The critical skills list identifies occupations in various sectors for skilled immigration. Section 19(4) of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 provides that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) can issue a critical skills work visa to a foreign employee possessing skills or qualifications considered to be critical for South Africa.
The DHA recently published a draft critical skills list for public comment. The current critical skills list was published by the DHA in 2014. Together with the draft critical skills list, the DHA issued a Technical Report which details the criteria for including an occupation in the critical skills list and the methodology it has adopted.
For an occupation to be included in the critical skills list, it must meet certain criteria:
| Currently in acute shortage or likely to be in the future due to its importance for South African strategic priorities
| | Require a high-level skill or advanced qualification
| | Require a long lead-time to develop a domestic supply pipeline
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Members of the public (including any affected employers) can submit written comments by 31 March 2021. Written comments can be made by email (cswv@dha.gov.za) or post/hand-delivery (Mr Phindiwe Mbhele, Department of Home Affairs (Hallmark Building), 17th Floor, 236 Johannes Ramokhoase Street, Pretoria, 001).
