# Critical Skills TRP vs. Critical Skills PR



## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

What is the difference between the Critical Skills temporary residence visa and the Critical Skills permanent residence permit?

My partner has been in SA for 2 months on a 1 year CSV to look for work, which he has now obtained (permanent position). Now he only needs to complete his ECSA registration (something which I still have not been able to figure out - does he really need the registration or only the educational evaluation confirming his skills? He is not working for the government) before he can renew his visa.

I saw on this forum that the next step after obtaining work on the 1 year visa is to apply for a renewal of the visa at VFS. But I have also been reading that some people have applied for a Critical Skills permanent residency permit. So which should he apply for? He has more than 5 years work experience in Europe that he can prove by means of employer reference letters. But permanent residency takes longer to obtain than temporary residency? Can he apply for both at the same time? Is there a difference in the documents that he will need to submit?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.


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## joe117 (Sep 10, 2012)

hi there,

Your partner needs to be both registered and also have the letter confirming his skills.However some people have received a CSV without proof of registration.So at times it just depends on who handles your application once it is submitted to Home Affairs.

Your partner will need to apply for a 5 year CSV renewal(TRP). However since he now has permanent employment, he can immediately apply for PR as well. He can submit the two applications together, or he can submit the PR application soon after the TRP renewal submission.PR takes longer to be granted by Home Affairs(at least 8 months), therefore he definitely needs to be on a valid TRP whilst waiting for his PR.


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## Klipspringer (Feb 21, 2015)

Thank you, Joe. I think we will do both applications simultaneously then.

The reason why I keep on asking about the council registration is because everyone just says yes, you need to have the registration. But the immigration act wording says you only need it if required by law, but I haven't found any evidence that ECSA registration is a legal requirement for engineers to work in this country. In fact, according to Engineering News the majority of engineers are not registered with ECSA because their process is so laborious, and people can't see the point of going through it when it is not even needed unless you want to work for the government. On ECSA's website it says that compulsory registration under Act 46 of 2000 (of the Engineering Profession Act) is still being developed.

It's not that we have some aversion to registering with ECSA, but that they have been dragging their feet for months with his application (since January this year, with no end in sight). I'm afraid he won't get the council registration in time for when his visa renewal is due, which is what made me question whether he even needs it, as ECSA says registration with them is to show competence and accountability, but it is not (yet) compulsory, with the exception of certain tasks that need to be performed only by registered professionals. 

How can I find out for sure whether ECSA registration is a legal requirement for the purposes of the CSV? And if it isn't, but maybe VFS or DHA officials assume it is, will they reject his application? Is there something we can do to prevent that other than having the registration? Like including proof that registration is not a legal requirement?

I really hope that someone can shed some light on this "legal requirement" business as I'm sure a lot of people have wondered about this. We also have a friend who has the CSV for architecture, and she is convinced she doesn't need SACAP registration, but who knows?


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