies in the region that are forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have grown in 2016.Larger SSA countries, such as Nigeria and Angola, have been particularly affected by lower oil prices, and growth in South Africa remains slow.Foreign direct investment (FDI) projects increased by 7 per cent year on year, from 722 in 2014 to 771 in 2015. Africa is one of only two regions in the world to have seen growth in the number of FDI projects over the past year.

School choice

Luckily, international schooling has also seen something of a boom in the region. According to the latest figures from the International School Consultancy (ISC) Group, there are currently 792 English-medium international schools throughout Africa, between them teaching more than 339,000 students. ISC Research predicts that there will be more than 1,500 such schools by 2025.

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