# How many times can I apply for a critical skills visa extension



## Bola24 (Mar 31, 2016)

Hello Forum,

I applied in February for an extension on my originally issued 12 months critical skills visa, with the knowledge that you get a 3-5 years extension.

I was issued an extension, but only for the duration of my present contract which ends 30th June 2016.

My original visa expires on the 7th July 2016. This means duration of my visa got scaled back by a week after applying for extension.Which was really strange to me.

Now I have gotten a new contract and want to reapply, but I am not sure if I can apply for another extension, or have to go through the renewal route. Do not want this application denied on silly technicalities, as It seems H/A do not want to issue critical skills anymore.

Please i will appreciate all informative comments.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

Bola24 said:


> Hello Forum,
> 
> I applied in February for an extension on my originally issued 12 months critical skills visa, with the knowledge that you get a 3-5 years extension.
> 
> ...


As I responded on another thread already, yes, this is normal and in the Immigration Act.


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## Bola24 (Mar 31, 2016)

LegalMan said:


> As I responded on another thread already, yes, this is normal and in the Immigration Act.


Hello Legal man, can I apply for another extension? or will have to apply for renewal with longer requirements?


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

You can apply any number of times for anything. You want to know if you will be successful. Yes, you can, it is not an extension, it will be a new visa.

By the way, you cannot have two applications pending concurrently.


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## Bola24 (Mar 31, 2016)

LegalMan said:


> You can apply any number of times for anything. You want to know if you will be successful. Yes, you can, it is not an extension, it will be a new visa.
> 
> By the way, you cannot have two applications pending concurrently.


Thank you for your reply. It wont be concurrent, as the visa has being issued like I stated earlier, planning to reapply with my new contract, just wanted to be sure I can go with the shorter list, excluding medicals etc.


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## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

I wouldn't recommend renewing or extending with the short list of documents. That short list is BS. We got rejected for not having documents though they weren't on the short list. So do it at your own peril.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

*Immigration list of documents*



Klipspringer said:


> I wouldn't recommend renewing or extending with the short list of documents. That short list is BS. We got rejected for not having documents though they weren't on the short list. So do it at your own peril.


This is EXACTLY why those lists are such a misleading thing. EVERY SINGLE application is different and has a different type of person, age, purpose in SA, etc. It's a minefield.


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## CBM (Apr 20, 2016)

Is it possible to apply for a renewal of the CSV without a job offer? My initial CSV valid for 12 months is about to expire but I still haven't found a job.

Can someone assist?


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

CBM said:


> Is it possible to apply for a renewal of the CSV without a job offer? My initial CSV valid for 12 months is about to expire but I still haven't found a job.
> 
> Can someone assist?


Unfortunately the game is this: You get a Critical Skills Work Visa and have 12 months to find a job, if you don't, it probably means your skills (or you) were not so critical after all. I haven't seen anything in the law prohibiting you from applying and receiving an extension, but I doubt it would be successful and have this information on good authority.

You will also probably be better off applying anew in your home country.


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