The New Critical Skills List: Foreign Language Speakers Included

The New Critical Skills List: Foreign Language Speakers Included

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Exclusion of foreign language speakers on the draft list

Call centres around South Africa raised concerns at the exclusion of foreign language speakers from the Critical Skills Draft List published in March 2021.  The draft list made available to the public in 2021 showed that the entire occupation of foreign language specialists would be removed However, many businesses within South Africa rely on foreign language speaking staff to make connections with clients abroad. Thus, it was important that these businesses be heard, and their required skills be included in the new Critical Skills List.

Certain Specialist language skills included and other’s excluded

The Critical Skills List published in 2014 included languages such as German, Swiss German, Flemish, Greek, Swedish, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin and French. The new revised list sees the inclusion of a portion of these specialist languages, however languages that did not make the new Critical Skills List, despite requests to include same, are Portuguese, Arabic, Russian and Brazilian. The most established sector, utilising Foreign Language Speakers, is the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. It is vitally important that representatives for the above languages be included as it forms part of the industries requirements to develop these BPO’s further within the Republic.

Impact of foreign language specialists in South Africa

The inclusion of Foreign Language Speakers in the new Critical Skills List has ensured Call Centres within the region, that serve European, Middle Eastern and Asian workers, are able to continue doing so. The South African Call Centre and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) markets have emerged as a leading global employment destination for bilingual foreigner’s seeking employment.

Foreign Language Speakers are essential to cementing strong business relationships in markets abroad, where they not only communicate information fluently but bring with them the international experience and an understanding of the unique traits and expectations of the global target market.

Organisations outsourcing their foreign market support function to Call Centre Operators, typically insist that high quality foreign language consultants be available to their customers, hence the inclusion of these languages as the most essential languages.

South Africa has become a hub for inbound and outbound Call Centres, whereby it contributes approximately R53bn annually to the GDP and has been voted the second most attractive Business Process Outsourcing location globally. Strong operational and service capabilities in the sector are among the reasons that we see the inclusion of Foreign Language Speakers on the newly published list and this sector can build on its reputation and position itself for further growth.

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Netherlands Now Top Ranked Destination for Professional South Africans

Netherlands Now Top Ranked Destination For Professional South Africans

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The sessions reaffirmed that the Netherlands has emerged as one of the new frontrunners as a destination for emigration of join professionals and their families. The career opportunities, secure lifestyle and value placed on South African professionals appears the main attractions for this becoming a most favoured destination.

Netherlands: home away from home

Director of Xpatweb, Marisa Jacobs, said skilled South African professionals are in high demand in the Netherlands.

“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”, Jacobs added.

Xpatweb also met with the Deputy Ambassador of the South African High Embassy at the World Trade Centre in The Hague.

Marisa added that, “we always make it our aim to meet with the South African Embassy during these trips to nurture and build essential relationships which ensure a smooth process for business and investment into South Africa”.

“What was interesting to learn is that the Deputy Ambassador confirmed that there are 35,000 South Africans currently in the Netherlands, of which 20,000 are working and the balance are spouses and children”, Jacobs concludes.

These numbers show that Netherlands has truly become “home away from home” for South Africans moving abroad.

Why the Netherlands?

Covid-19 and its far-reaching effects have not deterred the economic growth of the Netherlands. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), economic 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.

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 Netherlands also has fantastic “soft landing” programmes for expats, with efficient government agencies such as the international Expat Centre that offer on the ground assistance to expatriates who have just moved into their country. The assistance entails a detailed smooth onboarding of individuals and businesses into the Netherlands, ranging from customs, arrival, orientation and housing tour, and real estate to the most practical matters of registering in the Netherlands for social security, health insurance, banking and even as to finding relevant child carers/education.

The importance of a roadmap

Although the soft-landing programme provides a great entry into the Netherlands, that is only one piece of the puzzle.

Dr Dylan Price, Head of Client Engagement at Tax Consulting South Africa, added that “we found that many South Africans, in the haste of moving abroad, did not take into consideration pertinent financial, tax and healthcare issues related to their emigration”.

Good planning will include reviewing your South African medical aid, life policies and insurance, looking at your assets and retirement annuities, banking strategies to move funds offshore, and closing off your tax affairs with SARS.

Where this is not planned optimally, you can land yourself in a precarious position both financially and with the local authorities.

“These items will form part of a client’s roadmap when planning their exit from South Africa. It is important to work with a provider that has relevant experts in-house that can pull this all together for you – and avoid being sent from pillar to post seeking advice”, concludes Dr Price.

Any professionals in the finance, IT, taxation, engineering or someone with a high degree of qualification and experience are welcome to contact Dr Price, who indicated that we have been requested to hold a focussed webinar for South Africans who want to find out more about the Netherlands opportunity.

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The New Critical Skills List – A Firm Offer Of Employment Is A Must

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What the previous guidelines allowed

Before the issuance of the New Critical Skills List and subsequent Directive, applicants were allowed to apply for a Critical Skills Work Visa without an offer of employment. Applicants were issued a visa valid for one year, which would allow them to enter South Africa to seek and secure employment. Once they had secured employment, they would then be allowed to apply for a full 5-year visa. This, however, will no longer be allowed.

What the new guidelines say

New guidelines as per the Directive, state that all applicants in the categories listed on the 2022 Critical Skills List must have an offer of employment in hand at the time of making the application. This means that those wishing to apply for a Critical Skills Work Visa, will need to secure employment before they will be able to submit their applications. This may prove to be a very difficult hurdle for many who wish to apply for the visa, as vast majority of companies in South Africa require a valid work visa before they will issue an offer of employment.

What is the way forward?

Those wishing to apply for a Critical Skills Work visa will need to ensure that they have secured an offer of employment before considering applying for the visa. Potential employers will need to be informed of the new guidelines when requesting a valid work visa and submit the offer of employment in line with this.

Working with an experienced and knowledgeable immigration firm will prove to be of great importance to help both the potential employer, as well as the applicant navigate the new guidelines successfully.

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There is a new critical skills list. Do I still qualify for Permanent Residency?

There Is A New Critical Skills List. Do I Still Qualify For Permanent Residency?

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Leetasha GovenderLeetasha Suria Govender
Expatriate Solution Specialist

 

The Department of Home Affairs released the long-awaited revised Critical Skills List in February 2022, in response to the ever-changing climate of the South African economy. A vast number of new occupations were added to the new list, whilst several occupations from the previous list were removed. Although this opened the door for employers and expatriates to bring new skilled resources into South Africa, those who had been waiting for almost two years to submit their Permanent Residency applications, were taken aback when the new Critical Skills List was released only a month after submissions for Permanent Residency applications were resumed.

One of the appealing aspects of obtaining a Critical Skills Work Visa is the ability for expatriates to apply for Permanent Residency immediately after receiving their visas (subject to certain qualifying criteria), allowing South Africa to retain their knowledge, skills, and experience. Many expatriates however had to wait to apply for Permanent Residency, after South Africa declared a national lockdown due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. When submissions for Permanent Residency applications resumed in January 2022, many expatriates saw this as their opportunity to submit their long-awaited applications. However, due to the large number of expatriates waiting to submit their applications, not all were able to secure an appointment to submit in terms of Section 27(b), before the new Critical Skills List was released in February 2022.

What does this mean for holders of Critical Skill Work Visas issued in line with the 2014 list?

The Department of Home Affairs caused some confusion regarding Permanent Residence applications, for people who obtained their Critical Skills Work Visas in accordance with the 2014 Critical Skills List, when they issued Immigration Directive No 1 of 2022 in February 2022. The Directive stated that people who obtained their Critical Skills Work Visas in accordance with the 2014 Critical Skills List may proceed to apply for Permanent Residence, however in March 2022 they issued a new Directive in-which that statement had been removed, which is where the confusion has come in.

This means that expatriates who obtained their Critical Skills Work Visas in line with the 2014 Critical Skills List, may proceed to submit a Permanent Residency application only if they meet the requirements of the application which fall in line with those prescribed in the new Critical Skills List. Permanent Residency applications follow stringent regulations which can be overwhelming if not undertaken properly.

With the release of the new Critical Skills List, the South African Government is not disregarding the occupations which have been removed from the list, they are just no longer deemed as “critical/scarce” but are still pivotal to the growth of the South African economy and upskilling of its locals.

Should you hold a valid Critical Skills Work Visa issued in line with the 2014 Critical Skills List, contact us to help you navigate what can be a daunting process of keeping your status legal in the country or conquering the tedious Permanent Residence application process.

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NQF requirements of the Critical Skills List.

NQF Requirements Of The Critical Skills List

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Levi SchoolingLevi Schooling Expatriate Solution Specialist

 

In 1995, the South African Qualifications Authority Act was passed into law and the very first authority was established to regulate qualifications. Later, in 2009, with the aim to reaffirm the necessity for a National Qualifications Framework and to further ensure that various elements of the education and training systems are more effectively comprised, the act was reviewed, resulting in a new act being gazetted.

Modernisation in the macro-environments of technology, politics and economy has necessitated the agility of professionals in the modern workplace. As such, a more efficient education system was required to produce creative, effective, and adaptable professionals, who are capable of working in the modern landscape.

The NQF acts to provide a path through which learners can easily understand the trajectory of their academic careers and would be more inclined to invest in the progression of the same. The theory is that having done so, the NQF would facilitate the improvement of functional and intellection capability in the job market.

The NQF, as it pertains to tertiary qualifications can be broken down below:

  • NQF 5: Tertiary Certificates
  • NQF 6: Diploma Level or Higher-Certificates
  • NQF 7: Degree level or Higher-Diploma
  • NQF 8: Honours degree level
  • NQF 9: Master’s degree level
  • NQF 10: PHD/Doctoral level

With these aspects in mind, the NQF is now the progression metric by which all qualifications are evaluated and certified on. Additionally, regarding foreign qualifications, SAQA makes comparison to South African qualifications, and awards a comparable NQF level for qualifications that would not ordinarily be awarded due to SAQA’s mandate.

In understanding these aspects, we can now correctly scrutinize the Critical Skills Lists. To qualify for a Critical Skills Work Visa, the following would be required:

  • a qualification (relevant to the category specified according to the NQF);
  • a relevant professional body registration (as contemplated in the Critical Skills List and the Department of Higher Education and Training’s Technical Report of 2022); and
  • a firm job offer.

However, an innate disparity has surfaced with the recommendation of these levels, when the draft list was being consulted on and formalised, – is now further seen in practice. The majority of categories on the 2022 Critical Skills List require an NQF 8 qualification which is, essentially, an honours Degree. The problem that lies in that designation is that an honours qualification is a uniquely South African post graduate qualification, that equates to a further year’s study, whereas the rest of the world uses the term as a classification of merit in a class system. What this means is that most applicants would surmise that they qualify for the category, however once evaluated by the South African Qualifications Authority, many come to the shocking realization that they only have a bachelor’s degree in South Africa.

This of course means that those hoping to qualify for those categories with an NQF 8 designation would require a Post Graduate Diploma or master’s degree to be able to qualify for those categories. Which begs the question of why these levels were recommended for many of the categories on the Critical Skills List?

Other questions that may arise are; at which NQF level are you deemed to be functionally competent in a specific profession? What role does experience play in the assessment of one’s competence, and shouldn’t more weight be given to experience instead of qualification? Or perhaps, should there be a way where an applicant of 20 years’ experience can supplement the Shortfall of a single NQF level?

With professional bodies attesting to the competence of an applicant within their experience in the industry, this requirement seems to have fallen by the wayside when considering applications for a Critical Skills Work Visa. Yes, it is still a requirement, but how relevant is it really when an application can simply be declined for a qualification not being at the ascribed level despite the fact that the applicant can be deemed capable in practice?

Expatriate professionals in various industries see these NQF requirements as a hindrance to the application process and have brought their concerns to the attention of the relevant professional bodies. Xpatweb is currently assisting these bodies in a collaborative effort to bring these concerns to the Department of Home Affairs for deliberation on a solution.

As with any release of a new Critical Skills List, these teething problems are always to be expected. However, more work has to be done to find a fair and reasonable solution to these problems and answer the question: “Are such designations in qualifications truly necessary?”

 
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