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TRUSTED EMPLOYER SCHEME

According to the Operation Vulindlela Work Visa Review Report (2022), South Africa’s work visa policies provide a strong foundation for enabling skills to enter the country. However, the work visa review has shown that the unpredictable nature of visa adjudications reduces how well existing policies can serve their intended function. 

The Operation Vulindlela Review proposes a number of interventions to address the above mentioned challenge, one of them being the Trusted Employer Scheme.

A Trusted Employer Scheme system allows a country to more easily attract skills and manage immigration, particularly when they process high volumes of applications. Operation Vulindlela recommended that South Africa should introduce a trusted-employer scheme to allow employers to be vetted and approved in advance and reduce the administrative burden for visa applications.

Under a trusted-employer scheme, an entity looking to employ skilled foreign labour would undergo a review assessing its fitness to import skills against established criteria (e.g. compliance with tax rules and labour regulations).

The trusted employer would then have access to a simplified route for employing a determined number of skilled foreign nationals from outside the country and would be subject to reduced requirements for each visa application.

The selection criteria is herewith attached as a guide to corporate employers who wish to submit an expression of interest.