# Occupational Therapist travelling from Australia to SA



## JRudd (Oct 14, 2013)

Hi,

I have secured a secondment with my company and will be travelling to Pretoria in the new year. I'm very excited about this and can't wait to arrive! My girlfriend is not so excited for the reasons I'll explain below.

She is a trained and registered Paediatric Occupational Therapist here in Australia and has completed a Maste’s degree. She has two years of private practice experience with a further 3-4 years of Behavioural Therapy experience prior to this. In my opinion, an asset to any company, however I may be biased on this issue!

She has been researching work permits in South Africa and seems to be hung up on placement requirements, namely that to work there as an expat Occupational Therapist she would be at the mercy of the Health Department in terms of work opportunities, ie they say not to secure a private job yourself as you will be placed in a public or rural hospital.

So the questions are as follows:

Is there a way for her to secure work in Pretoria so we can live together? If so, is there some way for her to work in a private practice?

Is there a benefit in using an Immigration Lawyer/Practitioner? If so, does anyone have a recommendation?

What are the application timeframes? If she applied now would it be possible for her application to be processed before February?

Advice from anyone with experience in this type of application would be greatly appreciated!
Jarrod


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

Naturally, she can work anywhere that will take her. The main document required for any work permit is a signed contract (preferably without an end date).

The work permit could be done by February, best would be to apply outside of South Africa.

Until she gets a signed work contract, she can always accompany you as a spouse.


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## JRudd (Oct 14, 2013)

Thank you for your response. It is helpful in answering some questions but does generate more, as all good answers do.

It is our understanding that if she were to work in South Africa as an Occupational Therapist she would need to apply under the Department of Health's Foreign Workforce Management Programme. Is this not applicable if she has an offer with a private practice? 

Also, the registration process documents refer to applying for work in the public service at the end of the process. The general feel from the documents is that she would need to work in public health upon registration. This is not a problem, providing she can live with me in Pretoria.

Is this correct or is there something we are missing? Is she able to work in private practice without registering as an OT?

Jarrod


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## Ladyinfrance (Aug 1, 2011)

Hi Jarrod, go to the website of the Health Professions Council of South Africa. (HPCSA). You should find all the information needed for your wife to work in SA. 
Hope this helps.


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## JRudd (Oct 14, 2013)

Thanks for that.

We have been looking into this and it seems the process is clear enough. Unfortunately, the exam is in March and she wants to start working in January.


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