The Minister of Home Affairs has determined the skills or qualifications, as set out in the Schedule to the Notice, to be critical for the Republic of South Africa in relation to an application for critical skills work visa or permanent residence permit in terms of section 19(4) of the Immigration Act No. 13 of 2002.
On the 2nd of February 2022, the Minister published a critical skills list (February 2022 List) that replaced the previous long-standing critical skills list that was published on 3 June 2014. The February 2022 List was replaced a few months later on 2 August 2022 with a list that included 31 additional skills that were identified as skills shortages in South Africa (August 2022 List). Most of the additions were in the medical industry.
Just over a year later, another revised critical skills list was published by the Minister on 3 October 2023 (October 2023 List). The Minister identified two additional skills shortages in South Africa: veterinarians and veterinary nurses.
The October 2023 List is materially similar to the August 2022 List and includes the minimum National Qualifications Framework level that a foreign national must possess in order to qualify for a critical skills visa. A critical skills visa is issued based on compliance with the critical skills list and allows the holder to work in South Africa within a specific occupation listed on the critical skills list.
The October 2023 List has also clarified that:
All applications for a critical skills visa must be accompanied by an offer of employment from employers who are not only verifiable, but who are also in good standing with the Department of Employment and Labour; and engineering applicants who are registered with a South African Qualifications Authority Professional Body as a “Candidate”, and others similarly graded in other occupations, will be considered for a critical skills visa if they meet all the requirements for the issuing of the visa and on condition that once they receive their visa they will be supervised by a qualified professional (where applicable).
