Immigration
Summary
The Minister of the Department of Home Affairs (“DHA”) has implemented a Points-Based System which will apply to the existing General Work Visa and Critical Skills Work Visa categories.
This is a positive development to introduce objectivity and certainty into the adjudication process as opposed to the current highly subjective and inconsistent adjudication processes frustrating employers and applicants alike.
The Minister has publicly commented that this process will introduce a transparent framework to adjudicate visas in order to tackle corruption.
The detail
Points Methodology
The Points-based approach is based on the enclosed scorecard whereby applicants must achieve a minimum of 100 points through a combination of eligibility criteria.
The points-based system addresses the immediate business need to attract highly-skilled foreign nationals to the country with a consequent high focus on academic qualifications, work experience and earnings.
General Work Visa
There are differing routes to the 100 point threshold, however eligibility is mainly restricted to highly academically qualified applicants (NQF 9 + 10), with minimum 5 years work experience, who meet either of the respective salary thresholds or qualified applicants (NQF 7 + 8), who possess extensive professional experience, 10+ years, at the higher end of the salary threshold.
Accordingly, applicants with less than NQF 7 academic qualifications, irrespective of salary, will find it challenging to meet the 100 point threshold unless receiving an employment offer from an Employer who is a member of the Trusted Employer Scheme.
The removal of the Department of Labour (“DoL’) Certificate, for the General work visa category, is the most welcome change. This removes the highly cumbersome DoL or Waiver processes which are both highly administrative, opaque and subject to ongoing excessive adjudication delays.
There is uncertainty around the following elements of the points-based system which will hopefully be clarified by the DHA in due course:
SAQA: While the SAQA Certificate can be partially waived through the Points-based system (visa limited to 12 months and extendable upon SAQA issuance for the balance of the maximum visa period), it is unknown how the adjudicators will assess the NQF-related points allocation (SAQA-dependent) in the absence thereof. Accordingly, utilising the SAQA waiver option may result in the adjudicator disregarding such points, thereby limiting the path to 100.
Language Proficiency: While this requirement mirrors Global standards, there is uncertainty as to how this will be adjudicated. The assumed process would be a verbal language assessment, as all work visa applications need to be submitted in person in the majority of countries (including VFS in South Africa), however this needs to be clarified.
Critical Skills Work Visa:
Should an applicant meet the eligibility criteria for an occupation as contained in the Gazetted Critical Skills List, such applicant automatically earns 100 qualifying points and may be issued a Critical Skills Visa provided all other prescribed requirements are met.
In this instance, the SAQA Waiver is a welcome introduction as it will enable the applicant to receive a 12-month work visa, subject to meeting the other prescribed work visa requirements, as opposed to having to wait the current excessive lead times for a SAQA evaluation.
Scorecard:
Please refer to the eligibility criteria and weightings below:
|
Criteria |
Description |
Weight |
|
Occupation: |
Occupation on critical skills list |
100 |
|
Qualifications: |
NQF levels 9 -10 |
50 |
|
NQF levels 7-8 |
20 | |
|
Offer of employment: (Mandatory) |
Above R968,184 per annum |
50 |
|
Above R645,456 per annum |
20 | |
|
Work experience: |
10+ years |
30 |
|
5-10 years |
20 | |
|
Employment status: |
Offer from trusted employer |
20 |
|
Language skills |
Proficient in at least one official language |
10 |
We will keep you informed as the above-mentioned open items are clarified by the DHA.
Contact us
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Stephen Marlin
Partner: Territory Leader
Supriya Boodhena
Senior Manager
Natalie McLean
Senior Manager
Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com
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