Frequently Asked Questions

Lotoks is a global mobility consultancy. We help individuals apply for visa sponsorship, education scholarships, job placements abroad, and permanent residence programmes. We do not issue visas ourselves — final approval is always granted by the relevant embassy, consulate, university, or immigration authority. Our role is to assess your profile, match you to verified opportunities, prepare your documentation, and guide you through the application process.

Most of our services are open to adults (typically 18+) holding a valid passport from any country. Specific eligibility depends on the programme — for example, study visas require an acceptance letter from a host university, while work sponsorship requires a job offer or skills match with an employer. The fastest way to check your fit is our free online eligibility assessment, which takes about two minutes.

You can browse our services, read FAQ answers, and complete the eligibility check without an account. To submit an application or upload supporting documents, you will need to register a free account. Account creation takes under a minute and lets you save your progress, message our consultants, and track your application status.

Lotoks is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and we work with applicants from 150+ countries. We have partner institutions and verified sponsors in Europe, the UK, Canada, the Gulf region, and selected parts of Asia and Africa. If you are unsure whether we operate in your destination country, please contact us with your specific case.

We assist with work visa sponsorship, study visa sponsorship, family reunification visas, and certain humanitarian or skilled-migrant pathways. We do not assist with tourist visas, asylum claims, or irregular immigration routes. During your eligibility check we will identify which visa class matches your profile and intended destination.

Timelines vary significantly by destination country, visa subclass, and applicant profile. As a rough guide: most work visa sponsorships take 2 to 6 months from initial match to visa grant; study visa applications generally take 6 to 12 weeks once a university acceptance letter is in hand; permanent residence pathways can take 12 to 24 months. We will give you a personalised timeline estimate after reviewing your profile.

No, and any consultancy that offers a visa guarantee is misleading you. Visa decisions are made by sovereign governments and their consulates. What we do guarantee is that your application will be complete, accurate, well-presented, and submitted with proper supporting documentation — which materially improves your chances. We will not submit an application we believe is unlikely to succeed.

We work with both fully funded scholarships (covering tuition, accommodation, and a living stipend) and partial scholarships (covering a portion of tuition or providing fee waivers). Available funding depends on the scholarship programme, the host institution, and your academic profile. We will only recommend scholarships you are competitively eligible for.

Our strongest networks are with universities in Poland, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. We support fields including information technology, engineering, business, healthcare, and the sciences. We do not currently place students in medical schools (MBBS/MD programmes) due to the highly variable admission requirements across jurisdictions.

Yes — many of our clients come to us after securing their own university admission but need help with the visa application, document preparation, accommodation arrangements, and pre-departure logistics. Our post-admission support packages are designed exactly for this situation.

Our consultancy fees are transparent and disclosed in writing before any work begins. In many cases, placement fees are paid by the hiring employer, not the candidate. We comply with the recruitment fee regulations of the destination country (including the APSO Code of Ethics in South Africa) and the International Labour Organization fair-recruitment principles. We will never ask you to pay a fee into a personal account.

We focus on sectors with verified employer demand and legitimate sponsorship pathways: commercial truck driving (Class 1 / HGV), healthcare and caregiving (nursing, support workers), skilled trades (welding, electrical, plumbing), IT and technology, and hospitality. We do not place candidates for undeclared cash work, domestic roles without contract, or any role that requires the candidate to pay for the job.

Warning signs of a fake job offer include: requests for upfront payment, vague employer details, free webmail contact addresses (gmail / yahoo) for official correspondence, salary promises far above market rate, urgent pressure to act, and offers without a formal interview process. A legitimate offer will include a written contract, a verifiable employer registration number, and a clear sponsorship pathway. When in doubt, contact us for a second opinion before paying any fee.

A work visa (or temporary residence permit) allows you to live and work in a country for a defined period, usually tied to a specific employer or programme. Permanent residence is a long-term immigration status that does not require an ongoing employer sponsorship, although it often comes with conditions (such as continuing to work in a given sector or residing in the country for a minimum number of days per year). Citizenship is a further step beyond permanent residence, usually requiring several years of lawful residence plus language and civic tests.

Permanent residence processing times vary by programme and country. Lithuania temporary residence permits typically take 3 to 6 months. UK Indefinite Leave to Remain applications usually take 6 months once eligibility is established. Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry generally takes 6 to 8 months from profile submission. We will provide a country-specific timeline during your consultation.

Our fees depend on the service package and destination country. We typically operate on a milestone basis: an initial consultation fee, a documentation-preparation fee once we agree to proceed, and a final submission fee. All fees are agreed in writing before any work begins. We provide a full refund for any unused portion if your application is cancelled before submission, in line with our published Refund Policy.

Lotoks is fully compliant with the South African Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable. We use encrypted transport (HTTPS), hashed passwords, rate-limited login attempts, and session-regeneration security on every authenticated page. Your documents are stored encrypted and are never shared with third parties without your written consent. See our Privacy Policy for the full details.

After submission, your application enters our internal review queue. A dedicated case manager is assigned and will contact you within 2 business days to confirm receipt, request any missing items, and outline next steps. You can track your application status from your account dashboard at any time, and you will receive email or in-app notifications whenever your status changes.