The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) recently published an annexure that explains new processes for certain work visa applications. The work visa applications that are affected by the annexure include general work visa applications, renewals of existing work visa, change to conditions to a general work visa, as well as permanent residence permit applications based on having received an offer of employment whilst holding a valid work visa.

In terms of the annexure a preliminary process must now be followed before submitting the work visa application via VFS to the Department of Home Affairs. In terms of the preliminary process the following steps must be completed by the employer (not the prospective employee) before the application is submitted to VFS:

1. The employer must register the employment opportunity with the DEL by completing a registration form.
2. After the employment opportunity has been registered with DEL then DEL will try and provide the employer with suitable candidates. The employer must thereafter advise DEL whether any of its referred candidates have been employed.
3. The visa application form must be completed and submitted to the DEL office together with all the supporting documents. The employer must at the same time provide DEL with its contact details and its business address.
4. After the visa application is submitted to DEL, a “visa finalisation notification” will be emailed to the employer after a recommendation certificate has been submitted by DEL to the Department of Home Affairs. The Annexure also states that the DEL’s recommendation is not appealable, and an appeal can only be directed to DHA’s.

When the employer receives the “visa finalisation notification” from DEL it may then submit the work visa application to Department of Home Affairs via VFS.

The primary difference between the process set out in the Annexure and the previous process is that the complete visa application must be submitted to DEL in order to obtain the “visa finalisation notification”.

It should be noted that DEL has also published new application forms that must be used for all general work visa applications. DEL further advise that the turnaround time for a work visa application will be 30 working days.