# Applying for Critical Skills Visa as an Engineer



## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

Hi there

My partner handed in his application for the critical skills visa at the SA embassy in his home country (Italy) about a week ago, but I am worried about whether it will be accepted or not as we've had some misunderstandings about the registration with ECSA and what exactly we need from them.
Our agency told us that all we needed to do was start the registration process with ECSA, that the registration would not need to be finished for the visa requirements. However, when we asked ECSA for acknowledgement of our application to register, they sent us a letter acknowledging only that he is busy having his skills and qualifications evaluated. However, it is not possible to apply for the real registration until this qualifications evaluation is completed I think, but this is taking forever ( they received my partner's application one month ago and will need at least another month, or more, just for the evaluation!). 
In the meantime the embassy asked him for a letter from ECSA verifying his skills and qualifications, but we sent them the directive 22 which states this is not needed if we can show we started the registration with them. But I don't know if they will accept only this acknowledgement from ECSA that he is having his skills evaluated (which is part of the registration process, but they don't know it as the letter from ECSA does not acknowledge this). And the evaluation might not be finished soon enough so that we might send the results thereof to the embassy for the visa application. 
I am really feeling a bit in despair because we followed the directive from our agency rob the tee with all our documents being perfect, but all our immense effort to get everything just right might still have been for nothing. Not that the agency will take any responsibility for it, I'm sure. We stand to lose not only a plane ticket but hours and hours and hours of our time collecting all of the required documents, which will all have to be redone should we have to reapply as their validity is only 6 months, and I don't even know if we can get the first ones we submitted back from the embassy). Also, you have to pay lots of money in Italy for every little document you want certified.
Could his application be accepted as is? I want to put my hope on this piece of info I found on an emigration agency's website, but I don't know if the info is accurate:
" Due to the practical difficulties of registering with and obtaining such letters from most professional bodies, the Department of Home Affairs currently allows for some leeway and grants a 12-month window for providing these documents". 
If this is true we are home free, no? Can anyone with experience of this please weigh in? The uncertainty is killing me. Is there anything we can still do to help the matter?
Please help!


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## fedup_ (Jun 29, 2015)

*follow up*

HI KLIP,

Were you finally successful...........

Did they accept the Directive 22 ?
How long did ECSA take to approve ?

I am in the same boat as you described, si frustrating.

Do let me know! THnX


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## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

Hi fedup

To our surprise the embassy granted him the visa (for 1 year) only 4 days before his flight back to SA. That after they told us the day before he wouldn't be getting the visa. So he's been in SA for 2 months looking for work, but believe it or not ECSA has still not finished his educational evaluation. They told us on the phone it would be ready in July, but who knows? He applied for the evaluation in January already! If he doesn't pass this evaluation he won't be able to register as an engineer with ECSA, which in turn means he won't be able to renew his critical skills visa after the first year. So the rollercoaster ride never ends. Are you still outside of the country?


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