Working in South Africa: 100 points for a work visa, the remote work visa of R 650,796 and the 60 days before your renewal

Yes, you can work in South Africa, but not on the pension or wealth visa and not without an employer: a work visa is issued only when no South African with the same skills is available, and the application turns on a points-based system of 100 points. What it costs: R 1,520 in fees per work visa, plus the SAQA evaluation of your qualification and the police clearances. The find is the sum in the points notice of 18 October 2024: an occupation on the Critical Skills List yields 100 points in one go, while whoever is not on it has to gather the hundred from qualification, salary, experience and employer. The trap is the renewal clock: every renewal application must be submitted in person at least 60 days before the expiry date, and whoever is late falls into the overstay regime the visa routes describe.

How do I count my 100 points?

Criterion	Points
Occupation on the Critical Skills List	100
Qualification at NQF level 9 or 10	50
Qualification at NQF level 7 or 8	30
Offer above R 976,194 gross a year	50
Offer between R 650,976 and R 976,194 gross a year	20
Work experience of 10 years or more	30
Work experience of 5 to 10 years	20
Offer from a Trusted Employer	30
Proficiency in at least one official language	10

An offer from an employer is mandatory, and the notice says it without detour: whoever reaches the hundred through an occupation on the list gets a critical skills work visa; whoever adds them up from the other criteria, a general work visa. An official language of South Africa yields ten points — Dutch is not one, so you miss those ten, no more. Since Directive 10 of 2024, renewals and changes of visas already running are also assessed along the points system, and a partial waiver of the SAQA evaluation applies to applications submitted after its signature.

What does Home Affairs want to see in the file?

Both work visas run for the duration of the contract with a maximum of five years, and for the critical skills work visa that maximum applies per issue. In the file: the offer or employment contract, the SAQA evaluation of your qualification with a sworn translation into an official language, a police clearance from every country where you lived for longer than twelve months in the last five years (at most six months old), and written undertakings from the employer — among them that he bears the costs of a possible deportation and keeps your passport valid. For the critical skills work visa, add proof that your occupation is on the latest Critical Skills List and, where the law requires it, registration with the professional body. The critical skills work visa is expressly not a visa to look for work.

You submit the renewal in person, at least 60 days before the expiry date of your current visa. Put that date in the diary on the day of issue: the four-week turnaround Home Affairs names for work visas counts in working days and applies only to applications within South Africa.

Can I take my Dutch work with me?

Yes, with the remote work visa of 9 October 2024: a visitor's visa under section 11(1)(b)(iv) for those who work in South Africa for a foreign employer, for longer than three months up to three years. The requirement is a gross salary of at least R 650,796 a year, shown with three months of bank statements, plus the employment contract signed by both parties. Two notes from the same notice: whoever is in South Africa for more than 183 days in total in twelve months must register with SARS, even though the Netherlands has a tax treaty; and the holder may not take a South African job and may not convert the visa into another status from within South Africa.

What happens once I work?

Your employer deducts the contribution to the Unemployment Insurance Fund: 2% of gross salary, of which 1% is for your account and 1% for the employer's. You yourself register as a taxpayer with SARS within 60 days of first income, with proof of identity, address and bank account — so you arrange the bank and the address first, see banking and paying in South Africa. How the treaty with the Netherlands divides your salary and your pension is in AOW, pension and tax in South Africa.

What does it cost and how long does it take?

Visa	Fee	Turnaround (working days, within South Africa)
General work visa (section 19)	R 1,520	4 weeks
Critical skills work visa (section 19)	R 1,520	4 weeks
Business visa (section 15)	R 1,520	8 weeks
Visitor's visa, including remote work (section 11)	R 425	60 days

The fees have applied since the Gazette of 17 August 2026 and also to renewals. The turnaround times are Home Affairs' norm for applications submitted in South Africa; a first application from the Netherlands goes through the embassy's application centre at Parkstraat in The Hague, for which the step-by-step plan gives the document list.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to South Africa or go straight to step 2.1 in the open plan.