Hiring a foreign national: get the paperwork right first.
A simple employer checklist. It does not verify a visa or replace advice from an immigration professional.
Five practical checks before day one
Keep the person’s work documents and your employment records in one secure place.
- See the work authorisationAsk the prospective employee to produce the applicable valid work authorisation before employment starts.
- Put the job in writingUse a written offer and contract that record the role, pay, start date and any lawful condition linked to work authorisation.
- Record the expiry dateKeep a secure copy of the document and record its expiry date. Limit access to people who genuinely need it.
- Prepare the normal staff filePrepare a role description and the ordinary onboarding records you would keep for any employee.
- Apply the same workplace standardsForeign nationals employed in South Africa are entitled to the same labour law standards as other employees.
Why this duty sits on the employer
The Immigration Act puts the obligation on you, not on the person you are hiring. An employer must make a reasonable effort to satisfy themselves that anyone they employ is entitled to work in South Africa, and employing someone who is not is an offence by the employer. “They showed me a document” is a weak position if you never looked at whether it was current, genuine, or allowed the work you hired them for.
Two practical points follow. First, the expiry date is your problem: a permit that lapses while someone is working for you changes your position the day it expires, and renewals are not quick, so diarise it well ahead. Second, work authorisation is not one thing. Different visas permit different work, and some are tied to a named employer or occupation, which means a perfectly valid document can still not cover the job you are offering.
Keep a dated note of what you checked and when, alongside the contract. Reasonable effort is something you need to be able to show later, and a file that proves you looked is worth more than a memory that you did.
Separately, and regardless of status: a foreign national you employ has the same rights under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act as any other employee. Contract, payslips, notice, and access to the CCMA. Immigration status does not shrink those obligations.
What ProperSA does not do
We do not check an ID number against government systems, confirm visa validity, give immigration advice or guarantee a person’s right to work. Do not rely on a scan, a checklist or a template as proof that status has been verified. Where there is uncertainty, use the Department of Home Affairs and a qualified immigration professional.
Get the onboarding file organised
The Foreign Worker Onboarding Pack includes a conditional offer letter, employment contract, document checklist, expiry tracker and referral checklist. It is a record-keeping and document-preparation service, not a visa-verification service.
Start the onboarding packThe contract is where the work authorisation condition goes
A foreign national you employ has the same rights under the labour law as anyone else, so the contract has to be right. We draft one that records the role, pay and any lawful condition tied to work authorisation, R490.
Draft the contract