There are 3 categories of work authorisation:
Authorised to work without restrictions
Authorised to work with restrictions
Not currently authorised to work
Find out more about work authorisation in:
🇿🇦 South Africa
Authorised to work without restrictions
South African citizen
South African citizens are able to work for any company in South Africa without restrictions.
Permanent resident (non-citizen)
Permanent residents in South Africa are able to work for any company in South Africa without restrictions.
Authorised to work with restrictions
Critical Skills Permit
Candidates can have two possible types of Critical Skill Permits, which include:
Critical Skills Permit with company name
Candidates are authorised to work in South Africa under the specific skill defined in their permit.
After receiving an employment contract, the candidate needs to apply for a new permit with the new employer’s name added. Many companies start the candidate’s employment once the candidate has made the application.
Critical Skills Permit without company name
Please note: As of 02 February 2022, this permit is no longer being issued by the Department of Home Affairs. Find out more
Candidates are authorised to work for any company in South Africa, for a limited period of time under the specific skill defined in their permit.
After receiving an employment contract, they can extend the permit for a further 4 years by attaching their new employer’s name to their current work permit.
General Work Permit
Candidates can have four possible types of general work permits, which include:
General Work Permit with company name attached to it and under a specific skill
Candidates are authorised to work in South Africa in roles that match a critical skill defined in their permit.
Your company would not be expected to sponsor the renewal of their permit but the name of their current employer will appear in the candidate’s current permit. After receiving an employment contract, the candidate needs to apply for a change in condition on the permit.
Your company would not need to prove that you tried to hire a South African citizen before employing this candidate.
General Work Permit under specific skill.
Candidates are authorised to work in South Africa in roles that match the critical skill defined in their permit.
Your company would not be expected to sponsor the renewal of their permit.
Your company would not need to prove that you tried to hire a South African citizen before employing this candidate.
General Work Permit with company name attached to it
Candidates are authorised to work in South Africa without skill restrictions.
Your company would not be expected to sponsor the renewal of their permit but the name of their current employer will appear in the candidate’s current permit. After receiving an employment contract, the candidate needs to apply for a change in condition on the permit.
Your company would not need to prove that you tried to hire a South African citizen before employing this candidate.
General Work Permit without company name attached to it nor specific skill
Candidates are authorised to work in South Africa without skill restrictions.
Your company would be not expected to sponsor the renewal of their permit.
Your company would not need to prove that you tried to hire a South African citizen before employing this candidate.
Study permit
Candidates are authorised to work in South Africa for 20 hours per week.
When they receive an offer letter and their studies come to an end, the candidate needs to apply for a Critical Skills or General Work permit.
For more detailed information on work authorisation in South Africa, read more here: https://www.vfsglobal.com/dha/southafrica/visa-types.html
Not currently authorised to work
Candidates who are not currently authorised to work in South Africa will need to apply for a Critical Skills or General work permit before they can be considered for employment.
🇪🇺 The EU
Authorised to work without restrictions
Citizens/ passport holder
EU citizen/passport holders are generally able to work for any company in the EU without restrictions.
Permanent residents (non-citizens)
Permanent residents of EU countries are generally able to work for any company in the EU without restrictions.
Dependant visas
Candidates that have a family relationship (spouse or children) or are in a stable long-term relationship with an EU citizen 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
The following countries are part of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA):
Iceland
Lichtenstein
Norway
Being part of the European Single Market, their citizens enjoy the same freedom of movement of goods, capital, services, and people as the EU countries. This means they have the same rights to work and reside in the EU as EU passport holders.
🇨🇭Switzerland
Under the EU-Switzerland agreement on the free movement of persons, Swiss nationals are free to live and work in the EU.
Most EU citizens do not need a permit to work in Switzerland. Restrictions only apply to nationals of Croatia – who need a work permit.
Find out more about working in Switzerland as an EU citizen.
UK passport holders
UK passport holders that lived in an EU country before Brexit was implemented on 1 Jan 2021 don’t require visa sponsorship.
Authorised to work with restrictions
🇪🇺 EU Blue Card
An EU Blue Card is a residence permit for qualified non-EU foreign nationals to work in an EU country. It permits its holder to enter and remain in a particular EU country for employment. The permit authorises its holder to enter, re-enter and stay in the country that has issued it.
EU blue cards do come with certain restrictions like minimum salary thresholds and these differ from country to country.
Find out more about the EU Blue Card and its specific requirements.
🇳🇱 Netherlands - Highly Skilled Migrant (HSM) visa
Companies need to apply for this visa on behalf of candidates and must be recognised as a sponsor by the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).
Note there are specific legal salary requirements for an HSM visa that exist to ensure these candidates have competitive NL-based salaries.
Salary criteria 2022
Under 30 years: € 3,549 gross per month (€ 45,995 annual)
30 years or older: € 4,840 gross per month (€ 62,726 annual)
*Note these amounts include 8% holiday allowance
After 5 years, a candidate with an HSM visa will be eligible for permanent residence. As permanent residents, they will no longer have income thresholds or require company sponsorship.
Family/partner sponsorship
If the candidate is the partner or spouse of an HSM visa holder, they will be eligible to work in the Netherlands as a dependant on the 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 the candidate is working remotely in a different EU country for the same company their work permit is based on, they can use their existing work permit.
🇩🇪 Germany - German work visa
The German Long Stay Employment Visa is for candidates that have a job offer in Germany and can be used to work at a paid job.
After making the candidate an offer, the candidate will need to apply for a long stay employment visa.
More information on the German employment visa.
🇪🇸 Spain
To apply for a work visa in Spain, candidates first need to acquire a work permit (par quenta ajena) issued by the relevant city’s Work and Immigration offices, i.e. 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 employers must apply on the employee’s behalf, with a confirmed offer of employment and work contract.
Read more information on Spanish employment visas.
🇮🇪 Ireland
If a candidate is not a citizen of an EEA country (EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein), Switzerland or the UK, they need permission to live and work in Ireland through an application initiated by employers.
This may include:
A work permit, and
A work visa to enter Ireland
Not everyone requires a work permit to live and work in Ireland, you can find all the cases here.
To employ and sponsor the visa for a foreign national employee, Employers need 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 is a work permit targeted at highly skilled employees with the aim of encouraging these people 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 employees cannot leave their employer for 12 months after starting the contract. After 12 months, they are able to change employers. If the contract is less than 2 years, the employee can only apply for a General Employment Permit.
These permits are valid for 2 years, after which the individual can get a Stamp 4, which means they do not require a work permit to work in Ireland. If they do not qualify for the Stamp 4, they will get a Stamp 1 & still require a work permit. After 5 years, they can apply for a residence permit.
General Employment Permit
This is for employees who do not qualify for the Critical Skills Permit, and there is no list of acceptable occupations for this permit. Thus, one 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 one can apply for permanent residence.
Note: Ireland does not participate in the EU Blue Card Scheme.
Read more information on the Irish employment visa.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
If a candidate is not a citizen of the UK, Ireland or one of those with settle/pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EU national present in the UK prior to Brexit), they will require a UK-based company to sponsor their work visa to work and live in the UK.
Employer Sponsorship Licence
UK employers who want to sponsor work visas need to get a valid sponsor licence through UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)
The employer must assign a CoS to each employee applying for a work visa through the sponsorship management system (SMS). Employees cannot apply for their work visa more than 3 months before the job's start date listed on the CoS.
Licence Types
Employers through OfferZen will most likely require the Worker’s Licence type, as this is reserved for long-term employment of skilled workers (of which software engineering-related roles are included – occupation code 2136 for programmers and software development professionals). There are fees involved to apply for a sponsor licence. The fee will depend on the company type as well as the licence the company is applying for.
Visa Types
Skilled Worker Visa
This is valid for people who will fill an eligible role with an approved employer (employer holds a valid sponsorship licence). It replaced the Tier 2 (General) Work Visa.
It lasts for 5 years and the employee will need to apply to extend it at the end of this period, or if they change jobs (occupation codes specifically) or employers (whichever comes first). When changing jobs, the employee requires a new CoS and undergoes another application process. They may need to provide other evidence if they’ve been in the UK for less than a year.
One can extend their Skilled Worker Visa as many times as is suited, as long as the requirements are met, but after 5 years one 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 is valid for people who work and live in the UK for an eligible job at their employer’s UK branch. It replaced the Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) Long-Term Staff Visa. It is similar to the ICT Visa in NL and other EU countries.
It lasts for 5 years or the time given on the CoS plus 14 days (whichever is shorter). The employee can apply to extend the visa as many times up to the maximum total stay, which is;
5 years in any 6-year period if paid less than £73 900/year.
9 years in any 10-year period if paid £73 900/year or more.
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.
Not currently authorised to work
Candidates who are not yet authorised to work in the EU will need to apply for the relevant visa or work permit in the country they wish to work.