Critical Skills Work Visa for South Africa

The critical skills work visa is based around the premise of the South African work force lacking certain skills that it needs to attract from abroad.

It is based on the critical skills list of February 2022 that includes 101 different occupations.In short if you appear on this list and meet the criteria attached to it you may make an application for a critical skills work visa.

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So what is a critical skills visa?

As you may surmise from the name of this work visa, it is based upon what is deemed a critical skill. A critical skill can in this instance is derived from intensive research by various stakeholders in the South African economy that identifies occupations where there is simply not enough of the local labour to fulfil industry needs.

This research culminates in the publishing of a government gazette (current one – February 2022) that details the occupations where human resource is in short supply.

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How does a critical skills visa work?

These are the most important facts to know about the critical skills work visa:

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• You must have a job offer to apply for a critical skills work visa
  • In the past, the critical skills work visa did not require a job offer. Instead, applicants without a job offer received a ‘job seeker visa’ that granted the visa holder 12 months to secure a job offer.
These regulations changed with the release of the 2022 critical skills list.
Anyone applying for a critical skills list based on the 2022 list must have a job offer at the time of applying for their visa.
• There is no limit to the amount of work visas granted within the critical skills category
  • Although the critical skills list will be reviewed from time to time there is no limit on the amount of critical skills visas that can be issued under each occupation.
• The critical skills work visa is valid for 5 years at time
  • The critical skills work visa grants temporary residency, and it’s usually issued for 5 years a time. The good news is that once you have hold a qualifying work visa for 5 years, the critical skills work visa being one, you can then apply for permanent residence. Even better is for applicants with 5 years experience already in place, they may make an application for permanent residence immediately.
• The critical skills work visa leads to PR for eligible visa holders
  • As mentioned above, it’s possible to apply for permanent residency with 5 years of relevant work experience.It is advisable to first apply for temporary residency if it’s your wish to work in South Africa as soon as possible as Home Affairs take up to three years to process PR applications.

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The introduction of The Points-Based System

South Africa recently introduced a points-based system for issuing General Work and Critical Skills visas, a shift that aims to significantly impact both international applicants and local employers. This new system aims to streamline applications, aligning them with the country’s economic priorities by focusing on essential skills and qualifications. Read more