UK Tier 2 Visa for South Africa
The UK Tier 2 Visa for South Africa is a work visa for individuals who have been offered a skilled job that requires at least 5 years of experience in the field.
To qualify, you must have a degree or other qualification equivalent to a UK degree in your field, and meet the minimum salary requirement.
If you do not meet the requirements of this visa then you may be eligible for our UK Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) Visa instead.
The UK Tier 2 visa for South Africa is a visa that allows you to work in the UK for up to five years. You will need a certificate of sponsorship from an employer in order to apply for this visa.
Your application must be made online through the Home Office website. You will need to provide proof of your identity and proof of your qualifications, as well as supporting documents from your employer. If you are applying as an international student, you will also need to provide proof that you have been studying full time for at least six months prior to applying for the visa.
When you have submitted your application, it will be processed and you will receive an email with information about how long it will take before your application can be processed further. Once this has been done, if everything is okay with your application, then they will send you a letter telling you what day they expect to make a decision on your case.
If you are looking to live and work in the United Kingdom, then you may be interested in obtaining a UK Tier 2 visa. This visa allows you to gain employment in the UK, and it can be used for skilled workers as well as for people who have been offered a job with a licensed sponsor.
The UK Tier 2 visa is only available if you have been offered a job by a licensed employer. The employer must have applied for an agreement with the Home Office before they can offer you a position. If your employer does not have an agreement with the Home Office, then they cannot offer you a job or sponsor your application for this visa.
If you are applying for this visa because of previous experience in the UK or another country, then your employer will need to prove that they were not able to fill those roles without relying on migrant workers from outside of Europe. You must also show that there is no suitable candidate from within Europe who could fill this position. If there are no suitable candidates within Europe, then your application should be approved automatically when submitted at least 14 days before your date of entry into Britain (or whichever date specified on their documentation).
UK Tier 2 Skilled
Replacing the old work permit, the Tier 2 now has more government intervention than previously. This category of visa still operates as an employer sponsored application.
UK employers wishing to employ non EU citizens, have to first obtain a sponsorship license with the UKVI.
Once the UK employer obtains the Tier 2 sponsorship license, they are able to issue a limited amount of sponsorship certificates. From the UKBA’s perspective, the UK employer is then held responsible for the non-EU citizens adherence to Immigration law.
This means that the UK employer is now faced with more time consuming administration when it comes to sponsoring non EU citizens, like South Africans.
To help explain the process, we have taken the liberty to give a 12 step breakdown in UK Skilled Worker visa applications.
Step 1: Selected UK Skilled Worker Visa
You have selected the UK’s Skilled Worker visa. It operates under a point based system and caters for skilled South Africans looking to further their experience in the UK.
For more information about the visa technicalities, take a look at the following:
-> The UK Work Permit explained for South Africans.
-> South Africans with UK job offers – what happens next?
-> South Africans looking to get a job in the UK?
-> How the UK’s point based visa system works..
Step 2: Travel Documents
At this point, South Africans frequently make the mistake to beginning to prioritize flight costs. It is recommended that applicants not worry about flights though. Not until their visas are awarded.
Based on our experience, we have witnessed that many neglect to consider the validity of the passports. If not the validity of their passport, the amount of pages available for visa stamps (for frequent travelers).
Another important travel document that often catches South Africans (when its too late) relates to birth or marriage certificates.
For this step, we simply recommend addressing the following:
- Passport validity (check when the South African passport will/has expired).
- Minimum 6 months validity required – based on the date of submission.
- Passport blank pages (check if there are a minimum of 2 consecutive blank pages inside the passport).
- Birth certificates (full birth certificates are required for minors).
- Emphasis is placed on government issued FULL birth certificates.
- “Abridged” birth certificates are not recognized for international travel purposes.
- Marriage certificate (for South Africans looking to claim travel benefits with EU or UK visa holders).
If your passports are valid (and have sufficient blank pages) and your remaining certificates are in order, you can consider the ability to easily travel more feasible.
Step 3: Processing Times
The Pretoria division of the department of UK Visas and Immigration has a team of Entry Clearance Officials that deal with visa applications lodged within southern Africa region. Their decision making system is efficient and reliable.
Attached below is an annual average of the broad categories of visas (standard processing times):
SKILLED VISA PROCESS IN SOUTH AFRICA
TLS Availability29%0100
Move Up Capacity61%0100
UKVI Difficulty72%0100
TLS Availability: specifies the chances of a being delayed in securing an appointment.
Move Up Capacity: specifies the availability of Move Up to take on more cases (or not).
UKVI Difficulty: specifies the risk of refusal.
Please note that all three graphs work on an overall average of the UK visa process in South Africa. More specific processing times, based upon the time that it takes from when the application was submitted at TLS is detailed below:
UKVI processing times from the date of submission is a standard 15 working days (3 weeks).
Step 4: Visa Fees
Attached below is a breakdown of the different UK Skilled Worker visa validity periods. These costs serve to demonstrate the standard expected costs. There are optional additional costs for other value added services, such as fast track. To find out more about the fast track services, Move Up is best able to assist.
Attached below are four different duration of UK Skilled Worker visas as well as their respective fees:
Step 5: Qualifying Requirements
Different UK visas have different visa qualifying requirements. To demonstrate that applicants meet the UK governments visa qualifying requirements, South Africans are expected to present paper based evidence.
Getting a UK job offer (alone) is not enough to get the new work permit (Tier 2 General). South Africans have quite a few hurdles to jump through in this “updated” category. Need to qualify is the following:
- i. Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship issued from UKVI.
- ii. Evidence that the maintenance requirement will be met (proof of supporting funds).
- iii. Evidence that the job offer matches the minimum requirements set out by Standard Occupational Classification (we are not making this up – it actually exists).
Conclusion
If you’re looking to apply for a UK Tier 2 visa, you’ll need to know that there are a few key requirements. First, you must be sponsored by an employer who is registered with the Home Office. You’ll also need to show that you have at least £945 in savings and proof of residency in the UK. You must also prove that you have good English skills and can speak at least basic French or German.