South African immigration research
Business-based permanent residence: an investment needs a qualifying business case
The business ground in section 27(c) concerns establishing a business, or investing in a new or established business, as contemplated in section 15, with the prescribed contribution forming part of its intended book value. [B05A06] It is not a general offer to buy permanent residence by purchasing property or transferring money.
On this page
- Before you start
- Start with the business, investment and personal role
- Understand what the capital evidence must address
- New and established businesses need different preparation
- A waiver is a decision to establish, not a sector slogan
- The continuing-investment condition matters after issue
- Plan the application without abandoning current permission
- Fictional example: a proposed sale changes the planning question
- Questions people ask
- Prepare a focused business-ground review
- Official sources for this guide
Before you start
This page addresses that business ground. Financial independence under section 27(f) is a separate route involving prescribed net worth and payment; it should not be treated as another name for a section 27(c) business investment. [B05A02] Use investor pathways for the broader comparison before building the wrong evidence file.
Start with the business, investment and personal role
Describe the business's actual activity, whether it is proposed or operating, what you intend to contribute and what you intend to do. Keep the seller's commercial description separate from the legal ground you want examined.
An acquisition proposal can bundle shares, assets, goodwill and other terms. A single purchase price does not explain which element is being relied on for the prescribed contribution. Prepare the underlying transaction and funding information for the appropriate legal/accounting review before describing the arrangement as qualifying.
The business-visa guide covers the separate temporary route. A temporary business visa, a company certificate and an application for permanent residence should each be identified by its own purpose and evidence.
Understand what the capital evidence must address
The primary contribution notice determines R5,000,000 in cash originating outside South Africa for the business investment it describes; it separately specifies new machinery/equipment for the capital contribution. [B05A07] This is not the total cost of immigration, an investment recommendation or a promise that any R5 million transaction will meet the ground.
Regulation 24(5) requires the specified certificate from a registered chartered or professional accountant about the prescribed cash or cash-and-capital availability. [B05A08] Give the accountant the actual proposed structure and records. A sales brochure or your own spreadsheet does not perform that certificate's task.
Ask the professional to distinguish the contribution being relied on, ownership of funds/assets, what is available and what is already invested. If a valuation or funding assumption is uncertain, leave it identified as a question; do not make the amount look settled by changing a label in the business plan.
New and established businesses need different preparation
The regulations distinguish an intended business from an established one. A proposed-business file includes a feasibility plan and specified staffing/registration undertakings; an established-business file calls for evidence of relevant existing staffing and registrations. Further provisions address proof of an investment in an existing business and partnership evidence. [B05A08]
Organise the work around that difference:
| Situation | Useful preparation task | Gap that should remain visible |
|---|---|---|
| Business not yet operating | Separate commercial assumptions from evidence already established | A forecast presented as a current fact |
| Established operation | Match the entity, activity and records to the business being relied on | Documents belonging to a different group company |
| Investment into an existing business | Identify what was invested, when and on what terms | A payment without an explanation of its character |
| Partnership arrangement | Identify the actual agreement and parties for review | Informal promises replacing an agreed structure |
This table is an evidence-management method, not a substitute for the applicable statutory documents. For general personal documents and filing instructions, use permanent-residence requirements. Avoid merging a temporary business checklist, a PR checklist and a seller's due-diligence list into one unexplained request.
A waiver is a decision to establish, not a sector slogan
The amended section 27(c) permits a reduction or waiver of the prescribed financial/capital contribution in its defined circumstances. [B05A06] The national-interest notice lists detailed sectors and activities relevant to that framework. [B05A09]
Record the precise activity and the basis for any waiver being claimed. A description such as "tourism investment" is not evidence that a waiver has been granted. Ask what actual decision, reasoning or supporting material is needed for the particular proposal. Do not assume that a capital waiver removes the rest of the route's requirements.
If an adviser or seller describes an arrangement as pre-approved, request an explanation of what was approved, by whom and for which person/business. This guide supplies no project endorsement or capital-waiver award.
The continuing-investment condition matters after issue
The 2011 amendment provides for lapse if the holder fails to prove, within two years after issue and three years thereafter, that the prescribed contribution remains invested as required. [B05A06] The grant is therefore not a reason to stop maintaining the evidence of the qualifying investment.
Before treating approval as the endpoint, establish who will maintain the records and track the actual conditions. If there is a proposed sale, restructuring, withdrawal of capital or change in activity, obtain a review of the permission and conditions before assuming the change has no immigration consequence.
Keep corporate maintenance separate as well. The company-registration guide explains why ownership records and registration do not establish personal immigration permission. Neither this page nor that guide supplies corporate-secretarial services.
Plan the application without abandoning current permission
DHA's March 2026 directive says PR applicants must maintain valid residential status while awaiting the outcome and excludes their applications from its temporary concession. [B05A04] Put the permanent-residence evidence project beside the present-status calendar, rather than replacing that calendar with a receipt.
For costs, separate the investment itself, business expenditure, professional evidence, assistance and application/channel charges. Read immigration costs; no total package price or processing date is promised here.
Fictional example: a proposed sale changes the planning question
An entrepreneur researching business-based PR is also planning to sell part of the proposed business interest later. Before paying a non-refundable transaction deposit, they ask for the contribution structure and continuing-investment condition to be examined together. Their accountant's evidence task and the immigration interpretation are recorded separately.
This fictional example illustrates why a commercial exit plan belongs in the early conversation. It does not approve the investment, decide whether a sale is permitted or predict a PR result.
Questions people ask
Does buying a home give me permanent residence?
Do not treat a property purchase as proof of the section 27(c) business ground. That ground concerns the described business and prescribed contribution. [B05A06] The transaction and immigration questions need their own assessment.
Is this the financially independent route?
No. Section 27(f)'s net-worth/payment ground is distinct. [B05A02] Compare the nature of your resources and proposed activity through investor pathways.
Can the accountant's certificate guarantee approval?
It addresses a specified evidence task. [B05A08] It does not turn this guide into a determination on all the applicable conditions.
Can my family assume the same outcome?
Section 27(c) contains family wording, but each person's position and applicable requirements need examination. [B05A06] Prepare names, relationships and present-status questions individually; this page promises no automatic inclusion.
Prepare a focused business-ground review
Write the proposed business, investment structure, evidence owner, any waiver basis and intended later changes. Use conversation preparation to distinguish the immigration question from valuation, transaction and accounting work before committing funds.
Official sources for this guide
These official pages are research starting points. Read the geographical scope and current notices before relying on them. No individual determination is made by this information.
- B05A02 — official primary source
Research checked 17 October 2026. Read the exact notice, date and receiving-channel scope with later instruments. Confirm individual applicability before relying on this information.
- B05A04 — official primary source
Research checked 17 October 2026. Read the exact notice, date and receiving-channel scope with later instruments. Confirm individual applicability before relying on this information.
- B05A06 — official primary source
Research checked 17 October 2026. Read the exact notice, date and receiving-channel scope with later instruments. Confirm individual applicability before relying on this information.
- B05A07 — official primary source
Research checked 17 October 2026. Read the exact notice, date and receiving-channel scope with later instruments. Confirm individual applicability before relying on this information.
- B05A08 — official primary source
Research checked 17 October 2026. Read the exact notice, date and receiving-channel scope with later instruments. Confirm individual applicability before relying on this information.
- B05A09 — official primary source
Research checked 17 October 2026. Read the exact notice, date and receiving-channel scope with later instruments. Confirm individual applicability before relying on this information.