The Short Term Work Visa (also known as a Section 11 (2) Visitors Visa) is designed for the purposes of allowing South African based companies to bring foreign workers to South Africa in circumstances where there is an immediate short term or urgent need for limited period work, and where the applicant cannot apply for a work visa. The Short Term Work visa is issued for a 90 day period, but may be renewed for a further 90 days.

It is important to note that the Short Term Work Visa should not be used for ongoing regular work activity. Where there is regular ongoing work activity the relevant temporary residence work visa application should be submitted. The Department of Home Affairs issued Directive No. 1 of 2019 in which it introduced certain rules in order to curb the abuse of the Short Term Work Visa.

The Short Term Work Visa is very useful and has a number of benefits to it:

1. Firstly, the documentation that must be collected for the submission of the visa application is fairly limited and can normally be gathered within a couple of days. It primarily relates to confirmations from the South African and overseas company confirming the applicants work in South Africa, as well as confirmation of flights to and from South African, and accommodation in South Africa.

2. Due to the fact that the documentation is not as significant as that required for a temporary residence visa application and the fact that the work is often of an urgent nature the processing time is much faster. A short term work visa is normally processed within 5 – 10 working days.

3. Short term work visas are issued as multiple entry visas and thus provide flexibility with the holder being able to enter and exit South Africa at will during the validity period of the visa.

4. Although the Short Term Work Visa is issued for a maximum period of 90 days it can be renewed for a further 90 day period from within South Africa.

There are also certain limitations to the Short Term Work Visa:

1. As mentioned above the Short Term Work Visa is designed for instances where there is an immediate short term or urgent need of limited period work where the applicant cannot apply for a work visa. It should not be used where a work visa would be applicable.

2. Short Term Work Visas are limited to two per applicant per calendar year.

3. Where an applicant has extended his short term work visa for a further 90 day period then the applicant will not qualify for another short term work visa within the same calendar year.

4. As the short term work visa falls under the Visitors visa category an applicant may not spend longer than 180 days in South Africa in a calendar year.