Which visa do I need to work in South Africa?

If you want to work in South Africa and you are not a citizen or permanent resident, you need a visa that specifically permits work. In most cases that means one of three work visas: a general work visa, a critical skills work visa, or an intra-company transfer work visa. A business visa covers people who want to run their own business rather than take a job. A spouse or life partner of a South African citizen or permanent resident applies for a relative's visa based on the relationship and may ask Home Affairs to authorise work on it. A visitor's visa does not let you take up employment, apart from narrow exceptions that the regulations spell out.

The rules sit in the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 and its regulations. The single most important rule is this: a visa must be applied for and granted before the activity it permits starts. You cannot arrive as a tourist, start a job and sort the paperwork out afterwards. Working without the right visa exposes you and your employer to penalties, and it can lead to you being declared an undesirable person and barred from returning.

The work visas in plain terms

General work visa. This is for a person with a job offer from a South African employer in an occupation that is not on the critical skills list. The employer usually has to show that it tried to recruit a South African citizen or permanent resident and could not find one with the same skills, historically through the Department of Employment and Labour, and you have to show that your qualifications and experience match the post. The criteria for this visa were changed in recent years and you must check the current regulations for the criteria that apply on the day you apply.

Critical skills work visa. This is for a person whose occupation appears on the published critical skills list. You apply on the strength of your skills, and a job offer is not always required at the application stage, although the regulations set conditions about confirming employment afterwards. You need your qualifications evaluated by the South African Qualifications Authority, known as SAQA, and, where a professional body regulates the occupation, proof of registration or eligibility to register. See how to apply for a critical skills work visa.

Intra-company transfer work visa. This is for an employee of a company abroad who is being transferred to a branch, subsidiary or affiliate in South Africa. It is tied to the transfer, the period is limited, and it does not on its own lead to permanent residence in the way the other two can.

Business visa. This is for a foreign national who wants to establish or invest in a business in South Africa. The regulations set a minimum investment amount, which can be reduced or waived in certain sectors, and require that a set proportion of employees be South African citizens or permanent residents.

Relative's visa with authorisation to work. If you are married to, or in a permanent life partnership with, a South African citizen or permanent resident, you apply for a relative's visa based on that relationship, and Home Affairs may authorise you to work, study or run a business on it. See how to apply for a spousal visa.

Remote work. A category for people who work remotely for an employer outside South Africa was introduced recently. The rules on who qualifies and the tax position are new and must be checked against the current regulations.

How to choose

Ask three questions. Who is going to pay you? Where is that employer based? Is your occupation on the critical skills list? A South African employer and an occupation on the list points to the critical skills visa. An occupation not on the list points to the general work visa. Your existing employer abroad sending you to its South African operation points to an intra-company transfer. Your own business points to a business visa. A South African spouse or life partner points to a relative's visa with work authorisation, which is usually the simplest route.

How the application works, step by step

1. Identify the category using the questions above and confirm it against the current regulations.
2. Get your qualifications evaluated by SAQA. This takes time, so start it first.
3. Apply for police clearance certificates from every country in which you have lived for twelve months or more since you turned eighteen.
4. Have the medical and radiological reports done by registered practitioners. They must be recent when you submit.
5. Get the employer's documents: the signed employment contract, the job offer, and for a general work visa the recruitment documents.
6. Submit the application at the South African mission in your home country, or through VFS Global where the mission uses it. If you are already lawfully in South Africa on a visa that the regulations allow you to change from, you may be able to apply inside the country. Read can I change my visa status from inside South Africa before assuming this.
7. Wait for the outcome. Do not start work until the visa is issued. If it is refused, there is a right to appeal or review with time limits. See how to appeal a visa rejection.

A worked example

The facts below are illustrative only and are not a real case.

Amara is a civil engineer from Nigeria. A construction company in Durban offers her a job. She checks the current critical skills list on the Home Affairs website and finds civil engineering on it. That points her to the critical skills route.

She starts the SAQA evaluation of her degree in January. She applies for police clearances from Nigeria, where she grew up, and from the United Kingdom, where she did her master's degree over two years. She books a medical and a chest X-ray, and applies to the Engineering Council of South Africa for confirmation that she is eligible to register.

By April she has the SAQA certificate, both police clearances and the council's letter. She books an appointment through VFS Global in Lagos, pays the fees, and submits with the job offer and signed contract in the bundle. She does not resign from her Lagos job or book a flight until the visa is in her passport.

Had civil engineering not been on the list, the Durban company would have had to run a recruitment process and obtain the Department of Employment and Labour documents before she could even apply for a general work visa. That path is slower and depends on the employer doing paperwork that many employers have never done before.

What to do this week

1. Check the current critical skills list and the current regulations. Do not rely on a list from a year ago.
2. Start your SAQA evaluation. It is on the critical path for both main work visas.
3. Apply for police clearances from every country where you have lived for twelve months or more since age eighteen.
4. Ask your employer, in writing, whether it has done a work visa application before and who will handle the recruitment paperwork if that applies.
5. Work out where you will apply from. If you are on a visitor's visa in South Africa, do not assume you can change status here.
6. Cost the whole thing. Fees, SAQA, medicals, clearances and translations add up. See what immigration costs.

Documents to gather

• Passport valid for the period the regulations require, with blank pages
• Police clearance certificates from every country lived in for twelve months or more since age eighteen
• Medical report and radiological report from registered practitioners
• Proof of the job: signed employment contract, job offer letter, and for a general work visa the employer's recruitment documents
• SAQA evaluation certificate, and professional body registration where the occupation is regulated
• Proof of qualifications and a CV
• Proof of funds where the category asks for it
• Marriage certificate and birth certificates if a spouse or children are applying with you as dependants
• Passport photographs to the current specification

Documents in a language other than English must usually be translated by a sworn translator.

A realistic timeline

Processing times at Home Affairs and at missions abroad vary widely and change without notice. Treat every figure below as a broad range, not a promise.

• Preparation: two to six months. Police clearances and the SAQA evaluation are the slow items.
• Decision after submission: several weeks to many months. Applications lodged during a backlog period or with a missing document take longer.
• After a refusal: an appeal or review adds months.

If your employer needs you on a date, work backwards from that date and add a margin.

Common mistakes and what they cost

• Starting work on a visitor's visa. This is unlawful. It can result in a penalty for the employer, refusal of the visa you later apply for, and a declaration as an undesirable person for you.
• Applying in the wrong category. A refusal costs the fee, months of waiting and sometimes the job.
• Old police clearances or medicals. These have limited validity. Submitting an expired one means a rejected application.
• Missing a country on the police clearance list. Leaving one out looks like concealment.
• Letting your current visa expire while waiting. Read what happens if my visa expires.
• Relying on a consultant who promises a guaranteed outcome. Nobody can guarantee a Home Affairs decision. Check that anyone advising you is an attorney or a registered immigration practitioner.

If you cannot afford an attorney

You can make a work visa application yourself. Applications go through VFS Global or the South African mission in your country, and the requirements are published on the Home Affairs and VFS websites. Many people complete the process without a lawyer, particularly on the critical skills route.

The Department of Home Affairs contact centre answers questions about requirements and the status of an application. University law clinics give free advice on immigration questions. Lawyers for Human Rights and the Scalabrini Centre assist refugees and asylum seekers, whose route is governed by the Refugees Act 130 of 1998. If you are ever detained for deportation, Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 can help, and you should read what your rights are if you are detained for deportation. See what immigration costs and legal aid.

Frequently asked questions

The question most people ask is whether they can come in on a visitor's visa and look for work. You can look, but you cannot start, and in most cases you cannot change status from a visitor's visa inside the country. People ask whether the employer applies for the visa. No, the applicant applies, but the employer supplies documents. They ask whether a work visa leads to permanent residence. It can, after five years on a work visa with a permanent job offer, and there is a separate route for critical skills holders. See how to get permanent residence and the permanent residence and citizenship calculator.