Questions to Ask Before a Work-Visa Application

How to use this guide

The useful output is a route-and-action decision memo, not a verbal prediction that the application “looks fine”. Each conclusion should identify its source, the fact or document it depends on, any unresolved assumption, the responsible person and a review date.

This page is about the questions that resolve the applicant's case. Choosing a provider, checking professional credentials and agreeing fees or document-security arrangements are separate decisions.

1. Which exact route fits these facts?

Ask the lawyer to name the statutory route and the facts that support it. General Work Visa, Critical Skills Work Visa, Intra-Company Transfer Work Visa and corporate-visa arrangements are not interchangeable. A visitor's visa with work authorisation and the remote-work visitor category also answer different factual situations.

A route answer should address:

• the South African employer or host entity;
• the real duties, occupation and work location;
• the applicant's qualifications and experience;
• the remuneration and contract period;
• any transfer relationship between entities;
• the applicant's current location and immigration status; and
• the intended filing place and start date.

Ask which competing route was considered and why it does not fit. Record the answer as a working conclusion until the supporting evidence has been checked.

2. Which current source controls each conclusion?

Ask for the title and date of the official instrument used for every material answer. For a General or Critical Skills application, that normally means reconciling the Immigration Act, current Regulations, the October 2024 regulatory amendment, Government Notice 5448 of 18 October 2024, Immigration Directive 10 of 2024, applicable ministerial waivers and the current operational checklist.

Government Notice 5448 is the corrected points notice. The points notice published on 9 October 2024 was withdrawn. A news article, provider checklist or saved webpage should not silently replace the current official instrument.

Ask the lawyer to mark a source as CURRENT LAW, CURRENT OPERATIONS, HISTORICAL or POLICY. The March 2026 White Paper describes proposed reform; it does not itself replace the existing work-visa rules.

3. How are the points calculated from my evidence?

The 18 October 2024 notice sets a 100-point threshold for General and Critical Skills Work Visa outcomes and makes an employment offer mandatory. Ask for the calculation in a table rather than accepting a total stated without proof.

Ask the lawyer to show the result if a disputed factor receives no points. Avoid putting salary thresholds into the memo unless they are copied from the corrected notice and reconciled to the actual gross-remuneration evidence.

4. What exactly proves the occupation and experience?

If Critical Skills is being considered, ask for the occupation title, OFO code, minimum qualification, relevant professional body and every occupation-specific condition in the current list. Then ask how the actual duties, qualification and registration evidence match those items.

For experience, ask which letters, contracts, payroll records or other lawful records prove the relevant period and duties. A CV or job title alone does not establish the points claimed. Ask how a closed employer, generic reference or overlapping employment period should be handled without inventing evidence.

5. What is the SAQA and professional-registration plan?

Ask whether a foreign qualification requires SAQA evaluation for the chosen route, who controls the application and what the current result proves. SAQA says the qualification holder must use their own account and contact details.

If an evaluation is pending, ask whether the October 2024 partial waiver applies and what its limited effect would be. The General and Critical Skills waiver letters do not grant immigration status and should not be described as a general exemption from qualification proof.

For a regulated occupation, ask whether the evidence shows registration, candidate status, supervision, an application in process or merely membership. Record the exact professional-body response and date.

6. Where may this application be submitted?

Ask which mission, VFS centre or other authorised channel may receive the application and why the applicant is entitled to use it. The answer should take account of nationality, current location, residence, existing South African status, the route and any restriction on changing status inside South Africa.

Ask what must be true on the filing date, not only what is true today. A booking, payment or appointment does not cure an ineligible filing location.

7. What permits me to stay, work and travel now?

Require three separate answers:

• STAY: which current document or official measure supports presence in South Africa, and until when;
• WORK: which exact visa condition or authorisation covers the actual employer and activity; and
• TRAVEL: which documents support departure and return for this passport and pending process.

Immigration Directive 7 of 2026 provides temporary measures until 30 June 2027 for defined lawfully admitted applicants with specified pending waiver, long-term-visa or appeal matters and a verifiable VFS receipt. It excludes permanent-residence applications from those measures, ends when an outcome is received and does not permit activity beyond the existing visa conditions. Ask the lawyer to identify the paragraph relied on and every fact needed for it to apply.

Do not let a single sentence such as “the application is pending” answer all three permission questions.

8. What changes would require a new decision?

Ask what happens if the employer, employing entity, duties, occupation, remuneration, work location, start date, passport, relationship, current status or travel plan changes. The memo should identify which changes require a points recalculation, new evidence, a different application, an amendment or advice before action.

Ask whether the applicant may begin work, serve notice, accept a second role or travel before the change is resolved. Employer convenience does not expand a visa condition.

9. How should earlier applications or adverse facts be handled?

Disclose prior refusals, appeals, waiver requests, status gaps, overstays, undesirable-person decisions, changed passports and any work that may not have matched the recorded condition. Ask what primary records are missing and what procedural or legal question must be answered first.

Do not ask for wording that conceals the event. Ask how to preserve the complete history, correct an error through the proper channel and explain a discrepancy truthfully.

10. What must happen before filing?

End with actions, not general reassurance. For every unresolved point, record:

Give the memo one of three next steps: PROCEED TO FILE BUILD, HOLD FOR EVIDENCE or ESCALATE BEFORE ACTION. A memo is stale when its source, facts or controlling date changes.

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