South Africa offers a number of options for those who are seeking a Work Visa for the purposes of South African immigration.

Similar to other countries the Work Visa legislation focuses on two main areas:

1. The protection of employment opportunities for South Africans
2. The ability to recruit skilled foreign workers into skill shortage areas or fulfil corporate requirements.

In essence regulations around Work Visas have to provide a balance between making sure employers recruit local South Africans where possible, but allow them to recruit workers from abroad where they are unable to do this.

Types of Work Visa

Broadly speaking there are two types of Work Visa

1. Where the applicant does not have a job offer.
2. Where the applicant has a job offer

Where the applicant requires a work visa and does not have a job offer:

1. Critical skills work visa – This visa is based on a well researched list of occupations that are badly needed in South Africa. You don’t need a job offer to apply for the visa, and the visa enables you to enter and stay in South Africa for 12 months to secure a position

Where the applicant requires a work visa and has a job offer

There exists three options for applying for immigration to South Africa via a work visa where the applicant has a job offer:

1. An Intra company transfer – Where the individual is being transferred from a branch of the company, based outside of South Africa, to a branch of the company within South Africa. This work visa can also be applied for by individuals who are employees of sister companies or companies with a shared interest. The visa allows the employee to relocate to South Africa and undertake employment for a certain period of time and only for the specified employer.
2. Corporate work visas – These can be applied for by organisations that have a need to recruit a number of foreign staff over a set period of time. Obtaining a corporate work visa is hugely beneficial to an organisation. It not only reduces costs, but also speeds up the work visa application process. The individuals applying ‘under’ the corporate visa do not have to provide for many of the requirements normally associated with a work visa.
3. General work visa – Where an individual does not meet the criteria of any of the above work visas an application would have to made under the General Work Visa category. According to the South African Immigration Act, the applicant for a General Work visa has to provide a conditional offer of employment from a South African based employer. In addition also documentation, confirming that the employer has fully endeavoured to employ South African citizens or residents.

Some Frequently asked questions on work visas

Can I apply for Permanent Residency with a work visa?

Obtaining permanent residency via the work visa option inevitably means first having to not just get temporary residency but also maintain it for a 5 year period of time. Intra company transfer visa are not considered within this 5 year rule.

Can my family come with me?

Partners and dependants can accompany holders of work visas. Please note partners are not allowed to study, work or run a business, they are simply allowed only to accompany and stay in South Africa. They may also not be included in permanent residency applications but may themselves apply at a later time dependent on their relationships with the permanent resident.

What about my children attending school?

Dependant children can attend a South African school but need to first obtain a study visa

Critical skills work visa visa for South Africa

Welcome to the critical skills work visa and visa category. For those potential applicants for a work visa or visa to South Africa, and even those existing work visa or visa holders, this category of work visa may well be great news.

Introduced in the new Immigration regulations in June 2014, the Critical skills work visa and visa saw a refreshingly forward thinking approach by the Department of Home Affairs to attracting much needed skills to South Africa and improving the visa and visa application process.

Some highlights of the critical skills work category include:

• It allows you to get a work visa without a job offer.
• It allows you to enter and stay in South Africa for 12 months to secure a position.
• Is based on a well researched list of occupations that are badly needed in South Africa, increasing your chances of finding a job.
• No restrictions in terms of the numbers in each listed occupation.
• No department of labour recommendation so quicker turnaround times.
• Deals with the professional bodies specific to the occupation.
• Can be a pathway to permanent residence immediately as well an immediate 5 year working visa.
• Qualification for a critical skills visa if you completed a post graduate (Phd) in South Africa.
• Less obligation on employers.

Both permanent and temporary residency options

A temporary critical skills work visa is issued for a 5 year period of time. After 5 years you can then apply for permanent residence. Read more here on the critical skills work visa.

If you already have 5 years experience in your occupation then there is every chance you can immediately apply for permanent residence as well. Read more here on the critical skills work visa.

What is the key criteria for a critical skills visa or visa application?

You must feature on the critical skills list, this is firstly based on your educational subject and then further broken down into occupations within these educational areas.

What If I am not on the critical skills list?

There are other visa alternatives that you may qualify for and we recommend you contact us

Great news I am on the list critical skills!

The best next step is to e-mail us and attach your CV, if you don’t have a current CV why not call us whatsapp or email us to discuss .

. Intra-company Transfers

An Intra-company transfer is a type of work visa that allows for a staff member to transfer from an overseas company to a branch, subsidiary or affiliated business that is operating in South Africa.

Who should apply for an Intra-company transfer work visa?

Ideal for the multi-national company, the Intra-company work visa (Intra-company transfer) allows for an obvious temporary immigration route for staff members to South Africa. Employers should however note that the Intra-company transfer option is only appropriate where the employee is required in South Africa for a maximum period of a 4 years.

If the employee is required for longer than 4 years, the Intra-company work visa will not be appropriate and you should view further options here or you can contact us to discuss your needs.

How long is the Intra-company transfer work visa valid for?

An Intra-company transfer is a temporary work visa only, and as such its validity period is for a maximum of four years. Please note an Intra-company transfer work visa cannot be extended.

About applying for an Intra-company transfer work visa

Importantly it should be noted that if a company is transferring an employee to work at a location in South Africa, you must have an Intra-company transfer work visa to enter the country. This means that the Intra-company transfer work visa needs to be applied for outside of South Africa.

What are the employers responsibilities?

The responsibilities of the employer can be broken down into those that the company abroad must adhere to and those that the branch, affiliate or subsidiary in South African must adhere to.

Responsibilities of the South African branch, affiliate or subsidiary

The South African company needs to confirm:

• Acceptance of the transfer of the employee to them in their capacity as a branch, subsidiary or an affiliate of the company abroad.
• That the employee will only be employed in the specific occupation and capacity for which the intra-company transfer work visa was granted.
• That the foreign employee will at all times comply with the provisions of the Act and
  conditions of their visa.
• That they undertake to immediately notify the Director-General if the employee does not comply with the provisions of the act or conditions attached to the visa.
• Any potential deportation costs that maybe associated to the employee and his or her dependent family members, will be born by the company should it become necessary.
• That the employee holding the intra-company transfer work visa will have at all times a valid passport for the duration of his or her employment;

The South African branch, affiliate or subsidiary also needs to demonstrate that they have an appropriate plan in place for the transfer of skills from the Intra-company work visa holder to a South African citizen or permanent resident holder.

Responsibilities of The South African branch, affiliate or subsidiary

The application will need the company abroad to demonstrate the following:

• The employees contract of employment (with the company abroad) is valid for a period of not less than six months.
• Confirmation that the applicant shall be transferred to a branch, subsidiary or an affiliate of that company in South Africa.
• That the employee will not be staying in South African more than 4 years.

What you need to apply for an Intra-company Transfer

The application would need to include:

• A completed temporary visa application form.
• A valid passport must with an expiry date no sooner than 30 days after the expiry of your intended visit.
• Proof of financial means to cover living expenses until you receive a salary in the form of:
• bank statement;
• cash available, or travellers’ cheques.
• A medical and radiological report.
• A vaccination certificate, if required.
• A police clearance is required from every country where you lived for 12 months or longer since the age of 18 years.

NB – different consulates and embassies have different requirements regarding the application content for an Intra-company transfer work visa. An example of this is that some require a certified copy of the employee’s birth certificate. Care needs to be taken to ensure that all information and documentation (as required by the specific embassy) is included within the application.

Can partners and dependants accompany the employee?

Yes they can. Partners would need to apply for an accompanying visa whilst dependants of a school age would require a study visa.

Can permanent residency be applied for with an Intra-company transfer work visa?

No application can be made for permanent residency purely as a result of holding an intra-company work visa.

That said, applications for permanent residency can be made by those individuals who have held a work visa for 5 years and the period you have held an intra-company work visa for counts towards this time period.

Therefore if you have previously held, or subsequently hold, another type of work visa for 12 months or more, this combined with 4 years on an Intra-company work visa would allow for a permanent residency application.

Work Visa – General

A General Work Visa South Africa, is one of 5 types of work visa categories that you can make a work visa application under.

Unlike the others types of work visa, the general work visa requires that the employer has made every attempt to try to fill their vacant position with either a South African Citizen or permanent resident.

Below we give you 10 important facts you need to know about a General Work Visa South Africa.

1. Background to a General Work Visa South Africa:

The whole basis on which general work visa are issued is two fold: To protect South African labour by ensuring that positions filled by foreign workers can not be met through locals. To enable companies to recruit foreign workers where they are unable to locally.

2. Who should apply for a General Work Visa South Africa?

Applicants for a general work visa should first ensure that they do not meet the qualifying criteria for any of the other work visas. This can be done by taking advantage of our free assessment. In addition they shouldn’t be applicants who are being transferred by their employer from an international branch or whose employer holds a corporate work visa.

3. Do spouses and partners need to apply for a general work visa?

No general work visa application is required for spouses or partners of South African citizens or permanent resident holders. The correct visa application for spouses and partners is a spousal or partner visa. This visa can then be endorsed to allow the applicant to work for a specific employer.

4. What is the basic qualifying criteria for a general work visa?

The following will be required for a general work visa application:

• Job offer and acceptance.
• CV.
• Proof of the employer’s attempts to first recruit a South African permanent resident or citizen for the position.
• SAQA registration, confirming the applicant’s qualifications.
• Proof of good health and character.

5. Where can applications be made?

Applications for a general work visa should be made at the embassy or in South Africa or consulate in the applicants home country. Renewing of a general work visa can take place in South Africa.

6. Can spouses and partners of general work visa holders also work?

Only the holder of a general work visa is entitled to work. An accompanying partner or spouse visa can be applied for but this only allows for entry and stay in South Africa. Should the spouse or partner also wish to take up employment they would need to apply for the appropriate work visa themselves. Also children would need to have separate applications made for study visa.

7. How long does the application process take?

Time frames for processing general work visa vary greatly. Once the application has been submitted it generally takes around 8 – 12 weeks but delays in this are common. Please note that compiling the application also takes some time as adverts must be run and SAQA obtained.

8. How long is a general work visa valid for?

The validity period can vary but is typically between 2 and 4 years. General work visa can also be extended by a making a further application towards the existing general work visa expiry date.

9. Can I apply for permanent residency with a general work visa?

The first step is to secure temporary residency and you cannot apply straight away for permanent residency. However once you have held your general work visa for a unbroken period of 5 years you may apply for permanent residency.

10. What comes first the job offer or the work visa?

Prospective immigrants to South Africa are often frustrated as they attempt to secure jobs. Often employees will not entertain the prospect of offering positions to foreigners who are not in possession of a work visa. Some of this is down to not understanding the process. You can however increase your chances of success. Start the process by obtaining your SAQA and informing the prospective employer that you have started the work visa process and retained an immigration company already.

Working in South Africa: Is SA a good place to work?

Considering living and working in South Africa? Then you probably have a lot of questions.

It’s quite normal too! After all, you’ll move yourself and perhaps even a family to a brand-new country. A country that maybe you haven’t even visited.

To help you get some clarity, we’ve answered seven common questions around working in South Africa. We also share resources to other helpful websites at the end of the article.

1. Is South Africa a good place to work?

In our opinion? Yes, South Africa is definitely a good place to work. Let’s list some reasons for you:

• Many South African employers have shifted to remote work or hybrid work, where employees work from both the home and the office, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Your rights as an employee are protected by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Under this Act, you’re entitled to, among other things, annual leave, maternity leave, sick leave, and family responsibility leave.
• You’ll find many of the world’s top employers in our big cities. These are companies like Amazon, Deloitte, Google, Microsoft, Ernest and Young, and General Electric.
• Homegrown South African companies are also great employers! Five South African companies featured in Forbes’ ranking of the 750 best companies to work for worldwide:
• Aveng (Construction, Oil & Gas Operations, Mining and Chemicals)
• Discovery Holdings (Banking and Financial Services)
• Old Mutual (Banking and Financial Services)
• Absa Group (Banking and Financial Services)
• Sanlam (Banking and Financial Services)
• Cape Town is one of the world’s most exciting tech cities:
• The Mother City was named one of the 30 best tech cities in the world in 2019’s Savills Tech Cities Index – and it was the only African city on the ranking!
• Cape Town is also considered Africa’s ‘startup capital’. In 2020, a total of USD88 million (roughly R1.2 billion) disclosed investments were inject into tech start-up in the City of Cape Town across 46 deals.
• South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world! With miles of coastline, pristine beaches, mountains, wine routes (yes, plural), nature reserves and more we really have it all. You’ll hardly have reason to leave the country!

2. Can foreigners work in South Africa?

Yes, foreigners can work in South Africa – if you hold a visa that allows you to do so. These are the visas that allow you to work in South Africa:

Critical Skills Work Visa

The Critical Skills Work Visa enables foreign nationals who meet the requirements of the critical skills list to work in South Africa. You don’t need to have a job to apply for a Critical Skills Work Visa but once you have your visa, you have to find employment within 12 months.

General Work Visa

This work visa enables foreign nationals to work in South Africa but it has strict requirements. The most important of those criteria are the following:

• The employer must be able to prove that they advertised the position you want to fill and that they could not find a South African citizen or permanent resident for the position.
• You must have a formal job offer from a South African employer to apply for a General Work Visa.

Intra-company Transfer Work Visa

The Intra-company Transfer Work Visa enables a multinational company overseas to send staff to a branch, subsidiary or affiliate in South Africa. Your employer must apply for this visa.

Corporate Visa

The Corporate Visa is for South African registered companies or branches and it offers the possibility to employ great numbers of employees from abroad for a limited time, all under the remit of one application.

Exchange Visa

If you’re under the age of 25, you can apply for an Exchange Visa to work in South Africa. It’s a great way to test the waters, so to speak.

Of course the Exchange Visa does have conditions:

• You may only work in South Africa for up to one year
• You may only work for the company listed on your visa

Spousal and Life Partner Visas

The Spousal and Life Partner Visas aren’t strictly speaking work visas but you can work in South Africa with an endorsement on your Spousal or Life Partner Visa.

3. Is it hard to find work in South Africa?

Let’s not beat around the bush – South Africa’s unemployment rate is high. There are literally millions of people without jobs at the moment.

However, we’d hazard a guess and say a large portion of South Africa’s unemployed are experienced in ‘general jobs’. In other words, occupations where it’s extremely difficult for a foreign national to get a work visa.

The flipside of the coin is that many skilled people are emigrating. These professionals leaving create gaps in our labour force in areas where South Africa is actively recruiting from overseas using the critical skills list.

Let’s also keep in mind that the Critical Skills Work Visa and the General Work Visa often take months to finalise. Unfortunately, employers aren’t always willing to wait that long for an employee.

Our advice is to search for South African recruitment agencies who are familiar with assisting overseas job applicants. You could also use your network to find South African companies who are comfortable with employing candidates from overseas. Your third solution could be to ask for a transfer if your employer has a branch in South Africa.

4. What are the most common jobs in South Africa?

The most common jobs in South Africa are not necessarily what will lead to a successful visa application for you as a foreign national.

You must instead look at what sectors drives South Africa’s economy. It is in those sectors where you’ll find many of South Africa’s critical skills:

South Africa’s key economic sectors

The most significant contributors to South Africa’s economy are:

• Mining
• Finance
• Trade
• Transport and Communication
• Personal Services
• Manufacturing
• Government
• Construction

What about South Africa’s fastest growing industries?

It could indeed also be worthwhile to check out South Africa’s fastest growing industries. The demand for talent in these industries might outstrip the supply.

In 2021, these 10 sectors are outshining the rest in South Africa:

1. Finance and banking sector
2. Communications and information technology
3. Transport and logistics sector
4. Mining industry
5. Agriculture and agro-processing
6. Pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector
7. Insurance sector
8. Real estate sector
9. Automobile sector
10. Fashion and beauty sector

If you’re an entrepreneur in one of these sectors, you can run a business in South Africa with a Business Visa.

5. What jobs are in demand in South Africa?

For the answer to this question, as a foreign national looking to work in SA, you must again look to the critical skills list.

This list contains over 100 occupations across 12 industries and categories. Each of these occupations, industries and categories have been given the green light by the Department of Home Affairs because there aren’t enough local suitable candidates.

And, as explained earlier, if you meet the requirements of the critical skills list, you’ll be eligible to apply for a Critical Skills Work Visa.

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