General Work Visa

Under the General Work Visa there are very strict requirements. The South African government, although trying to promote work and trade in South Africa, recognize the need to give South Africans the chance to obtain employment ahead of any foreigner.

You will have to prove that you are the only person who can fill that position and that no other South African can play that role. This is done by placing an advert in a national newspaper advertising the position.

A Department of Labour report would need to be obtained.

You will also need to have a job offer/contract from your future employer.

The most important part of the process is skills assessment by SAQA (South African Qualifications Authority) in SA which evaluates your formal qualifications and compares them to a SA qualification. This process is mandatory and for this we would need your academic transcripts and award diplomas. Note under the regulations provision is made for the recognition of work experience in the absence of formal qualifications and this therefore makes provision recognition of prior work experience (RPL).

This is a paper based system which merely compares the foreign qualifications and arrives at an equivalent qualification in SA, and if qualified in SA then no SAQA needed.

Next your employer has to prove that you are the only person that can fill the position and no other South African can fill that role. This is done by placing an advert in a national newspaper advertising the position.

Please note the work Visa is issued in the name of the employer so the person is tied to the employer. If they change the job they will require a new work Visa.

There is some good news for people who are qualified through work experience only and they can qualify if they don’t require formal qualifications, ie SAQA.

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Home Affairs is the only body which can verify the status of an employee, but it is an exceptionally slow and dysfunctional body.
As I’m sure you must know, in terms of section 38(2) of the Immigration Act, the employer must try by all means to ascertain the status of the persons he employs and ensure that he does not employ an illegal foreigner.

Section 49(3) of the Immigration Act says that anyone who knowingly employs an illegal foreigner or a foreigner in violation of the Immigration Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or a period of imprisonment not exceeding one year for a first offence.

It is also as well to heed what Labour Guide says about the law:
“The law does not declare that a contract of employment concluded without the required permit is void nor does it provide that a foreigner who accepts work without a valid permit is guilty of an offence. What is prohibited is the act of ‘employing’ a foreign national in violation of the law. All the liability is therefore attributed to the employer and the law does not penalise the action of the foreign person who accepts work or performs work without valid authorisation. It is the illegal employment of a foreigner that is prohibited.”

“Therefore,” it goes on, “a foreign national whose work permit expires whilst employed, or who is employed without a relevant work permit is still an ‘employee’
“It is important to understand that employers must still act fairly towards foreign employees, regardless of the legality of the employment.”
In other words, every employee in South Africa is protected by the LRA, not just citizens.

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🚗 Call to Action:
Contact SA Migration today to schedule a free consultation. With 25 years of experience and full compliance with the Department of Home Affairs, Labour, SAPS, and Courts, we’re here to ensure your success.
📞 WhatsApp: +27 82 373 8415
📧 Email: info@samigration.com
🌐 Website: www.samigration.com
Your compliance is our priority—let’s build your future together

Did you get a job offer from a South African company? Congratulations are in order, but before you celebrate, make sure that you learn more about the process of applying for a work visa for South Africa.
Working abroad can be full of surprises and adventure. However, it also involves the logistics of getting yourself a valid work visa. Fortunately, getting a South African work visa is fairly straightforward. In this article, we review the different types of visas, the required qualifications, and where to direct your appeal.

We discuss the following topics to help guide you through the process of getting a work visa:
• Working in South Africa
• Who needs a work visa in South Africa?
• Types of work visas in South Africa
• General Work Visa
o Requirements for the General Work Visa
o How to apply for the General Work Visa
o Costs for the General Work Visa
o General Work Visa length
• Critical Skills Visa
o Requirements for the Critical Skills Visa
o How to apply for the Critical Skills Visa
o Costs for the Critical Skills Visa
o Critical Skills Visa validity
• Intra-company Transfer Work Visa
o Requirements for the Intra-company Transfer Work Visa
o How to apply for an Intra-company Transfer Work Visa
o Intra-company Transfer Work Visa costs
o Validity of an Intra-company Transfer Work Visa
• Corporate Work Visa
o Requirements for the Corporate Work Visa
o How to apply for a Corporate Work Visa
o Corporate Work Visa costs
• Work visas in South Africa for students
• Work visas in South Africa for self-employed individuals
• Volunteering and work experience in South Africa
• South African work visas for family members
• Appeals about work visas in South Africa
• Useful resources

SA MIGRATION Immigration Solutions
Planning to move to South Africa on a work visa? SA MIGRATION Immigration Solutions is a leading Africa-focused immigration agency offering multilingual visa and permit services. With personalized support, expert consultants, and global reach, they ensure peace of mind for expats and businesses alike.

Working in South Africa
The Department of Home Affairs makes decisions on South African work visas. Although it has its own quirks, the immigration requirements are fairly similar to many other countries. In order to get a South African work visa, most people need a job offer in hand already; for exceptionally qualified candidates, there is the option to apply for a Critical Skills Work Visa, which allows successful applicants to look for jobs in South Africa after moving to the country.
Although there are no firm numbers on how many work visas are issued annually, South Africa does host almost three million immigrants and 75% of these immigrants hail from the African continent (primarily Mozambique, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe). Europe is the second-largest source of immigrants in South Africa, mostly from the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. It’s important to remember that the treatment that African immigrants receive, both by locals as well as from immigration officials, is far different (and generally worse) than the treatment received by non-African immigrants. Although South Africa does not have employment quotas based on employment categories, the government is seriously discussing this system as an option.

Who needs a work visa in South Africa?
Generally speaking, anyone who is not a citizen or a permanent resident of South Africa needs a South African visa in order to work in the country. There are some limited exceptions to this, including heavy-duty vehicle drivers from other southern African countries, anyone working for either the Southern African Development Community or the United Nations, or foreign military members entering on the invitation of the South African National Defence Force.
The South African government maintains a list of visa-exempt countries and professions. Make sure you consult it to see if the exemptions apply to you.
Some applicants may find it easier to obtain a visa depending on their skillset and whether they already have a job offer in place. Others, often from African countries or with less skilled or semi-skilled work backgrounds, may find it much harder.

Types of work visas in South Africa
According to the Department of Home Affairs, there are four main types of South African work visas. They are as follows:
• General Work Visa
• Critical Skills Work Visa
• Intra-company Transfer Work Visa
• Corporate Work Visa

Other, less common types of work visa include:
• Treaty Visa
• Volunteer Visa
• Academic Sabbatical Visa
• Research Visa
• 🚗 Call to Action:

Contact SA Migration today to schedule a free consultation. With 25 years of experience and full compliance with the Department of Home Affairs, Labour, SAPS, and Courts, we’re here to ensure your success.
• 📞 WhatsApp: +27 82 373 8415
📧 Email: info@samigration.com
🌐 Website: www.samigration.com
• Your compliance is our priority—let’s build your future together

In the past, prior to the amendments to the Immigration Act, it was possible for an illegal foreigner to “legalise” or “regularise” him/herself from within South Africa by making payment of the requisite fine. This is no longer the case and we are constantly encountering foreigners who find themselves illegally in South Africa with little hope of rectifying their situation.

The current dilemma
In many cases, these illegal foreigners elect to depart South Africa and contest any ban issued to them from outside of the country. This involves the submission of an overstay appeal to the Department of Home Affairs (“DHA”). A number of foreigners, however, simply have too much invested in South Africa and are unwilling to depart the country for fear of incurring a ban that may or may not be overturned.

What your options are
Where an illegal foreigner wishes to “legalise” him/herself from within South Africa, he/she must meet certain criteria in order to do so. For the sake of clarity, “legalising” a foreigner entails applying to DHA for authorisation for the foreigner to remain in South Africa whilst submitting a visa application and awaiting the subsequent outcome. The “legalisation” does not provide the foreigner with the rights attributed to the holder of a specific visa until such visa has actually been issued to the foreigner.

How to get started
In order to qualify for “legalisation”, an illegal foreigner must satisfy DHA that: he/she was unable to submit a visa application timeously for reasons beyond his/her control and; that he/she is now in a position to do so. The latter requirement will be met by providing DHA with proof of a completed visa application containing all the requisite documents. The former requirement, however, is slightly more problematic.

The question of what the phrase “for reasons beyond his/her control” refers to is not clearly answered in the Immigration Act, but it is generally accepted that these reasons include medical grounds and errors on the part of DHA. For example, where an Applicant has applied for a visa timeously, but DHA have subsequently lost the application and the foreigner’s visa has expired in the interim. All of this information will need to be provided to DHA in the form of written representations called an authorisation application. Such applications are commonly referred to as “good cause applications” by DHA officials.

Authorisation applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis and there is a degree of discretion applied by DHA in considering whether additional factors should be taken into consideration. A prominent factor taken into consideration will be whether the foreigner in question is married to a South Africa citizen or has South African children.

A Successful application
If such an application is successful, the foreigner will be provided with a Form 20 (also known as a letter of good cause) which authorises the foreigner to submit a visa application by a prescribed date. This authorisation lapses as soon as an outcome is received in the visa application. If the outcome is negative, the foreigner will need to depart South Africa immediately.

🚗 Call to Action:
Contact SA Migration today to schedule a free consultation. With 25 years of experience and full compliance with the Department of Home Affairs, Labour, SAPS, and Courts, we’re here to ensure your success.
📞 WhatsApp: +27 82 373 8415
📧 Email: info@samigration.com
🌐 Website: www.samigration.com
Your compliance is our priority—let’s build your future together

General Work Visa

Under the General Work Visa there are very strict requirements. The South African government, although trying to promote work and trade in South Africa, recognize the need to give South Africans the chance to obtain employment ahead of any foreigner.

You will have to prove that you are the only person who can fill that position and that no other South African can play that role. This is done by placing an advert in a national newspaper advertising the position.

A Department of Labour report would need to be obtained.

You will also need to have a job offer/contract from your future employer.

The most important part of the process is skills assessment by SAQA (South African Qualifications Authority) in SA which evaluates your formal qualifications and compares them to a SA qualification. This process is mandatory and for this we would need your academic transcripts and award diplomas. Note under the regulations provision is made for the recognition of work experience in the absence of formal qualifications and this therefore makes provision recognition of prior work experience (RPL).

This is a paper based system which merely compares the foreign qualifications and arrives at an equivalent qualification in SA, and if qualified in SA then no SAQA needed.

Next your employer has to prove that you are the only person that can fill the position and no other South African can fill that role. This is done by placing an advert in a national newspaper advertising the position.

Please note the work Visa is issued in the name of the employer so the person is tied to the employer. If they change the job they will require a new work Visa.

There is some good news for people who are qualified through work experience only and they can qualify if they don’t require formal qualifications, ie SAQA.

www.samigration.com

How can we help you?
Please email us to info@samigration.com
Whatsapp message us on: +27 82 373 8415

Where are you now?
Check our website : www.samigration.com

Please rate us by clinking on this links :
Sa Migration Visas
https://g.page/SAMigration?gm


Get More Info By Following Our Page: https://www.youtube.com/@samigration