Life Partner Visa information- From the horses mouth!

I have finally submitted my life partner visa today, and I wanted to share with you all some VITAL information that would have made my process so much easier if I had known!

I am a British citizen and I moved here two months ago to be with my South African partner.
The whole visa application process was quite intimidating when we first started looking into it, and we kept finding such conflicting advice online, and even the home affairs office didnt want to help us until we had the right documentation.

We were working towards a very tight budget, and didn't have the funds to pay for a representative to help us, and I am so thankful now that we didn't, as once you have the CORRECT information, it is so easy to do yourself. (And will save you a massive expense)

Here are the most valid points I found:

Home affairs will not be helpful, you need to be prepared with all the correct documentation before you arrive to fill in the final form.

You must both be there at the home office.

The home office worker will need to ceritfy the documents, which means that you must make a copy of everything, and take the originals with you. They will then certify the documents, and take the copy instead of the orignal. The only orignal they will keep is the police clearance.

You must apply 30 days BEFORE your visitor permit expires.

Make sure any letters from friends and family have their ID number on, are signed, and you have a copy of their SA id attached.

Here is a comprensive list of the things you will need:

A copy of the South African citizens Id and passport.

A copy of your passport.

A copy of your passport page with the stamp in it that shows when you arrived in South Africa.

A medical report from your doctor (do this before you leave your home country otherwise it will be a nightmare and expensive to do here)-

http://www.southafrica-newyork.net/cons … edical.pdf
(You need to print this off and take it with you to the doctor.)

A radiological report (Also do before you leave. Doctors in the UK will not do this free of charge for immigration purposes, so I used a a private hospital, which cost 110 pounds, but its done within an hour.) You will get a certificate and an x-ray, you will only need to submit the certificate. You need to print the form and take it with you.

A letter from your South African partner stating that he/she will support you financially and emotionally until you gain temporary residence.

A letter from a family member stating how long you have both been in a relationship, and that it is a permenant relationship.- You will need a copy of their ID

A letter from a friend (same as above)- You will need a copy of their ID.

A letter from yourself stating you are in a permenant reltionship with your partner.

A letter from your partner stating the above.

A police clearance. (Do this before you leave, it is very easy, go online, and you can fast track it for 77 pounds. Mine was with me within 2 working days)

Proof of co-habitation, which can be a lease (you can speak with the landlord of the propertuy that the citizen lives in, and they will probably do you a mock lease quite quickly)

Proof of shared finances, the easiest being a letter from the bank stating that you share a bank account, or a bank stament showing funds transfered from one account to another.

An affidavit. This is a legal document that states you are in a permenant relationship. These dont seem to be available online, Some people choose to go to a lawyer, and they will write you one (For a fee), luckily we had a family friend who was a lawyer who we repaid with a bottle of wine, so ask around.

Once you have all these documents, you need to go to the home affairs office and get the final forms to fill in, which they will give you.

Good luck, and please email if I can help any further.