There are 3 categories of work authorisation:

Find out more about work authorisation in:

South African citizen
As a South African citizen you are able to work for any company in South Africa without restrictions.

Permanent resident (non-citizen)
As a permanent resident of South Africa you are able to work for any company in South Africa without restrictions.

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Critical Skills Permit

There are two possible types of Critical Skills Permits, which include:

Critical Skills Permit with company name: If your current employer’s name appears on your permit you will need to apply for a change in conditions when you accept a job offer with a new company. This can take 6-8 weeks.

Critical Skills Permit without company name: Your current permit allows you to work for any company in South Africa.

Please note: As of 02 February 2022, this permit is no longer being issued by the Department of Home Affairs. Find out more

General Work Permit

There are four possible types of General Work Permits, which include:

General Work Permit with company name attached to it and under a specific skill: Your current permit allows you to work for any company in South Africa under the specific skill defined in your permit.

If your current employer’s name appears on your permit, you will need to apply for a change in conditions when you accept a job offer with a new company. This can take 6-8 weeks.

General Work Permit under specific skill
Your current permit allows you to work for any company in South Africa under the specific skill defined in your permit.

General Work Permit with company name attached to it

If your current employer’s name appears on your permit you will need to apply for a change in conditions when you accept a job offer with a new company. This can take 6-8 weeks.

General Work Permit without company name attached to it nor specific skill
Your current permit allows you to work for any company in South Africa.

Note: General Work Permits cannot be renewed so should look into applying for a Critical Skills Permit.
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Study permit

Your permit allows you to work for 20 hours a week. You will need an offer from a South African company to apply for a Critical Skills or General Work Permit.

If you have any other type of permit please reach out to your Talent Advisor to review the terms of your permit.

If you are not currently a South African citizen/passport holder, permanent resident or have a work visa, you will need to apply for a Critical Skills or General Work Permit before you can work in South Africa. Once you have a permit, OfferZen can help you to find a job.

For more detailed information on work authorisation in South Africa, read more here: https://www.vfsglobal.com/dha/southafrica/visa-types.html

Citizens/passport holders

As an EU citizen/passport holder you are generally able to work for any company in the EU without restrictions.

Permanent residents (non-citizen)

As a permanent resident of an EU country, you are generally able to work for any company in the EU without restrictions.

Dependant visas

If you have a family relationship (spouse or child) or are in a stable long-term relationship with an EU citizen, you do not need a work permit to work and have the right to equal treatment, including access to all social and tax advantages.

EFTA countries

If you are a citizen of one of the following countries, you have the same rights to work and reside in the EU as EU passport holders as per the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA):

🇨🇭 Switzerland

If you are a Swiss national, you are free to live and work in the EU under the EU-Switzerland agreement on the free movement of persons.

However, if you’re a national of Croatia, you will require a work permit to work in Switzerland. Find out more about working in Switzerland as an EU citizen.

UK passport holders

If you are a UK citizen/passport holder that lived in an EU country before Brexit was implemented on 1 Jan 2021, you don’t require visa sponsorship.

EU blue cards holders are permitted to enter and remain in a particular EU country for employment. You are authorised to enter, re-enter and stay in the country that has issued it.

Find out more about the EU blue card and specific requirements.

In order to obtain this visa, a company that is recognised as a sponsor by the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) must apply on your behalf.

Note there are specific legal salary requirements for an HSM visa that exist to ensure companies provide competitive NL-based salaries.

Salary criteria 2023

*Note the monthly amounts exclude the 8% holiday allowance

After 5 years on an HSM visa, you will be eligible to apply for permanent residence. As a permanent resident, you will no longer be subject to income thresholds or require company sponsorship.

Family/partner sponsorship
If you are the partner or spouse of an HSM visa holder, you will be eligible to work in the Netherlands as a dependant on your employed partner's Highly Skilled Migrant visa and as such do not require sponsorship to work in NL.

The legal salary requirements of the HSM Visa do not apply to dependants since they don't hold an HSM visa themselves.

Remote work

If you are working remotely in a different EU country for the same company that issued your work permit, you can use your existing work permit.

The most common visa for those looking to work in Germany is the German Long Stay Employment Visa. It is for candidates that have a job offer in Germany and can be used to work at a paid job.

Once you have an offer from your potential employer, you will need to apply for a long stay employment visa.

Read more information on the German employment visa.

To apply for a work visa for Spain, you are first required to get a Par Quenta Ajena work permit issued by the relevant city’s Work and Immigration offices. For example, if a company based in Barcelona wishes to relocate a developer to Barcelona, they would need to get a work permit issued by the Barcelona Work and Immigration offices.

Spanish law states that your potential employer must apply on your behalf, with a confirmed offer of employment and work contract.

Read more information on Spanish employment visas.

To live and work in Ireland, your potential employer must initiate an application for a work permit and/or a work visa to enter Ireland. However, not everyone requires a work permit to live and work in Ireland, you can find all the cases here.

To employ and sponsor your visa, your potential employer needs to have at least 50% EU employees – if the company is a startup (<2 years old) there can be exceptions.

There are different types of work permits one can apply for to live and work in Ireland:

Critical Skills Employment Permit

This permit is targeted at highly skilled employees and aims at encouraging you to take up permanent residence in Ireland after 5 consecutive years of living and working in Ireland.

Note there are specific legal salary requirements for Critical Skills Employment Permit holders.

Work contracts cannot be lower than 2 years long, and your cannot leave your employer for 12 months after starting the contract. After 12 months, you are able to change employers. If the contract is less than 2 years, you can only apply for a General Employment Permit.

These permits are valid for 2 years, after which you can get a Stamp 4, which means you do not require a work permit to work in Ireland. If you do not qualify for the Stamp 4, you will get a Stamp 1 and still require a work permit. After 5 years, you can apply for a residence permit.

General Employment Permit

This is for those who do not qualify for the Critical Skills Permit, and there is no list of acceptable occupations for this permit. Thus, you can apply for this permit under any occupation, as long as it’s not listed in the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits.

Note there are specific legal salary requirements for General Employer Permit holders.

These permits are valid for 2 years and can be renewed for a further 3 years, after which you can apply for permanent residence.

Note: Ireland does not participate in the EU Blue Card Scheme.

Read more information on the Irish employment visa.

Citizens/passport holders

As a UK citizen/passport holder you are able to work for any company in the UK without restrictions.

Permanent residents (non-citizen)

As a permanent resident of the UK, you are able to work for any company in the UK without restrictions.

EU and Ireland passport holders

As a national of Ireland or EU/EEA countries with settle/pre-settle status under the EU Settlement Scheme (present in the UK prior to Brexit), you are able to work for any company in the UK without restrictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Your employer must assign a CoS when you apply for a work visa through the sponsorship management system (SMS). You cannot apply for your work visa more than 3 months before the job's start date listed on the CoS.

Skilled Worker Visa

This permit is for people who will fill an eligible role with an approved employer (your potential employer needs to hold a valid sponsorship licence).

This permit lasts for 5 years and the your will need to apply to extend it at the end of this period, or if you change jobs (occupation codes specifically) or employer (whichever comes first). When changing jobs, you will require a new CoS and to undergo another application process. You may need to provide other evidence if you’ve been in the UK for less than a year.

You can extend your Skilled Worker Visa as many times as needed, as long as the requirements are met, but after 5 years you may be able to apply for permanent settlement in the UK (known as indefinite leave to remain).

Note there are specific legal salary requirements for Skilled Worker Visa holders.

Dependents are eligible on this visa. This may include a husband, wife, civil or unmarried partner, an under 18 child (including if they were born in the UK during the parents’ stay), or an over 18 child (if they’re already a dependent on the visa prior to turning 18). Evidence of the relationship will need to be provided upon application.

Usually, the visa approval process will take about 3 weeks if you’re outside of the UK and 8 weeks if you’re inside the UK.

Visa Senior or Specialist Worker Visa (Global Business Mobility)

This permit is valid if you work and live in the UK for an eligible job at your employer’s UK branch.

It lasts for 5 years or the time given on the CoS plus 14 days (whichever is shorter). You can apply to extend this visa as many times up to the maximum total stay, which is;

Note there are specific legal salary requirements for Visa Senior or Specialist Worker Visa holders.

Dependents are eligible on this visa.

Usually, the visa approval process will take about 3 weeks if you’re outside of the UK and 8 weeks if you’re inside the UK.

Read more information on the British employment visa.

If you are not currently a UK citizen/passport holder or permanent resident, or if you don't have a work visa, you will need to apply for one of the permits described above.