On 20 July 2026, the Department of Home Affairs published Government Notice No. 7715 in Government Gazette No. 55036, formally inviting corporate employers to submit expressions of interest in Phase II of the Trusted Employer Scheme (TES). The notice, signed by Dr L.A. Schreiber, MP, Minister of Home Affairs, on 11 July 2026, marks a significant expansion of a mechanism that has, since its first phase, quietly reshaped how corporate immigration is processed in South Africa.
From Pilot to Platform
The first phase of TES was, by the Department’s own account, a success. Phase II builds on that foundation, but it is not simply more of the same. Where Phase I was aimed at a narrower band of qualifying employers, Phase II widens the scheme to include infrastructure projects and companies that maintain or manage a Global Head Office or Regional Head Office in South Africa. For the first time, the scheme also creates a dedicated pathway for Synthetic Financial Centres (SFCs), a category that did not previously exist in South African immigration policy at all.
The purpose of TES remains consistent with its original design: to allow the Department to more efficiently process visa applications for senior executives, technical personnel, corporate employees and investors, on the strength of a pre-vetted, trusted relationship with the employer. The notice is explicit that TES is not intended for unskilled or low-wage labour. Employers who qualify benefit from priority processing, reduced documentary requirements, and recognition of their TES status both for local applications and at South African High Commissions abroad. Existing Corporate Account Clients are specifically encouraged to apply.
Three Pathways, One Minimum Threshold
Phase II introduces three distinct scorecards, each tailored to a different category of applicant, but all sharing a common qualifying threshold of 80 out of 100 points. Applicants must select only one pathway; the notice warns pointedly that using more than one will result in disqualification.
Scorecard 1: South African Based Operations. This is the pathway most existing corporate clients will recognise. It scores companies on proven investment or pledges since 2018 (30 points, scaled by whether the investment falls between R100 million and R200 million, or exceeds R200 million), employment of South African citizens or permanent residents (25 points, requiring at least 100 employees with 60 percent SAC or PRP status), operation in a DTIC-identified priority sector (25 points, with energy and Strategic Integrated Projects sectors scoring higher than general manufacturing or services), and evidence of an active skills transfer, bursary or graduate development programme (20 points).
Scorecard 2: Regional or Global Head Office Presence. This pathway is aimed squarely at multinationals using, or intending to establish, South Africa as a regional base. Financial contribution carries by far the greatest weight here, 50 of the 100 points, requiring either more than R500 million in cumulative Income Tax and PAYE contributions to SARS over the last two tax years, or, for offices not yet established, an independently verified factual findings report confirming a budgeted contribution of the same magnitude. Local presence (15 points), employment of at least 60 percent South African citizens or permanent residents (20 points), and operation in a priority economic sector (15 points) complete the scorecard.
Scorecard 3: Synthetic Financial Centres. This is the genuinely new addition, and the one likely to attract the most attention from international financial institutions considering a South African footprint. The scorecard is built around SARB Exchange Control Authorisation under the extended Domestic Treasury Management Company framework of the Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers (40 points), recognised regulatory standing either domestically or internationally (20 points), a commitment letter from a recognised market infrastructure body such as STRATE, the JSE, a registered clearing house or an authorised dealer bank (20 points), SFC Visa Facilitation Office certification (15 points), and a skills transfer commitment covering a minimum of five South African hires (5 points). Notably, an applicant that satisfies the DTMC authorisation, international licensing and market infrastructure commitment criteria alone qualifies without needing to score on the remaining two factors, since those three criteria together total 80 points.
The DTMC authorisation criterion carries a built-in compliance mechanism worth flagging to clients: approval in principle from SARB’s Financial Surveillance Department is sufficient to qualify for a 24 month window, provided the entity is simultaneously registered or applying for authorisation with the FSCA. This solves what the notice itself frames as a catch-22, institutions previously could not access fast-track visas to recruit the specialists needed to complete their own regulatory authorisation. If full DTMC authorisation is not achieved within the 24 months, TES status lapses automatically, unless FinSurv confirms in writing that the delay is attributable to processing timelines on its end rather than any failure by the applicant.
The Department has been careful to frame Scorecard 3 as additive rather than substitutive. Established financial institutions that already meet Scorecard 2’s thresholds are expected to continue using that pathway; Scorecard 3 exists for a specific category of new market entrant that Scorecard 2 structurally excludes, principally boutique, specialist SFC managing institutions where headcount will never reach Scorecard 2’s employment thresholds but where the economic value per hire, a senior portfolio manager or derivatives trader trained locally, is disproportionately high.
Process and Timelines
Corporate employers wishing to apply must submit their expression of interest through the dedicated TES link on the DHA website (www.dha.gov.za), supported by the documentation specified for whichever scorecard is selected. Applications will be reviewed by an interdepartmental committee drawing on technical officials from Home Affairs, the Department of Employment and Labour, and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition; Scorecard 3 applications will additionally include representation from the relevant financial sector regulator in place of the standard Employment and Labour seat.
The window for expressions of interest opened on 20 July 2026 and closes on 4 September 2026. The Department has committed to issuing outcomes within 30 working days of the closing date, which points to a decision window in early to mid October 2026. Successful applicants will be required to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department, and the notice is unambiguous that the decision of the TES Inter-Departmental Committee is final, with the Department reserving the right to grant or refuse TES status to any company at its discretion.
What This Means for Employers
For clients already inside the TES ecosystem, Phase II is largely a matter of confirming continued eligibility and, where relevant, considering whether Scorecard 2’s regional head office pathway now offers a better fit than Scorecard 1. For clients in the financial services space, particularly those with an existing DTMC application in progress or under consideration, Scorecard 3 deserves close attention: the 24 month conditional window is generous, but the automatic lapsing provision means TES status obtained on this basis is not a permanent fixture without follow-through on the underlying regulatory authorisation.
More broadly, Phase II signals that the Department intends to use TES as a lever in a wider positioning strategy, tying immigration facilitation directly to investment, employment and skills transfer outcomes that support South Africa’s ambition to be regarded as the continent’s premier investment destination. Employers considering an application should begin assembling supporting documentation now; a closing date of 4 September gives a limited but workable runway.