Working and Marriage and Visa's (Visitors visa into a Spousal Visa)

raidensurfer wrote:

Hello,


I would like to know if anyone can help me, but I have been offered a job in South Africa and I'm meant to start in late August. As far as I can tell I can work on a 3 month Visa but then I shall have to leave the country and be granted a further 3 months.

Here is the complex part, I am actually getting married whilst I am over there to my fiancee so shortly after i'll be applying for a Spousal visa which will enable me to stay and work after the 3 month visa...

Now my question is, can I work on my 3 month visa and whilst working on that apply for my spousal visa and once that's granted continue working WITHOUT leaving the country?

And if my 3 month visa runs out, can I work still under the fact my spousal visa is in progress?

Any light that can be shed would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris

Good Morning

You will NOT be allowed to legally work while you are on a Tourist Visa. If you wish to conduct some work, you may obtain a Tourist Visa with Work Endorsement (also referred to as a Business Visa). This visa will allow you to conduct some work, but you will not be able to open a resident bank account, and so no ZAR can be deposited into it. Foreign currency can be deposited and ZAR withdrawn, but no ZAR can be deposited.

When you come to South Africa, you would receive a 90 day visa (depenent on your nationality). This visa can be extended by application to the Department of Home Affairs by a further 90 days.

Thereafter you cannot extend it again.

At the moment you would still be able to apply for the Spousal Permit in South Africa while on the Toursit visa, but this will change once the new Immigration Amendment Act comes into effect.

Thanks JoachimS


Your help is greatly appreciated. I am due to get married in August so that will be no problem. I can obtain a business working visa then for 3 months, BUT whilst.. I am on that I can further apply for the spousal permit as soon as we are legally married.

Will this not be a conflict in visa's as I know sometimes you can't apply for another visa whilst living on one already?

Also can I extend working for another 3 months if need be or is that impossible to do so and its only the tourist visa that can be further extended?

So the main highlights are:

- No payment can be made in ZAR whilst I am working in SA
- Spousal Permits can be applied for whilst the law is the same
- No time frame of marriage is required
- Proof of Cohabitation is not needed as we are married


Further questons,

are business permit visa's expensive?
How long do Spousal Visa's take in SA?
Would be advised to get all the other admin stuff done there instead of the UK, I have heard the UK London are unfamiliar with these type of visa's and can be low to action anything...


Again, your help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris

raidensurfer wrote:

Thanks JoachimS


Your help is greatly appreciated. I am due to get married in August so that will be no problem. I can obtain a business working visa then for 3 months, BUT whilst.. I am on that I can further apply for the spousal permit as soon as we are legally married.

Will this not be a conflict in visa's as I know sometimes you can't apply for another visa whilst living on one already?

Also can I extend working for another 3 months if need be or is that impossible to do so and its only the tourist visa that can be further extended?

So the main highlights are:

- No payment can be made in ZAR whilst I am working in SA
- Spousal Permits can be applied for whilst the law is the same
- No time frame of marriage is required
- Proof of Cohabitation is not needed as we are married


Further questons,

are business permit visa's expensive?
How long do Spousal Visa's take in SA?
Would be advised to get all the other admin stuff done there instead of the UK, I have heard the UK London are unfamiliar with these type of visa's and can be low to action anything...


Again, your help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Chris

At the moment, you can apply for the Spousal Permit while being on the Business Visa, yes. Only once the new law comes into effect will this no longer be possible, and you would need to apply for the Spousal Permit at the SA High Commission in London.

Changing from one permit to another permit is not a problem in South Africa (as long as the initial visa is not a Tourist Vise - refer to above).

The Business Visa can be extended just as the tourist visa by a further 90 days.

To confirm/clarify your points:

- Only while you are on a Business/Tourist Visa can you not be paid ZAR. Once you have the Spousal Permit with work endorsement you can be paid in ZARm and open a proper bank account etc.

- Spousal Permits will still be available after the new law comes into effect. The only difference would be where the application can be submitted.

- Correct, there is no time frame for the marriage.

- Correct, once married the proof of cohabitation becomes secondary. Use whatever you have, but the marriage certificate would be enough.

In terms of costs:

Our company would charge R2850 for the Business Visa application (not to be mistaken for a Business 'Permit'). The Business Visa is a Tourist Visa that allows you to conduct some work. The Business Permit allows you to run your own business.

For the Spousal Permit we would charge R6750, which would include the added work endorsement.

To prepare the Spousal Permit application can take 2-3 weeks, depending how quickly you can obtain the required documents.

Regarding where to submit: It depends on yoru situation. It is correct that the SA High Commission would only issue Relatives Permit onto which no endorsement can be added. The SA High Commission takes 10-15 days to process an application.

Then once in SA, you would need to apply for a Spousal Permit with work endorsement if you wish to work (and have received a job offer). Home Affairs here can take 3 months to process an application, but things are getting better and some permits come through much quicker than that.

So, if possible, I would suggest to apply for the Spousal Permit in SA (should the law still allow it). That way you avoid needing to apply twice.

Hope this helps, but if there is anything else do send me an email to joachim [at] intergate-immigration [dot] com

Regards,

Joachim