12russel12

I have been given a job in Cape town and supplied with a visa/work permit, however my girlfriend does not have one yet and is wishing to live there and work, we want to move out together. whats the best way to go about getting her relevant permits and when should we do it??
any help will be greatly appreciated!

ededed

Welcome to BE, and to the African forum. And congrats on your job and impending move. I was in Cape Town for the last 2 days and the weather was perfect.

Your situation could be tricky - how long have you been together? You could try for an accompanying spouse visa if you are common-law-husband and wife - but you may run into problems if you can't prove you have been living together for a long time (I don't know what this length of time is - I'm sure someone will know).

Don't be tempted to bring her in and overstay her visa. She won't get caught while she's here, but when she ever wants to leave SA there will be drama and she won't be allowed back in.

Sorry this advice is a little vague - your best bet would be to speak to the company who are offering you the job (and have got your visa sorted out) and tell them they need to make a plan for her too. If they sorted yours out, they should have an immigration expert who can advise.

Good luck, please shout if you need any other information.

Ed

MartynK

Spouse and life partner visas are only available where one of the parties is an SA citizen or permanent resident, as far as I know, but I'm not absolutely certain about this.

I'd discuss this with your new employer, as Ed suggested, and ask if they can assist. In the short term, your girlfriend can travel with you and get a 90 day visitor's permit on arrival if she holds a British passport. There's a list of other countries whose citizens are also visa exempt here: http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/index...-from-sa-visas. This is straightforward, but she should have a return air ticket and I'd get a flexible one. The permit can usually be extended for a further 90 days, but this isn't automatic and she would have to apply before the the original one expires.

Following this route will give you, and your employer, some time to sort out a more permanent arrangement.

chedylan

i done this 18 months ago, gf is south african.

We been together for 4 years at the time so i didn't really look into the minimum time together requirement, because it wasn't an issue.

They want evidence she is your life partner.

Do you live together?
Do you share some financial responsibility?
Can you show records you have done the above for x amount of time?

Along with a bunch of other stuff you need but can sort out relatively easily.

I used a firm called intergate to help me prepare my application. Basically i had a short time frame to get my visa to start my new job, and couldn't afford to make any mistakes on my application that would need me to resubmit docs and waste time.

You could ask these guys (or other visa company) whether they think your relationship would qualify as 'life partner'.

btw i seem to remember at the time of my application the rules changed preventing foreigners applying for TR within SA (when on a tourist visa). Applications need to be submitted in your resident country. She would need to return to the UK to submit her application. I think this was to simply cut down the work load here! You are welcome to re-apply in SA once you have a visa

Check that tho