What You Need To Know About The Critical Skills Technical Report

What You Need To Know About The Critical Skills Technical Report

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This resulted in the production of a technical report that included a methodological description of the occupations on the critical skills list, the way in which these professions where chosen and further detail on the processes and requirements that need to be adhered to by foreigners when applying for a critical skills work visa.

Although the majority of this report is devoted to responding to requests for inclusion or deletion from the list, the comments covered a wide range of issues. Part 2 describes the considerations for inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as how these criteria were applied in conjunction with requests obtained through the public comment process. Further comments on methodology, qualifications, industry body, policy legislation, regulation, and Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) were also received. Much of this report is devoted to the process of finalizing the list and presenting it in its completed state. Various stakeholders validated this list in Part 3 through the NEDLAC process, which sharpened the “penultimate list” (for confirmation by the DHA Minister) in Part 4.

Whilst the methods to which the critical skills list came about are noteworthy, there are particular points of interest in the technical report that make an impact on the process of applying for a critical skills work visa.

Items that Impact the Process of Applying for a Critical Skills Work Visa

Alternative Titles

Table 6 shows a list of all alternate names for the vocations included in the final CSL. While the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) contains most of these specialisations and alternate titles, there are a few titles indicated that are not in the OFO. As a result, the researchers have prepared the following list of all specialisations and alternate titles associated with the final CSL jobs.

Lecturers Included

Annexure 2 of this technical report outlines the fields of study for lecturers as accounting and informatics, agricultural, environmental, and natural sciences, arts-design and social sciences, business studies, commerce, education, management sciences, engineering and the built environments, food service management, health sciences, humanities, information and communications technology, law, medicine and health sciences, science, physics, public management and administration, and theology.

Minimum NQF Level

The view brought forth in the report is that if a position is to be filled via a critical skills work visa, the NQF requirement should tip the scales in favour of South Africans; in other words, non-South Africans should have greater qualification expectations than South Africans.

In keeping with this principle, the researchers have set qualifications criteria in the CSL that are slightly higher than what South Africans are required to practice. Their hope is that this will attract skilled persons from outside while ensuring that South Africans with such skills are not disadvantaged.

With such great importance being placed on these NQF levels it is imperative that foreigners prove that their qualifications fall withing these requirements when submitting their applications.

Professional Bodies

Stakeholders and comments to the public feedback period emphasized two main points in addition to the specific proposed modifications. These are things that the DHA should think about – Clarifying in the report that the professional bodies named are not necessarily the only professional bodies to whom foreign nationals can apply for professional membership; or simply removing references to specific professional bodies from the CSL because their inclusion could be anti-competitive. In this case, the DHA could check the whole list of professional bodies registered by the South African Qualifications Authority against its CSL rules on professional bodies (SAQA).

Currently, the regulation governing the publication of the CSL requires that occupations be covered by a SAQA-registered professional body (statutory or non-statutory). Considering this regulation, the researchers took the following steps to ensure that no SAQA-registered professional body was left out of the study:

  • If a person is required by law to be licensed to practice in a certain occupation, the CSL will show the SAQA-registered professional organisation or bodies that offer that licensure.
  • If a person is not obliged by law to be licensed to practice in a particular occupation, the CSL will show that there are no professional organisations associated with that occupation (of which there may be many). In this case, the SAQA website has a database of all SAQA-registered professional bodies relevant to the critical skills list.

Corporate General Manager

The technical report has made significant distinctions in the case of Corporate General Manager (CGM) and Director. The opinion reported is that these jobs could be exploited if the size of the organization is not provided (i.e., individuals who are self-employed, a sole employee and designated as a manger will be able to obtain a critical skills work visa). As a result, only those offered employment in a medium or large enterprise will be considered for a CSV. The size of a business can be evaluated by looking at both the total number of full-time equivalent paid employees and total annual turnover, according to the Department of Small Business Development (2019). As a result, in order to apply for a CSV as a CGM or Director, both of the criteria listed must be satisfied.

How to Approach your Critical Skills Visa application

Foreign applicants should make use of the guidelines set out in the technical report when compiling their applications for a critical skills work visa as the report is concise in its description of what the Department of Home Affairs will be considering when adjudicating such applications.

We are recommending a careful and considered approach, proactively anticipating challenges during the adjudication process in terms of the new criteria as set out.

We caution applicants and employers in conjunction with your preferred provider, when preparation new applications, to assess and determine best suited category to apply under and the documentation included to demonstrate the candidate qualifies in the category selected. New applications will be widely open to interpretation, and it is our role when preparing your application, to make it clear to the adjudicator that the applicant indeed qualifies for a visa under the new Critical Skills list.

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Why emigrating to the Netherlands is attractive to South Africans

Why Emigrating To The Netherlands Is Attractive To South Africans

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Not only is the Netherlands attractive in terms of their work / life balance, but the Dutch government offers enticing tax incentives for highly skilled migrants, especially in the financial, engineering and information technology (“IT”) fields.

According to Rob Ridout, from Job Search International, skilled South African professionals are in high demand.

“Highly skilled South African professionals are seen as assets to foreign employers. South Africans should not be hesitant to apply for international vacancies, especially in the Netherlands,” explains Ridout.

Why Netherlands?

Covid-19 and its far-reaching effects has not deterred the economic growth of the Netherlands. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the economy growth rose to 4.8% for 2021. With the economy growing at such an exponential rate during a pandemic, the Netherlands has now been facing a different type of dilemma, job vacancies are now outnumbering the number of unemployed people. This means that there are roughly 123 vacancies to 100 unemployed people according to the CBS.

“One of the major success stories, that shows that the Netherlands is the global hub for tech, is that Dutch company ASML recently sold their advanced chipmaking tool to Intel for more than $340 million with even more orders being placed by other companies. This in turn will create many more job opportunities for highly skilled migrants in the financial, engineering and IT arenas”, says Rob Ridout.

It is not just the growing pool of vacancies that’s attractive for South Africans. The Dutch work / life balance is another contributing factor to why the Netherlands is seen as an emerging hub for skilled migrants. The Dutch put a lot of emphasis on “family / leisure time” and working hours are fewer than in most European countries. Most Dutch professionals work on average 35 hours per week where a few of those days can be used for remote working.

The Dutch government has invested a lot in providing enticing attractions with regards to research and development (R&D) tax incentives that is offered and boasts a strong digital infrastructure that is renowned for their openness to multidisciplinary thinking. The Netherlands is seen as the gateway to the European R & D arena with 10 unique campuses or “incubators” that each specializes in a host of applications that include agrifood, artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

Tax benefits of working in the Netherlands

There is also a 30% tax ruling that is another attractive incentive for expats. This ruling is aimed at highly skilled migrants that have expertise in areas that are not easily found in the Netherlands.

What the 30% ruling entails is that an employer may compensate you for “extraterritorial costs” equivalent to 30% of gross salary untaxed. But there are certain specifications that highly skilled migrants need to meet before they can qualify for this incentive.

According to the Dutch Tax Administration, employees must meet the following conditions –

  • The employee is in paid employment.
  • The employee has specific expertise that is not or hardly found in the Dutch labour market.
  • The employee was recruited outside of the Netherlands.
  • The employee is in possession of a valid decision from the government.

Exiting South Africa correctly

Once the highly skilled South African has found employment in the Netherlands, important steps need to be taken to ensure that they remain tax compliant with SARS.

“The first important question that needs to be asked is whether one is going to emigrate with the intention to permanently stay in the Netherlands, or if that person will come back to reside in South Africa. And the second vital factor is whether the person will be an employee or independent contractor. These are criteria that will determine what exemption or route you can take in terms of tax residency and foreign income”, says Victoria Lancefield, General Manager for Tax Residency & Financial Emigration at Tax Consulting SA.

All South African tax residents need to submit tax returns to SARS on an annual basis to declare their South African or foreign income, if foreign income was made then the taxpayer needs to claim an exemption on foreign earnings.

Foreign earnings will be taxed on the surplus of R1.25 million at the marginal income tax rate which could be as high as 45%. Even if the tax resident qualifies for an exemption, a tax return needs to be submitted.

Tax residents need to understand that even if they cease their South African citizenship, their tax residency will remain because citizenship falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Home Affairs and tax residency falls under the jurisdiction of SARS, the two do not align.

What are your options?

Certain processes are needed to formally cease tax residency so that SARS does not come knocking on your door.

Victoria Lancefield states that, “there are two options available to South Africans thinking about emigrating. They can either undergo the financial emigration process if they are emigrating with the intention of not coming back to reside in South Africa, or they can apply the Double Tax Agreement (DTA) between two countries. The DTA route is undertaken when the professional has the intention of coming back to reside in South Africa in the future”.

It can be an arduous process to start the financial emigration or DTA process and that is why it is important for one to consult a professional and experienced tax practitioners and tax attorneys to help them alleviate the tax burden while they get ready to move overseas to further their careers.

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