It is common knowledge that South Africa has a high unemployment rate (approximately 25% in 2008). However, only recently the country has started to realize and publicly admit that while unemployment is indeed high in the unskilled labour sector, there is a considerable shortage of skilled labour.

Under these circumstances it would be logical to assume that the government should encourage skilled foreign nationals to bring and share their expertise in South Africa, however this unfortunately is hardly the case. Even though there has been some improvement recently, the process of obtaining work and business permits is still complex, time consuming and expensive.

The main consideration in dealing with work permits is whether a South African citizen/permanent resident cannot perform the employment task to be undertaken. General work permits are therefore only issued to foreigners where South African citizens with the relevant skills are not available for appointment. Having said that, however, in some instances international concerns with branches/affiliated companies in South Africa may from time to time decide to transfer existing personnel from a foreign branch to a branch in the Republic. As these employees will be key employees, they must apply for intra-company transfer work permits in which instance no proof of steps taken to obtain the services of a South African citizen/permanent resident will be required. Similar to intra-company transfer work permit is a corporate permit, which allows a corporate applicant to employ a predetermined number of not only skilled but also semi-skilled/unskilled work force.

Application made in terms of corporate permit and intra-company transfer work permit are handled primarily by your prospective employer, are relatively straightforward and should take about a month to be processed. Applications for a general work permit attract considerably more paperwork involved and less certainty that the permit will indeed be granted. You should expect this process to take 3 months, sometimes longer.

One of the recent improvements is the introduction of quota permits, designed to attract skilled foreigners across a range of professions where SA is experiencing particular shortage of skills. Each profession has been assigned a limited number of work permits. See the list of qualifying professions here.

Perhaps the vaguest category of available work permits is the exceptional skills work permit. According to the Immigration Act, such permit may be issued to individuals possessing exceptional skills or qualifications. The Act does not elaborate what exactly constitutes exceptional skills or qualifications, but some of the examples may be academic achievements, notable publications, patents etc. Each case is considered on its own merit.  

 The important distinction between the general, intra-company transfer and corporate work permits vs quota and exceptional skills is that the former 3 categories are employer- and position-specific, while the latter 2 categories are not. This means that in order to apply for either the general, intra-company transfer and corporate work permit you must first secure a job offer, however this is not necessary if you are applying for either quota or exceptional skills permit. Conversely, should you change your employer OR your position with your employer while in possession of the general, intra-company transfer or corporate work permit, you will have to apply for a new permit, but if you have a quota or an exceptional skills permit, you are free to change employers and/or positions as long as you do not change your profession.

If you want to open your own business, or become an active co-owner of an existing business, you need to apply for a business permit. The process is even more complicated than obtaining a work permit, especially if you are investing less than R 2,500,000. However, if you want to invest into a business without getting involved with its day-to-day management, and do not get any renumeration in SA, you do not require a business permit.

If you are currently in possession of any temporary residence permit other than work or business permit – including visitor, spouse, relative, study, medical, retirement etc – you are not allowed to work in SA without first changing your current permit to the appropriate work permit. Once you have applied you are not allowed to start working until your permit has been issued.

Refer to our Business Permit section and Work Permit section for requirements for application for these permits.

Theoretically, you can apply for any South African permit yourself without involving immigration practitioners or lawyers. In practice, however, we highly recommend to skip this route and go straight to professionals. Despite relatively steep fees (expect anything from R 7000 upwards per permit) you will save yourself time and the hassle of endless queues and not always friendly attitude from Home Affairs officials. Most immigration practitioners are former Home Affairs employees and their knowledge of how the system works is well worth your money (and often costs less than law firm fees). Do require to see proof of registration from your immigration practitioner. Should their registration be invalid at the time of your application, your permit may be cancelled.

Voluntary or charitable activities may be conducted under a visitors permit and do not require a work permit.  

If/once you obtain South African permanent residence, there are no restrictions in terms of working or conducting business.

For more information, see www.home-affairs.gov.za, read Immigration Act or speak to a reputable immigration practitioner.