Until the Global Financial Crash in 2007 South Africa offered Work Permits to qualified teachers of scarce subjects. In 2018 these became Work Visas, and generally teachers who obtained one of these Permits before 2007 have been able to continue to teach in South Africa. At present all Work Visas are valid until December 2025, and there has not been an announcement about whether the Work Visas will be renewed thereafter.

In the period after 2010 a few Critical Skills Visas have been offered to teachers of scarce subjects such as Physical Science and IT, but new Work Visas for teachers have been the exception rather than the rule.

Until 2020 teachers who had been working in South Africa for ten years could obtain Permanent Residence. But at present Home Affairs is not issuing Permanent Residence Certificates unless they are forced to do so by the Courts.

Foreign citizens who have Asylum or Refugee permits can be required to leave the country at 24 hours notice. This sort of uncertainty puts the management of schools in an impossible situation, and Placements in Education is unable to assist Asylum and Refugee permit holders to find teaching jobs.

The Gauteng Education Department will not permit foreign teachers to work in their schools. The KZN, Northern Cape and Limpopo Education Departments do still permit foreign citizens to work in their schools, but generally the schools are in rural areas, the ones in the larger towns do not employ foreign teachers.

The continued employment of foreign teachers who are not permanent residents of South Africa is insecure. Placements in Education reluctantly advises schools to prefer Permanent Residents to Visa holders.