How to apply for a IITPSA Critical Skills Visa Assessment

All I.T foreign nationals who are wanting to apply for a critical skills visa for South Africa must include with their application to the Department of Home Affairs, a registration from IITPSA to verify that you have been assessed.

This registration is needed to prove that you are competent within your field of work.

Before you can submit your application for a critical skills visa, you first need to obtain your written confirmation from IITPSA stating that you meet the criteria. This can take a long time to obtain and therefore we advise that you start with this process first.

Many individuals are often left clueless about where to begin and there is no clear way for them to understand where to start.

Business analysts can read our detailed blog post about business analyst critical skills visa membership.

You do not need to reapply for an assessment if you are changing employers on the critical skills visa.

If you are applying for corporate general manager in the ICT sector then you can read our guide corporate general manager critical skills assessment. 

We decided to create this blog post to give you the best information possible about this temporary residence permit / visa.

These are the different South Africa visa types you could be applying for if you don’t qualify for the critical skills.

What occupations should submit through IITPSA?

The recognized professions:

1. Information Communication & Technology

1.1 CISCO Solution Specialist

1.2 CISCO Engineers

1.3 Solutions Architects in Telecommunications and ICT

1.4 Integrated Developers (PHP, Perl, Java)

1.5 Network Analyst

1.6 IT Security Specialist

1.7 System Integration Specialist

1.8 Enterprise Architecture

1.9 Data Centre Operations

1.10 Network Specialist (Security)

1.11 Database Specialists

1.12 Microsoft System Engineers

1.13 Network Controllers

1.14 AV Specialists (Anti Virus)

1.15 Desktop support Engineer

2. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

2.1 Software Development Engineers and Managers

2.2 Systems Architects, Engineers and Managers

2.3 Business Analyst

2.4 Quality Analyst

2.5 Quality Assurance Specialist/Auditor

3. Academics and Researchers

3.1 Information Communication Technology

4. Engineering

4.1 Telecommunications Engineers

What do I need to submit to IITPSA to get a written confirmation?

To receive your written confirmation from IITPSA, you need to submit documentation to them so that they can provide you with a letter of confirmation that you meet the criteria for one of the occupations listed on the critical skills list for South Africa.

How can I get IITPSA certificate?

IITPSA’s assessment of your application cannot begin until you have submitted all these below mentioned documents:

• Certified copies of your degree or diploma
• Certified copies of your transcripts related to your degree or diploma
• Certified of your industry certifications such as ITIL, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM or CompTIA
• Above mentioned qualifications, if not obtained in South Africa must be assessed by SAQA
• If your degree and transcripts are written in a foreign language then you need to have this translated by a sworn translator.
• You the applicant are responsible for obtaining a SAQA evaluation for a degree or diploma submitted to IITPSA.
• Any foreign qualification not accompanied by a SAQA evaluation will not be taken into consideration. Please ensure that you complete the SAQA process.
• IITPSA will verify each qualification sent to SAQA, therefore it’s advisable to request a PrivySeal link to speed up the verification process.
• You need to prove that the industry qualifications you obtained were issued on the basis that you were either assessed or tested and you need to grant secure assessment to prove the studies you have undertaken. Any certificates which show either “completed or attended” will not be accepted.
• A detailed CV that clearly states the duties of each ICT job held, the duration for each job which must include the start date and end date by using the MM/YYYY format.
• In your email sent to the professional body IITPSA, you must clearly state the particular critical skill category  (both Classification of Education Subject Matter and Specific Occupation/Critical skill, per the Government Gazette) Omitting this means you cannot be assessed. You are allowed to submit three critical skills occupations you would like to be assessed against.
• You need to include two testimonial letters or references from previous employers that clearly states your skills and competencies for the critical skill you are applying for.

-Your two letters from previous companies must be typed out on official letterhead from the company to reference from your CV.

-Any duplicate letters signed by different people will be treated as one letter.

-References or testimonials written on plain paper and not an official letterhead will not be accepted.

-A single letter will only be accepted if you have only worked for one company or you have worked for a company for 5 years or more.

-The information that needs to be stated in the letter must reveal the date you started work at your employer, your job description when you have left the employer or state that you are still working for the company.

–Testimonials, Relieving Letters, Offers of Employment and Reference Letters are also acceptable. Employer letters are not forwarded to the authorities, but they are referred to in your Certificate).

• A clear copy of your passport and use the same sequence as stated in your passport. Example: First Name, Middle Name and Last name.

If you have already applied for membership at IITPSA and have sent some or all of the documents, then you do not need to resend them. Simply email them and state which date you have previously sent the documents.

Pre-assessments cannot be arranged as there is a high volume of assessments at this point. The pre-assessment is the same process as the assessment.

Post Qualification Experience:

IITPSA will only take experience into account that you obtained after you have completed your studies. No experience will be considered before or during your studies even if you studied part-time. This means you would only qualify if you have obtained experience after obtaining your qualification.

This is a requirement from the Department of Home Affairs that only experience after your qualification will be taken into consideration.

Another important factor to remember is that they will only assess your application if you have 24 months of experience or more. Anything less can be assessed but will be rejected by the Department of Home Affairs.

What are the duration and costs of the assessment?

The duration:

The assessment duration is roughly six to eight weeks long for your application to be assessed by them. The assessment duration starts from the date of acknowledgement of your receipt for your application. If any documents have not been sent then this will delay your process, so ensure that all documents are sent all at once.

The information technology professionals in South Africa cannot expedite any application and therefore requesting them to do so will not happen. They are currently receiving high volumes of applications and therefore it’s a first come first basis.

What are the costs for the assessments?

1. New individuals applications: 14th March 2022 – 28th February 2023 – R1,100 + R 800.00 (Application Fee)
2. Critical Skills Visa Assessment: R 3,640.00

For your critical skills assessment to start, you need to enrol as a member. This means that you need to apply for an assessment and membership at the same time if you are not yet a current member. You are allowed to submit both applications at the same time.

How do I register for the membership assessment?

1. Simply navigate to this link (see picture below)

   

2. Step 2 – read the information and then click proceed

   

3. Step 3 – enter all your information

   

4. Step 4 – Agree to the terms and conditions by checking the tick box
5. Step 5 – A email from IITPSA will be sent to your email with all the user registration details.

If you are making use of a Gmail account then the might be a delay in the automated message sent to you.

An important aspect to remember is that they will not provide you with progress updates along the way and you need to wait until you receive an outcome from them.

What happens if my application is successful?

If your application is successful for a critical skills visa assessment then you will receive two original copies of the written assessments with the embossed seal of the institute.

These documents will be posted to you by normal post which is not trackable. You may arrange to have these documents couriered to you at your expense.

IITPSA will not send you scanned copies for security reasons, so do not request this.

One of the original copies sent to you must be included in your application to the Department of Home Affairs or South African embassy/consulate.

It is important to remember that a successful assessment from IITPSA does not guarantee that your application for a critical skills visa will be successful.

What value does the IITPSA add?

Besides this being a requirement from the Department of Home Affairs, this largely depends on how much effort you put into your membership. This South African international organization largely depends on the members to do things.

These are some of the benefits:

• Professional recognition
• Career Advancement
• Networking
• Media Distribution
• Product & Service Discounts
• Seminars & Workshops
• Reduced Entrance Fees
• E-Newsletters
• Awards
• International Recognition
• Expert Opinions
• Reciprocal Service Benefits

How long is a critical skills visa valid for?

The critical skills visa is valid for five years or could be for the duration of your contract if it is less than five years. You can submit for permanent residency if you can prove 60 months of experience. You can submit for permanent residency once you have received your critical skills visa from the Department of Home Affairs. It is important to remember that you need to submit your application for permanent residency as soon as you can, DHA has a huge backlog and therefore applications have been taking a long time to approve.