Reported by the City Press earlier today Chairman of Tata, Noel Tata, said that the company was becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of time that it took to obtain the necessary documentation to allow it to bring in employees from outside South Africa to work at its Johannesburg office.
"It is increasingly time-consuming to get visas for our business. We believe that, as a supervisory business, we ought to be granted a faster, quicker employment of visas to get into South Africa. We had to post people to Tanzania because it is easier to get visas and work permits there than in South Africa," said Tata in the report.
In South Africa, the company has a number of business interests, which include a vehicle-assembly plant in Pretoria and the luxury Taj Hotel in Cape Town requiring the attention of their senior staff.
The company runs its African operations from its office in Johannesburg and has a presence in 13 other southern African countries as well as in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Tata said that while he understood the need to source most of his staff from South Africa, as is indicated by the South African immigration and labour regulations, but at this point in the company’s process of establishing itself the company indicated that it would have to recruit employees for certain critical positions from outside of the country. He added that the company had not yet spoken to the government about its concerns.
Visa applicants can avoid un due delays by consulting an accredited immigration professional said Robbie Ragless, CEO of leading immigration agency New World Immigration. “An immigration professional has access to the latest information relating to visas. Essentially using a good immigration practitioner means you won’t be sent on wild goose chases,” points out Ragless.
“Our team knows exactly what documentation must accompany your application, how your application should be completed and which visa to apply for – applying for the incorrect visa or submitting incomplete visas will certainly result in delays and might even result in your application being rejected.”