Home Affairs opened expressions of interest for the second phase of the Trusted Employer Scheme on 20 July, gazetted as Notice 55036, and the window closes on 4 September.

Accredited employers get reduced documentation requirements and priority visa processing. In the first phase, applications that had taken up to six months or longer came down to as little as five to 10 business days. Phase I approved 71 companies.

Phase II widens who qualifies and tightens how you apply. It now covers companies on strategic infrastructure projects, businesses establishing regional or global headquarters here, and qualifying financial sector entities, alongside the existing focus on senior executives, technical personnel and investors.

Applicants need a minimum score of 80 out of 100, must choose a single scorecard pathway, and selecting more than one may disqualify the application. Submissions go through a dedicated online portal that will eventually be integrated with the Electronic Travel Authorisation platform. An interdepartmental committee drawn from Home Affairs, Employment and Labour, and Trade, Industry and Competition assesses each application, and its decision is final with no appeal process.

Outcomes are due within 30 working days of closing, so around 4 October. Successful employers sign a memorandum of agreement. Trusted Employer status does not guarantee any individual visa is approved.

Daily Investor reported the launch alongside Xpatweb's 2025 Critical Skills Survey, which found 84% of employers struggle to source highly skilled people locally and the same proportion consider international recruitment essential, with engineers, ICT specialists, artisans and financial professionals among the hardest roles to fill. Home Affairs frames the scheme as part of its digital transformation agenda. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr set out the 80-point threshold and the absence of any appeal.

Being on the list is what changes your hiring, not any single application. A months-long unknown becomes a process you can put a date on, which is the difference between making an offer to a specialist abroad and losing them to a company that can.

Seventy-one accredited employers is a small number in an economy where 84% of businesses say the skills are not here. Three practical points. You have four days, the pathway choice is one-shot with no appeal, and accreditation still does not guarantee an individual visa. Worth holding alongside the Employment Services Amendment Bill, which would add labour market testing and skills transfer plans to every foreign hire.

Faster on one side of Home Affairs, heavier on the other side of Employment and Labour.

You might also like our piece on why developer career frameworks matter when talent has global options, the SA digital ID prototype timeline, and what the driving licence card validity extension says about Home Affairs delivery.

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