South Africa has completely rethought how it handles work visas. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has moved away from old-school red tape and introduced a modernized, transparent Points-Based System (PBS) to make bringing talent to our shores easier.
To get the green light for your visa, you’ll need to hit a target of at least 100 points on the official DHA scorecard.
You must prove your qualifications meet the required standards and ensure you are registered with the right professional body.
A signed contract with a registered South African company in good tax standing is absolutely essential.
Your profession determines exactly how you navigate the new South African Points-Based System.
How it works: If your specific job title and duties are officially gazetted on the government’s Critical Skills List, you are in luck. You automatically hit the 100-point threshold required for approval.
Your Next Step: Your main task is proving your foreign qualifications meet the required South African standards via SAQA, and securing registration with the relevant professional body (e.g., ECSA, HPCSA).
How it works: If your profession isn’t on the critical list, don’t worry—the process is still much simpler than it used to be. The dreaded Department of Labour (DOL) market test has been removed.
Your Next Step: You must now manually gather your 100 points through a structured mix of different criteria, including your education level, your guaranteed salary, and your years of experience.
If you are taking the General Work Visa path, here is exactly how your points are awarded under the new framework.
Essential Requirement.
Getting foreign qualifications evaluated by SAQA or securing professional body registration can cause massive delays. Fortunately, there’s a great interim rule for those still waiting on their paperwork. You can submit your application without them!
If approved via the waiver, you’ll receive a 12-month temporary visa. Once your final documents arrive, you can simply extend that to a full 5-year visa.
We’ll calculate your points first so you know exactly where you stand before you start spending money on applications.
We handle the SAQA, MIE, and Professional Body submissions and help organize your professional records from abroad.
We work directly with your new company to make sure their documents and salary structure meet all the legal Home Affairs requirements.
To ensure you can accurately score against the 2026 Points-Based System (PBS), please answer the following questions:
The points system is strict; you really do need that 100-point score to qualify. Here is what to look out for.
