Visa decisions - help please :)

[ajbritton]

Hi - I've read through the various discussions about residence permits and visas and hope I'm on the right track but wanted to ask the following.

I'm British citizen married (for > 5 years) to SA citizen. We live in London but are planning to emigrate. In fact we have sold our house and have to move out be end of July!!

1 - Could I travel to SA on my UK passport and then apply for (spousal) temporary residence permit (inc endorsement) when job is offered (if find job quickly)?

2 - If I apply in UK for temporary residence permit - could I still travel before the permit arrives and have it sent on to SA?

3 - Can I apply now for permanent residence and have this sent out to SA? If not, can I apply from SA with or without a temp residence permit?

Thanks for any advice,

Andy

[Saartjie]

Originally Posted by ajbritton

Hi - I've read through the various discussions about residence permits and visas and hope I'm on the right track but wanted to ask the following.

I'm British citizen married (for > 5 years) to SA citizen. We live in London but are planning to emigrate. In fact we have sold our house and have to move out be end of July!!

1 - Could I travel to SA on my UK passport and then apply for (spousal) temporary residence permit (inc endorsement) when job is offered (if find job quickly)?

2 - If I apply in UK for temporary residence permit - could I still travel before the permit arrives and have it sent on to SA?

3 - Can I apply now for permanent residence and have this sent out to SA? If not, can I apply from SA with or without a temp residence permit?

Thanks for any advice,

Andy

Hi Andy,

I shall try to answer your questions.

1. Yes, at the moment you can travel to SA on your UK passport and then get your TR whilst you are here. You will get a visitors permit at the border which is valid for 90 days. You can then attend Home Affairs and apply for a Spousal TR but you must do this within a certain time as you must have at least 30 days left on your current permit when you apply. If you manage to find a job within 60 days then you can apply for the endorsement at the same time. Please note that the law is about to change here (no one knows when but it will happen) and once that happens a spouse will no longer be able to enter SA on one type of permit and change to a different permit whilst here but would have to return to their home country and apply from there. But as you say you are leaving quite soon this should not be an issue for you.

2. Well, yes you can apply for TR before you leave, then leave and enter the country on a visitors permit. However, I am not sure if you can have your permit sent to SA from the embassy. In any event, I would not be comfortable with my permit being sent, Home Affairs are notorious for losing stuff. I would either apply for permit in UK and wait for it or apply for permit here when you get here.

3. Again, I would rather apply in UK and wait for it or apply here when you get here. As long as you fulfill the requirements for PR then you can apply for this straight away. However, as you need to have a valid permit whilst awaiting your PR (waiting time is currently up to two years) most people will make two applications at the same time, one for Spousal TR and one for PR. Your Spousal will usually be granted for a two year period so if your PR takes longer than two years (which is not uncommon) you will need to renew your Spousal when it expires.

Hope I have answered some of your questions but if you need any more info let me know.