• Since 2016, foreign students who graduated in South Africa in a critical skills field would get a permanent residency permit without needing work experience.
• But these waivers were recently revoked, in the same week that the department of home affairs gazetted South Africa`s new critical skills list.
• Additionally, critical skills visas won`t be available to skilled foreigners looking for work, as was previously the case.
• These two changes have side-lined young, skilled foreigners who were looking to live and work in South Africa, according to a leading immigration agency.
Foreign graduates who`ve acquired `critical skills` in South Africa are no longer automatically offered permanent resident status.
South Africa`s critical skills list was recently updated for the first time since 2014. Foreigners who posses a critical skill are prioritised for a working visa or permanent residence in South Africa. The updated list, officially gazetted by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi earlier in February, contains 101 job descriptions.
Amid a burgeoning backlog of applications, made even worse by the suspension of new submissions during lockdown, having a critical skill is one of the quickest and sure-fire ways to obtain a permanent residency permit (PRP) in South Africa.
The list is designed to attract foreigners with certain skillsets and work experience that are in short supply locally.
Foreign students studying towards a critical skill in South Africa could previously look forward to obtaining a PRP upon graduating. This was done through a series of waivers, signed into law by then-Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba in 2016.
Amendments to the Immigration Act allowed foreign graduates �` who`d studied at a South African tertiary institution in the areas of critical skills �` to apply for PRP without needing to:
• Submit a certificate from the professional body, council, or board recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority.
• Get confirmation from the relevant department confirming the applicant`s skills or qualifications.
• Acquire five years of post-qualification work experience.
• Submit testimonials from previous employers.
These

six-year-old waivers were withdrawn by Motsoaledi just days before the newest list of critical skills were gazetted.
While all applications received before February `will continue to be processed`, foreign students studying towards a critical skill in South Africa will need to comply with all the original regulations of the Immigration Act once graduated.
`The problem with this is that our universities are attracting the brightest [minds] in Africa and a lot international students and that`s a competitive advantage for our economy,` Andreas Krensel, CEO of IBN Immigration Solutions, told Business Insider South Africa.
`Now we don`t give these graduates an easy entry into the job market. When we talk about attracting young, talented people, this [the withdrawal of the waivers] is definitely a step back.`
And the withdrawal of the 2016 waivers isn`t the only newly introduced hurdle to young foreigners looking to live and work in South Africa, according to Krensel.
Part of the department`s updates to the critical skills list includes a number of transitional arrangements, which deals with applications which have already been lodged under the 2014 criteria. Previously, foreigners could apply for a 12-month critical skills visa without an offer of employment. Krensel refers to this as a `job seekers visa` which attracted young foreigners with critical skills to look for employment in South Africa.
Part of the transitional arrangements revokes the ability to gain a critical skills visa without a solid offer of employment.
`This was very handy in attracting young, highly qualified people. Now they`ve done away with this. If [South Africa] is serious about attracting international talent, it needs to be attractive as an international comparison,` said Krensel, adding that while government`s concerns about unemployment, especially among local graduates, were understandable, the latest changes pushed South Africa back on a global standing.
`A lot of countries offer job seeker options and South Africa does not anymore, so that`s a problem.`
www.samigartion.com V.3956

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
Click here for full article

One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
Click here for full article

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
Click here for full article

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
Click here for full article

A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
Click here for full article

On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
Click here for full article

The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
Click here for full article

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
Click here for full article

1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
Click here for full article

Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
Click here for full article