PER - Critical Skills Immigration Policy

In many developed countries, people with scarce skills receive preferential treatment in the immigration process and some are even proactively sourced, as skilled immigrants help accelerate growth and create jobs. In South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) intends to shift the formal immigration policy from trying to protect domestic workers to seeking actively to alleviate the country’s skills shortages. This is in line with the National Development Plan, which set a target of 50 000 scarce-skill visas to be issued by 2030. In terms of DHA policy, foreign workers with scarce skills may apply for a category of work visa called critical skills visas (CSVs).