Visas & Customs Requirements

Employment:

South African work permits are an employer led temporary residence permit however, the potential for permanent residency in South Africa exists for those who remain in the country for five years or more in possession of a working permit.

In South Africa, Visas are also available for those who wish to work in the country by starting a business or by investing in an existing enterprise.

You should make inquiries at your nearest Department of Home Affairs office if you're in SA, at your nearest SA embassy, high commission or consulate if you're abroad.

Work permits are a form of temporary residence permit. They are issued for a maximum period of one year, after which, on application, they may be extended. You should apply for a work permit if:

• You wish to take up temporary employment in South Africa, with or without reward and whether for your own account or not.
• You wish to set up or run a business temporarily in South Africa.
• You're a key employee of a foreign company that wants to transfer you temporarily to a branch or affiliate of the company in South Africa.
• You've been recruited to work temporarily in South Africa as an employee or consultant for government in terms of an intergovernmental agreement.
• You wish to visit a company in South Africa in which you have more than 25% control share.
• You wish to acquire fixed assets in South Africa for speculation or rent.
• You wish to visit South Africa to produce a feature film, documentary or TV commercial.
• You're a priest or religious worker volunteering to work temporarily at a religious institution in South Africa.
• You're an au pair intending to work temporarily in South Africa as part of a cultural exchange.

The following additional documentation must be submitted

• Application forms BI-159: A & C.
• Decree of divorce/court order, where applicable, as well as proof of maintenance paid to family members (also in cases of separation).
• Marriage certificate, where applicable.
• Full birth certificate(s) of children, where applicable.
• An employment contract specifying the occupation and capacity in which the applicant will be employed, maximum duration of employment and remuneration.
• Qualifications (evaluated by the Human Sciences Research Council, in the case of doubtful qualifications), especially in respect of technicians and engineers.
Testimonials/service certificates from previous employers indicating, inter alias, the applicant's competencies and/or skills.
• Curriculum Vitae.
• Proof of advertisements in the national media, as well as particulars of the steps taken to fill the post, indicating how many South African citizens/permanent residents applied and why they were found unsuitable.
• Police clearance certificates: All applicants 18 years and older in respect of all countries where a person(s) resided one (1) year or longer. (If not available when initial work permit application is being lodged, it will be required when applying for the extension of the permit).
• Medical certificate.
• English translation of certificates and other documents, if submitted in a foreign language.
• Proof of registration with a South African professional body, if applicable.

moving to South Africamoving to another countrylocal movelong distance movemoving a car
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1 2012 2013
Zipcode Finder
-- select state -- AlabamaAlaska ArizonaArkansas CaliforniaColorado ConnecticutDelaware District of ColumbiaFlorida GeorgiaHawaii IdahoIllinois IndianaIowa KansasKentucky LouisianaMaine MarylandMassachusetts MichiganMinnesota MississippiMissouri MontanaNebraska NevadaNew Hampshire New JerseyNew Mexico New YorkNorth Carolina North DakotaOhio OklahomaOregon PennsylvaniaRhode Island South CarolinaSouth Dakota TennesseeTexas UtahVermont VirginiaWashington West VirginiaWisconsin Wyoming SOUTH AFRICA AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA AMERICAN SAMOA ANDORRA ANGOLA ANGUILLA ANTIGUA AND BARB. ARGENTINA ARMENIA ARUBA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BENIN BERMUDA BHUTAN BOLIVIA BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BOUVET ISLAND BRAZIL BRITISH IN. OCEAN TER. BRITISH VIRGIN IS. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BULGARIA BURKINA FASO BURMA BURUNDI CAMEROON CANADA CANTON AND ENDER. IS. CAPE VERDE CAYMAN ISLANDS CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. CHAD CHILE CHINA CHRISTMAS ISLAND COCOS (KEELING) IS. COLOMBIA COMOROS CONGO COOK ISLANDS COSTA RICA COTE D'IVOIRE CROATIA CUBA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DEM. KAMPUCHEA DEM. YEMEN DENMARK DJIBOUTI DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DRONNING MAUD ISLAND EAST TIMOR ECUADOR EGYPT EL SALVADOR ENGLAND EQUATORIAL GUINEA ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FAEROE ISLANDS FALKLAND IS.-MALVINAS FIJI FINLAND FRANCE FRENCH GUIANA FRENCH POLYNESIA FRENCH SOUTHERN TER. GABON GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GIBRALTAR GREECE GREENLAND GRENADA GUADALOUPE GUAM GUATEMALA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GUYANA HAITI HEARD AND MCDONALD IS. HONDURAS HONG KONG HUNGARY ICELAND INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JOHNSTON ISLAND JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KIRIBATI KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LAOS LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYA LIECHTENSTEIN LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MACAU MACEDONIA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MARTINIQUE MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MEXICO MIDWAY ISLANDS MOLDOVA MONACO MONGOLIA MONTSERRAT MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NAURU NEPAL NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NEW CALEDONIA NEW ZEALAND NICARAGUA NIGER NIGERIA NIUE NORFOLK ISLAND NORTH KOREA NORWAY OMAN PACIFIC IS. TRUST TER. PAKISTAN PANAMA PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PERU PHILIPPINES PITCAIRN ISLANDS POLAND PORTUGAL PUERTO RICO QATAR REUNION ROMANIA RUSSIA RWANDA SAMOA SAN MARINO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE SAUDI ARABIA SCOTLAND SENEGAL SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON ISLANDS SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA ST. HELENA ST. KITTS-NEVIS-ANG. ST. LUCIA ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON ST. VINCENT AND THE GREN. SUDAN SURINAME SVAL. AND JAN MAYEN IS. SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWITZERLAND SYRIA TAIWAN TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA THAILAND TOGO TOKELAU TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKEY TURKMENISTAN TURKS AND CAICOS IS. TUVALU U.S. PACIFIC ISLANDS U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED KINGDOM United States of America URUGUAY UZBEKISTAN VANUATU VATICAN CITY STATE VENEZUELA VIETNAM WAKE ISLAND WALES WALLIS AND FUTUNA IS. WESTERN SAHARA YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC YUGOSLAVIA ZAIRE ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

You need help with:
Your move DATE is:
Moving FROM Zip:
Moving TO State:
Moving TO City: