Spousal visa - Work endorsement Help Please

[Saartjie]

Hi,

I know this has probably been discussed one million times before but I am thoroughly confused and could really use some guidance.

I am Swedish, married to a South African. We have been married for 5 years and 3 months and we have a 6 month old baby.

We moved back to SA in August last year and I am now here on a Temporary Residence Permit (spousal). Our baby was born here and so she is SA citizen by birth.

I have just been offered a brilliant job so I am looking to endorse my visa to work.

Living in one of the Joburg suburbs, I trotted down to Germiston HA this morning (what a delightful establishment, not) only to be told that they cannot help me and that I must return to the office that dealt with my original Temporary Residence application which was Bloemfontein as we initially stayed there.

After returning from Germiston I proceeded to call HA Customer Care (what a joke) help line. They said that Germiston was incorrect and that I should be able to attend any Regional office for this endorsement.

I called Germiston and relayed the above but they were adamant that they cannot help me.

I called Customer Care again and this time they told me that I must go back to Bloemfontein.

I called Bloemfontein who said that I do not need to go back to them. Yes they dealt with my original application but as all applications are sent to Pretoria these days, they do not hold my file there. They said I should apply at the office that is closest to where I reside now.

Needless to say, I am now CONFUSED!!!

I need to get this sorted out asap as I do not want to lose my job offer. If I have to go to Bloemfontein then I will do so but I do not want to travel there unnecessarily.

Also, I am now eligible for permanent residence as I have been married for over 5 years but also as my daughter is SA citizen. Can I apply for this at the same time as the endorsement on the temporary one or do I have to wait for the endorsement to be granted first. If I do apply for permanent now, can the documents that were used for the temporary app be used as they would still be valid as application was done less than 6 months ago.

ANY help would be VERY appreciated.

[Johanna]

Originally Posted by Saartjie

Hi,

I know this has probably been discussed one million times before but I am thoroughly confused and could really use some guidance.

I am Swedish, married to a South African. We have been married for 5 years and 3 months and we have a 6 month old baby.

We moved back to SA in August last year and I am now here on a Temporary Residence Permit (spousal). Our baby was born here and so she is SA citizen by birth.

I have just been offered a brilliant job so I am looking to endorse my visa to work.

Living in one of the Joburg suburbs, I trotted down to Germiston HA this morning (what a delightful establishment, not) only to be told that they cannot help me and that I must return to the office that dealt with my original Temporary Residence application which was Bloemfontein as we initially stayed there.

After returning from Germiston I proceeded to call HA Customer Care (what a joke) help line. They said that Germiston was incorrect and that I should be able to attend any Regional office for this endorsement.

I called Germiston and relayed the above but they were adamant that they cannot help me.

I called Customer Care again and this time they told me that I must go back to Bloemfontein.

I called Bloemfontein who said that I do not need to go back to them. Yes they dealt with my original application but as all applications are sent to Pretoria these days, they do not hold my file there. They said I should apply at the office that is closest to where I reside now.

Needless to say, I am now CONFUSED!!!

I need to get this sorted out asap as I do not want to lose my job offer. If I have to go to Bloemfontein then I will do so but I do not want to travel there unnecessarily.

Also, I am now eligible for permanent residence as I have been married for over 5 years but also as my daughter is SA citizen. Can I apply for this at the same time as the endorsement on the temporary one or do I have to wait for the endorsement to be granted first. If I do apply for permanent now, can the documents that were used for the temporary app be used as they would still be valid as application was done less than 6 months ago.

ANY help would be VERY appreciated.

The best advice I can give is for you to send a pm to Joaschim on the threads, he deals with such matters.

Originally Posted by Saartjie

Hi,

I know this has probably been discussed one million times before but I am thoroughly confused and could really use some guidance.

I am Swedish, married to a South African. We have been married for 5 years and 3 months and we have a 6 month old baby.

We moved back to SA in August last year and I am now here on a Temporary Residence Permit (spousal). Our baby was born here and so she is SA citizen by birth.

I have just been offered a brilliant job so I am looking to endorse my visa to work.

Living in one of the Joburg suburbs, I trotted down to Germiston HA this morning (what a delightful establishment, not) only to be told that they cannot help me and that I must return to the office that dealt with my original Temporary Residence application which was Bloemfontein as we initially stayed there.

After returning from Germiston I proceeded to call HA Customer Care (what a joke) help line. They said that Germiston was incorrect and that I should be able to attend any Regional office for this endorsement.

I called Germiston and relayed the above but they were adamant that they cannot help me.

I called Customer Care again and this time they told me that I must go back to Bloemfontein.

I called Bloemfontein who said that I do not need to go back to them. Yes they dealt with my original application but as all applications are sent to Pretoria these days, they do not hold my file there. They said I should apply at the office that is closest to where I reside now.

Needless to say, I am now CONFUSED!!!

I need to get this sorted out asap as I do not want to lose my job offer. If I have to go to Bloemfontein then I will do so but I do not want to travel there unnecessarily.

Also, I am now eligible for permanent residence as I have been married for over 5 years but also as my daughter is SA citizen. Can I apply for this at the same time as the endorsement on the temporary one or do I have to wait for the endorsement to be granted first. If I do apply for permanent now, can the documents that were used for the temporary app be used as they would still be valid as application was done less than 6 months ago.

ANY help would be VERY appreciated.

Hi

You are correct, that the Spousal Permit issue has been dealt with a million times, but I am happy to respond, even it will be the one million and one'th time. Plus, your situation is a new example on this forum of what to expect from Home Affairs and its offices, but sadly one that happens more often than you might think.

Thank you Johanna for the endorsement!

Your case is a typical one when dealing with Home Affairs. No offices wants to do more work than they have to, so potential work is passed on.

The immigration legislation provides that your application shall be submitted in the area in which you reside or where your employer is located. This may change with the new legislation, but would not affect you.

But let us start at the top:

As a spouse to a South African, you may apply for a spousal permit (which you have). When you receive a job offer, one can add a work endorsement to that spousal permit. Only issue is that a completely new application will need to be submitted, along with the work endorsement papers.

Home Affairs currently claims to process applications within 30 days (reality is anything up to 6 months). However, there has been a court case in favour of spousal applicants that allowed them to start working after 30 days, should Home Affairs not provide a valid reason for the delay in issuing the permit.

The application should be submitted at the regional offices closest to you (or your employer).

Regarding Permanent Residency, this can be applied for now. You do not need to wait until you have the new temporary residency permit. Officially Home Affairs will take 6-12 months to process a Perm Res application. During this time you will need a valid temporary residency permit in order to live and work iin South Africa.

Hope this helps. If you have any more specific questions, please feel free to message me or post your comments here.

Regards,

Joachim Schuckmann

[Saartjie]

Hi Joachim,

Thank you so much for that message. It really clarifies things for me. Dealing with HA is so frustrating so to hear a voice of reason is of great help.

So if I understand you correctly, I will need to make a completely new application for a Temporary Residency Permit with a work endorsement. I guess this means that I will need to obtain Police Clearance etc again as the previous one will be more than 6 months old now. My medical report and xrays should still be valid as they were done in December but these would still be in Bloemfontein I guess so I will have to redo these as well. What a hassle but if there is no other way then that is what I have to do.

I will apply for Permanent Residency at the same time.

Thanks again for your help.

Saartjie

[Saartjie]

Oh, I forgot to ask. Does anyone know how long the Police Clearance Certificate is valid for in SA? The certificate states it is valid for 12 months and mine is dated August 2010. It would be a hassle to apply for a new one as I no longer have an address in the UK where I used to live.

Originally Posted by Saartjie

Oh, I forgot to ask. Does anyone know how long the Police Clearance Certificate is valid for in SA? The certificate states it is valid for 12 months and mine is dated August 2010. It would be a hassle to apply for a new one as I no longer have an address in the UK where I used to live.

For the purposes of Home Affairs, the document may only be valid for 6 months. Anything older than that will not be accepted.

It was usually the case that if a police report or medical report had been submitted to Home Affairs for a previous application, then no new ones were required for subsequent applications. However, as you have seen yourself, there is no communication or cooperation between Home Affairs' offices, so you would need to obtain new ones.

[Saartjie]

Ok, but if I would return to Bloem to make my application there then presumably (if my file is still there) they should be able to use my previous Police Clearance or is that wishful thinking?

Originally Posted by Saartjie

Ok, but if I would return to Bloem to make my application there then presumably (if my file is still there) they should be able to use my previous Police Clearance or is that wishful thinking?

From our experience, and based on your experience, Bloem Home Affairs will not accept the application as you no longer live there, nor is your employer located there.

We deal with Home Affairs every single day, and these inconsistencies are nothing new. Thus, we advise all clients to rather obtain new reports as this leaves nothing to chance. For the police clearance one can submit a letter of undertaking should the police clearance not be available when the temporary residency application is submitted. For Perm Res, the actual police report is required.

But it is up to you. From experience, we rather try to avoid these uncertainties and advise our clients to take the hit and obtain new reports.

[timhulse]

Hi all,

I am moving to Johannesburg next Friday (13th) and already have a Spousal Temp Residency Visa. I have been offered the opportunity to purchase a franchise business in Jo'burg and just need to check what I would have to do to to get a work permit to run the business. Can I just get the franchisor to fill out the forms to add a work endorsement to my spousal permit or do I need to fill out a different form? I have been told I would need to fill out an 11(6)(b) visa/permit, but can't find it anywhere.

Joaschim, you seem to be the man when it comes to these problems, any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

Originally Posted by timhulse

Hi all,

I am moving to Johannesburg next Friday (13th) and already have a Spousal Temp Residency Visa. I have been offered the opportunity to purchase a franchise business in Jo'burg and just need to check what I would have to do to to get a work permit to run the business. Can I just get the franchisor to fill out the forms to add a work endorsement to my spousal permit or do I need to fill out a different form? I have been told I would need to fill out an 11(6)(b) visa/permit, but can't find it anywhere.

Joaschim, you seem to be the man when it comes to these problems, any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

Hi Tim

In your case I would advise adding a Business Endorsement to the Spousal Permit. This will allow you to operate your own business.

Adding the Business Endorsement is slightly more complicated than the work endorsement, as there are more logistical and legal things to take into consideration when running a businesses.

For an application form used in South Africa is a different on than used when applying at the SA embassies, yes, as you would now be applying for a change of condition on your current permit.

Trust this answers your questions for now.