Students who are non-South African citizens and therefore do not have a SA ID or SA passport are considered “foreign” in terms of our law although the term we use to refer to them is normally “international students”. Please note that if the foreign student has been awarded permanent residence, they are considered South African for study purposes.

Study permits are needed by all non-South African students intending to study in South Africa - whether at a primary, secondary or tertiary educational institution. A South African educational institution cannot register an international student for a full qualification until a valid study permit has been produced in the name of the institution concerned (in our case that is The IIE)

A study permit is required to study the following full qualifications:

• Certificate (1 year)
• Higher Certificate (1 year)
• Advanced Certificate (1 year)
• Diploma (2 or 3 years)
• Advanced Diploma (1 year)
• Degree (3 years)
• Honours degree (1 year)
• If we start giving out SLP study permit application letters, it will open up a system
  that may lead to individuals abusing the temporary permit system- a cheap and easy way for those who are not really in the country for study purposes to obtain a permit to stay

In order to study a Short LPsLearning Programme (SLP), which is designed to meet a specific skill or learning objective and is not a full qualification, any of the 13 permits that allow the person to be legally in the country for that period qualifyare acceptable, namely:

• Visitors permit
• Study permit
• Treaty permit
• Business permit
• Crew permit
• Medical Treatment permit
• Relatives permit
• Work permit
• Retired Person permit
• Corporate permit
• Exchange permit
• Asylum (refugee) permit
• Cross Border permit

Please note that if an international student who wants to study an SLP does not have an existing permit that allows them to be in the country legally for the period of the SLP, they may not be enrolled to study the SLP

Nationality of Student	Type of qualification/ school leaving certificate held	Documents needed in order to study in SA
		full qualifications (>3months)	SLP (Part-time-basis)	SLP Combos (Full-time basis AND <3 months)
Non-South African	Non-South African Qualification	Study permit NON-DEGREE: SAQA certificate of evaluation/ DEGREE: HESA exemption certificate	any of the visas that allow the person to be legally in the country for that period qualify	any of the visas that allow the person to be legally in the country for that period qualify. NOTE:In order for these candidates to study for longer than 3months, they would need to go to the Department Of  Home Affairs and extend the term of the temporary residence permit with which they were first admitted. This is the onus of the candidate and The IIE will not provide a letter for the reasons stated above.
Non-South African	South African Qualification	Study permit	any of the visas that allow the person to be legally in the country for that period qualify	any of the visas that allow the person to be legally in the country for that period qualify. NOTE:In order for these candidates to study for longer than 3months, they would need to go to the Department Of  Home Affairs and extend the term of of the temporary residence with which they were admitted in the first place. This is the onus of the candidate and the IIE will not provide study permit letters for the reasons stated above.
South African	South African Qualification	NON-DEGREE: SAQA certificate of evaluation/ DEGREE: HESA exemption certificate	/	/

• http://www.home-affairs.gov.za or
• Contact the nearest South African office in their country of origin

Application is made at the nearest South African office in the country of origin of the passport holder. A student needs to apply for the study permit before departing for South Africa. Study permits take up to 6 weeks to be processed, but may take longer. It is best to apply as early as possible.

 

• Permanent Residence Permits -the holder of this permit is treated as a South African.
• Study Permit (for all full qualifications longer than 3 months)
  • This is a document giving an international student permission to study at a South African educational institution.
  • The study permit needs to indicate the specific institution (The IIE).
  • A study permit shall not be valid for longer than the minimum duration of the programme that the student is registering for.
  • Should a study permit expire and the student needs additional years to complete the qualification, the student needs to renew the study permit. The study permit application letter provided to a student is such a case should only be for one additional year.
  • A student can do a maximum of 20 hours a week part-time work on a study permit.
• Asylum seekers permit - the holder of such a permit may study until his or her asylum status is decided;
• Asylum permit- refugee status - this person is treated as a South African for the period of validity of the permit;
• Diplomatic passport with a letter from Department of International Rel ations and Cooperation (Former Department of Foreign Affairs) authorising study - with this letter the person may study as if they were South African.

If a candidate holding a foreign qualification applies for admission to an IIE qualification, regardless of whether the candidate is a South African citizen or not, they are required to have the qualification evaluated by either the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) or the Matriculation Board of Higher Education South Africa (HESA), as detailed in the following table:

Nationality of Student	Type of qualification/ school leaving certificate held	Documents needed in order to study:
		Certificate, Higher certificate Diploma etc.	Bachelors Degree	Post-graduate qualification
Non-South African or South African	Non-South African Qualification	SAQA certificate of evaluation	If school leaving certificate is used for admission: HESA exemption certificate; If post-school qualification is used for admission: SAQA certificate of evaluation	SAQA certificate of evaluation

Admission Requirements
IIE non-degree Programmes/IMM/ ICHM
A student must approach SAOA to receive a SAOA evaluation certificate. This certificate must indicate that the student has a qualification equivalent (NQF lever
4) to the National Senior Certificate.

UNISA only/ or IIE degree programmes
The student must approach the Matriculation Board which is part of HESA to get an exemption certificate indicating that the foreign qualification the student has is sufficient to gain entry to a South African degree programme.

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) (http://www.saqa.org.za) has the following to say about its evaluation of foreign qualifications:

"The evaluation of foreign qualifications follows international practice as agreed in conventions in various regions of the world. The criteria are outlined in the SAQA document: Criteria and Guidelines for the Evaluation of Foreign Qualifications.

Evaluations aim to determine the "local currency" of foreign qualifications. The evaluation procedure is based mainly on the structural analysis of foreign education systems and compares foreign qualifications to South African qualifications.

SAQA evaluations offer general placement recommendations referring to the levels of the National Qualifications Framework. "

With this in mind, students with international qualifications who wish to study the following types of IIE qualifications should apply to SAOA for a certificate of evaluation:

• Further Education and Training Certificate;
• Certificate;
• Higher Certificate;
• Advanced Certificate;
• Diploma;
• Advanced Diploma;
• Post-graduate qualifications.

SAOA has published 'Annexure E: Information leaflet advising on the upgrading of Ordinary Level and related subjects' (see on next page) as a guide on how they evaluate the UK's Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) certificates as equivalent to either Grade 11/ NQF3 or Grade 12/ NQF4 (without exemption).

The Matriculation Board forms an integral part of Higher Education South Africa (HESA}, which is constituted by twenty-three public universities. The Board regulates admission to first degree studies at eleven of these public universities, as well as six comprehensive universities.

Consequently, The liE relies on certificates of exemption from HESA and the Matriculation Board to determine admission into first degree studies in the same way as the public universities do, in order to maintain acceptable standards that are not below those of the public institutions.

Students with international qualifications who wish to study a degree should apply to HESA for an exemption certificate.


The HESA Enrolment Services website (http://he-enrol.ac.za) has a link to the exemption requirements per country (http://he-enrol.ac.za/qualification-country). Candidates may also complete an online application (http://he-enrol.ac.za/online-application) or download the application form below.

Of particular interest is the 'Foreign Qualifications' section (http://www.hesaenrol. ac.z.a/mb/forpres.htm), which provides a list of countries where qualifications were completed. For each of the listed countries, a description of the foreign qualification is provided, along with the exemption that the holder of such qualification is eligible for in South Africa, namely: