Intra Company Transfer Work Visas may normally not be extended or renewed from within South Africa. In normal circumstances should the holder of an Intra Company Transfer Visa wish to extend or renew their visa then they must return to their country of residence in order to do so. Further they should point out special circumstances for the extension of their visa as extensions or renewals of Intra Company Transfer Visas are not easily approved.

Due to Covid-19 the Department of Home Affairs in November last year issued Directive 15 of 2020. This Directive allowed the holders of Intra Company Transfer Visas whose visas had expired during the lockdown or which were due to expire by 30 June 2022 to be able to apply for another term of 24 months on their Intra Company Transfer Visa.

The Department of Home Affairs has now released Directive 07 of 2021. This Directive is effectively an extension of the previous one issued in November last year, and allows the holders of Intra Company Transfer Visas that are presently residing in South Africa and whose visas expired during the lockdown or whose visas will expire by 30 June 2022 to apply to extend their visas for another term of 24 months.

The same conditions are applicable for this application, i.e:

1. Proof that the local entity, branch or affiliate of the company abroad still requires the services of the visa holder;
2. Proof in the form of verifiable documents that the skill transfer to a South African or Permanent Resident was completed during the 4 years of the visas as per the initial undertaking;
3. The ICT visa application will be considered as a new application with no accumulation nor continuation of the validity period of the current visa;
4. The ICT visa shall not lead towards permanent residence; and that
5. The ICT holder will remain in the employment of the designated employer for whom the initial and current ICT visa was issued;
6. No change of employer, status or condition from current visa.

This Directive presents an excellent opportunity for the holders of Intra Company Transfer Visas to extend their visas for a further 24 month period from within South Africa. As advised above this is normally not allowed.