How much income does the Remote Work Visitor's Visa require?

$3,100 a month, with no savings requirement. A fixed amount set in law or on the official page. The wording on the source is: "ZAR 650,796 gross per annum (~ZAR 54,233/month)". Legal basis: Immigration Act 13/2002 s.11(1)(b)(iv) and Immigration Regulations as amended (Oct 2024); DHA requirements sheet dated 9 Oct 2024.

What documents does the Remote Work Visitor's Visa ask for?

The official page lists: Duly completed and signed application form.; A statement or documentation explaining the purpose and duration of the visit.; A valid return air flight ticket or proof of reservation thereof.; Proof of sufficient financial means, defined as a gross salary of no less than the equivalent of R650 796, 00 per annum in the form of three months bank statements.; Valid passport which expires in no less than 30 days after expiry of the intended date of departure from the Republic in terms of regulation 9(1)(a).; A yellow fever vaccination certificate if an applicant travelled or intends travelling from or transiting through a yellow fever endemic are, provided that the certificate shall not be required where an applicant travelled or intends travelling in direct transit through such area.; A valid contract of employment signed by both the applicant and the foreign-based employer.; Proof of payment of the applicable fee.

South Africa Digital Nomad Visa: Income and Savings

Q: Does the Remote Work Visitor's Visa lead to permanent residence?

No pathway. Visitor visa (s.11); ordinary PR needs 5 yrs on a work visa (s.26(a)) — a different category. Pathway confidence: high.

Q: What does it cost to live in South Africa?

$362 per person, per month. That is what one resident of South Africa spends in an average month with housing included — not what a newcomer renting at market rates will spend, which is higher.

The requirements

Programme status: Open, accepting applications
Minimum monthly income: $3,100 a month
Required savings: None
Annual total: $37,200
Initial duration: Up to 3 years
Family allowed: Yes
Apply online: No, in person or by post

ZAR 650,796/year (~ZAR 54,233/month) gross.

How this figure is set: A fixed amount set in law or on the official page. The wording on the source is: ZAR 650,796 gross per annum (~ZAR 54,233/month). Formula: gross salary of no less than the equivalent of R650,796 per annum, shown via 3 months' bank statements.

Income confidence: high · checked 2026-09-07
Legal basis: Immigration Act 13/2002 s.11(1)(b)(iv) and Immigration Regulations as amended (Oct 2024); DHA requirements sheet dated 9 Oct 2024.

Does this lead to permanent residence?

No pathway. Visitor visa (s.11); ordinary PR needs 5 yrs on a work visa (s.26(a)) — a different category.

DHA's own requirements PDF (dha.gov.za, 'Remote_Work_Visa_-_requirements_-_9_Oct_2024.pdf') is titled 'VISITORS VISA SECTION 11(1)(B)(IV)', confirming the Remote Work Visitor's Visa is issued as a visitor's visa, not a work visa. Immigration Act 13 of 2002 s.26(a) (read from the Act's official text, gov.za) requires PR applicants to have 'been the holder of a work visa... in terms of this Act for five years' plus a permanent employment offer -- a defined category (general work, critical skills, intra-company transfer) structurally separate from a s.11 visitor's visa. The Act's text does not name the Remote Work Visa specifically (it postdates the 2002 text), so the conclusion that its time does not count is inference from the definitional 'work visa' requirement in s.26(a) applied to a visa DHA itself classifies under s.11 -- not an explicit DHA statement ruling out PR credit. Neither the DHA PDF nor the October 2024 gazette notice creating the visa mentions permanent residence at all; the DHA PDF was fetched and searched directly and contains no reference to PR, s.26, or s.27.

Pathway confidence: high · checked 2026-09-07

Where it is

Pretoria sits at 25.75° S, 28.19° E.

Open in Google Maps ↗A map of Pretoria. This is the only link here that leaves the site.

Your position is worked out on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Time zone

UTC+2 Johannesburg (Africa/Johannesburg)

The country

Region: Africa · Southern Africa
Capital: Pretoria (executive)
Currency: ZAR

Next door

1 of the 6 countries South Africa shares a land border with is covered here.

NamibiaOpen$2,000 / mo

What it costs to live there

$362 per person, per month. That is what one resident of South Africa spends in an average month with housing included — not what a newcomer renting at market rates will spend, which is higher, and furthest above it in the cheapest countries.

Pretoria: $1,082 / month incl. rent
of which rent $496
Cape Town: $1,197 / month incl. rent
of which rent $653

City figures are crowdsourced from livingcost.net, not official: one person's monthly spending plus the rent of a one-bedroom flat outside the centre. They are here because a national average cannot show the spread between a capital and the places people actually move to. Checked 2026-09-20.

Cost of living confidence: high · checked 2026-09-20
World Bank national accounts, reference year 2025: households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (NE.CON.PRVT.CD, current US$) divided by population (SP.POP.TOTL) and by twelve. This is what one resident spends in an average month with housing included, since national accounts count the imputed rent of owner-occupiers. It is an average over the whole population, not a visitor's budget, so a newly arrived remote worker renting at market rates will spend more - see the city figures for what that looks like.

Languages

English official
Zulu common in cities
Xhosa common in cities
Afrikaans common in cities
Northern Sotho common in cities

Shares of the population from Unicode CLDR: official, then anything spoken by a quarter of the country, an eighth, or a fiftieth. It answers "will I be understood", not "how good is their English".

Who can apply

Kinds of work covered: employee

The published checklist names only a contract of employment with a foreign-based employer; it does not provide for freelancers or business owners. Graded medium because that is read from what the form asks for rather than from a rule excluding them.

Eligibility confidence: medium · checked 2026-09-08
Department of Home Affairs remote work visa requirements, 9 October 2024: 'A valid contract of employment signed by both the applicant and the foreign-based employer.'.

How to apply

Check you clear the requirements above — $3,100 a month is the figure this row records.
Gather what the official page asks for:
- Duly completed and signed application form.
- A statement or documentation explaining the purpose and duration of the visit.
- A valid return air flight ticket or proof of reservation thereof.
- Proof of sufficient financial means, defined as a gross salary of no less than the equivalent of R650 796, 00 per annum in the form of three months bank statements.
- Valid passport which expires in no less than 30 days after expiry of the intended date of departure from the Republic in terms of regulation 9(1)(a).
- A yellow fever vaccination certificate if an applicant travelled or intends travelling from or transiting through a yellow fever endemic are, provided that the certificate shall not be required where an applicant travelled or intends travelling in direct transit through such area.
- A valid contract of employment signed by both the applicant and the foreign-based employer.
- Proof of payment of the applicable fee.
Documents confidence: high · checked 2026-09-08
Department of Home Affairs, 'Visitors visa section 11(1)(b)(iv) for prescribed activity of remote work', effective 9 October 2024 (dha.gov.za). The Documents Required table, verbatim.
Apply in person or by post — this programme has no online route.
Sort out where you will stay for the first stretch. Airlines check this at the desk and will not board you without it, whatever your visa says —what counts as proof of accommodation.
Verify every figure on the official page before you spend money. Thresholds are set in local currency and move every year.

DHA requirements (PDF) ↗

Applications since Mar 2025 via VFS; SARS registration if over 183 days in any 12 months.

A starting point, not advice. Figures are converted to US dollars at open-market rates; official thresholds are set in local currency. Sources: official source ↗. Data checked 21 September 2026. Compiled by Junaid Qadir.