For a new South African work-visa application, the first distinction is the occupation. A role that genuinely matches the current Critical Skills List can provide the 100 points needed for a Critical Skills Work Visa. If the occupation is not on the list, the candidate can reach 100 points through other criteria for a General Work Visa. Both routes still require a job offer, supporting evidence and a decision from Home Affairs. A job title or points total alone is not a visa under the official points-based rules.
This guide is for an employer with a foreign candidate in mind. Before comparing routes, establish one fact: does the candidate already hold permission to do this work for this employer? An existing visa remains subject to its own conditions; a new application, extension or change can bring the points system into play under the 2024 implementation directive. A genuine transfer within a corporate group may call for a different visa route. Last reviewed: 27 October 2026.
How the two routes differ
The 2024 points notice applies to both visas. It awards 100 points for an occupation on the Critical Skills List. A candidate outside the list needs 100 points from the other published factors, including qualifications, the salary attached to a mandatory offer, experience, an offer from a Trusted Employer and language proficiency. The notice says a qualifying applicant may be issued the relevant visa if the other requirements are met; it does not promise approval.
| Route | What puts the candidate on it | The employer’s defining question |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Skills Work Visa | The actual occupation matches an entry on the published list and scores 100 points. | Do the duties and credentials fit the listed occupation, not merely its title? |
| General Work Visa | The occupation is not on the list, but other documented factors reach 100 points. | Which points can this candidate actually substantiate with the proposed offer? |
This is why a “Critical Skills versus General Work” decision begins with the job itself. The candidate’s qualifications and pay then become either route-specific evidence or part of the General Work score.
A candidate whose role is on the Critical Skills List
Imagine a company hiring a software developer to build and maintain applications for its South African team. The gazetted Critical Skills List of 3 October 2023 names Software Developer, OFO code 2021-251201. Its description covers analysing requirements and designing, developing, testing and maintaining software solutions. The listed minimum qualification is a bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma at NQF level 7.
Those details do the work a broad job title cannot. If this candidate actually performs the listed duties and has the required qualification, the occupation provides 100 points under the points notice. The application still needs a signed offer or contract, proof of the selected listed occupation, a SAQA evaluation or permitted proof of application, and written confirmation of the candidate’s skills, qualification and appropriate post-qualification experience from a relevant recognised body or government department. The DHA Critical Skills checklist calls for proof of professional-registration application where registration is required by law; it does not make every listed occupation a licensed profession.
If the company instead labels an unrelated implementation or sales job “software developer,” the list entry does not solve the mismatch. The proposed duties, qualification record and employment offer must describe the same role.
A candidate whose role is not on the list
Now imagine a commercial partnerships lead whose actual duties do not match a listed occupation. That does not end the work-visa analysis. Suppose the candidate can evidence an NQF level 7 qualification, seven years of work experience and a genuine offer of R1,050,000 gross a year. Under the published points schedule, the qualification earns 30 points, five to ten years’ experience earns 20, and an offer above R976,194 earns 50: 100 points in total. Subject to the other requirements, this is a General Work Visa case.
Keep the person and role the same, but set the genuine offer at R900,000 gross a year. That offer falls into the 20-point salary band, so these three factors now total 70 points. Further qualifying, evidenced factors would be needed to reach 100. These salary bands award points; they are not a universal minimum wage for foreign hires or a reason to invent compensation the employer will not actually pay. Both calculations are illustrations, not assessments of a real candidate. The qualification’s NQF level and experience must be supported by the application evidence.
Who is the employer in the application?
For an overseas company, this is often the question behind the visa question. The offer, employment contract, employer particulars and required undertakings should identify the party that will actually employ the person under the proposed arrangement. If the overseas company hires through its own South African employing operation, that structure drives the employer evidence. If a local employer is used through an Expat Employment arrangement, the file must reflect that employer and the real allocation of responsibilities. An overseas parent should not sign undertakings as though it were the local employer when another party is taking that role.
The General Work checklist requests full employer particulars and CIPC registration evidence where applicable. It does not make a CIPC certificate a universal document for every conceivable structure. Direct foreign employment without a South African company raises a separate immigration and employer-registration question; it should not be treated as automatically equivalent to using a local employer. Establish the employing arrangement before finalising the offer, points case or filing documents.
What evidence goes into the file?
The employer side begins with a real job offer and a consistent description of the role, remuneration and employing party. Home Affairs’ General Work checklist also calls for employer particulars and written undertakings covering passport validity, potential deportation costs and notification when employment ends or the person moves into a different capacity or role. The Critical Skills checklist requires a signed offer or contract, selected listed occupation, employer undertakings and the occupation-specific confirmations described above.
The candidate supplies identity and personal evidence, including applicable police clearances and qualification material for SAQA. Older DHA work-visa checklists still list a medical report, but a directive signed on 8 July 2026 waived submission of that report for future and pending temporary-visa applications. The waiver does not remove the other documents. Because some mission checklists have not caught up, the filing pack should follow the current directive and the submission channel’s current instructions, rather than copying an old list uncritically.
When can the employee start?
A promising points calculation is not permission to work. Under section 38 of the Immigration Act, an employer must not employ a foreign national who lacks authorization for the work, and must make a good-faith assessment of that status. Set the working start date around the authorization actually granted, not the date the application was submitted or SAQA papers were sent.
The same discipline applies later. A valid pre-points-system visa remains effective on its own conditions under the 2024 directive; a subsequent extension, renewal or change may be assessed under the points system. The General Work checklist specifically requires the employer to notify Home Affairs when employment ends or the person works in a different capacity or role. A new job title, employer or assignment should be assessed against the visa’s actual conditions before the change takes effect.
Putting the route into an employment plan
The route decision becomes useful when the occupation, score, employing party and offer all tell the same story. For an overseas business that needs local employment as well as immigration coordination, NNRoad’s South Africa Expat Employment service brings the employment documents, visa-case preparation and ZAR payroll into one plan. Home Affairs decides the application; the employer’s job is to present a coherent, supportable case and start work only under the authorization granted.
Two questions about older and pending applications
Does a new General Work Visa still need a Department of Employment and Labour certificate?
Not when the application is adjudicated under the points-based system. The 8 October 2024 ministerial waiver removes the regulation 18(3)(a) certificate requirement for those General Work cases. Older online guidance may still describe the previous labour-market process; the implementation directive preserves separate transitional treatment for some earlier applications.
Can an application proceed while SAQA is still evaluating a foreign qualification?
Yes, in the circumstances covered by Home Affairs’ partial SAQA waivers. Proof that the evaluation application has been submitted can support an initial, limited-duration visa for General Work or Critical Skills, subject to the other requirements and later submission of a positive evaluation. Filing the SAQA request or receiving a waiver does not itself authorize employment.