TomC

Hi all,

I currently am living in the UK. I have friends over in South Africa and wish to move there. I would have a place of residence to stay. I was wondering what requirements I would need to meet. If I understand correctly I would have 90 days on a permit to stay there and then would need to return to the UK. How would I turn this temporary visit into a longer term visit?

[edit] I understand the facts of needing to be in a certain job that would be something that South Africa is in need of as there are many unskilled/semi skilled workers available etc. But for now my concerns are just getting there and having the 90 days permit. Do I need anything special for that? Can the permit be renewed or extended by simply leaving South Africa and entering again on the same day? i.e travelling to Botswana and back...as daft as it seems my South African friends seem to think its a legit method.

Regards,
Tom

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

I have moved your thread over to our South Africa forum as it will get more views from people actually living in S.A.

ededed

Hi Tom

All the info you need is here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...y-requirements

And here: Line Break (Shift + Enter)

I don't know if you can hop out of the country and back in again to reset the 90 days - I just know that overstaying will lead to being kicked out for good if you ever try and re-enter. You will need a return ticket (they won't let you board in the UK without one).

You certainly can't arrive, find a job and then get a change in status - that will require leaving and coming back in once the work permit / residency is approved and is much harder (but not impossible) to do. Check out the skilled visa requirements - it's just been expanded. If you are a statue-demolisher, there is lots of work coming up: http://www.dha.gov.za/images/immigra...cal_skills.pdf

TomC

Thanks I will look at the info you have provided.

Unfortunately not a statue demolisher haha.

Really just been a jack of all basic jobs which I doubt will be needed over there such as Sales, Customer service, Laboring, Block paving, FLT driver, Drivers mate, Warehouse work, Dog training, Graphical design, Tattooing, IT, PC repair and maintenance, QA testing....nothing overly experienced or advanced as you can see, no rocket scientist.

So I can only imagine getting work would actually be impossible, with all the spare people they have to employ for these things.

MartynK

Hi Tom

If you're travelling on a British passport, you'll normally receive a visitor's permit for up to 90 days at the point of entry. There are no special requirements for this, it's routine. The SA government doesn't care whether you go back to the UK or somewhere else when you leave, but make sure you have a return ticket or a ticket to another destination.

As far as I know, you don't have to leave the country for a defined period before you can return and ask for another visitor's permit, so you will probably get away with going to Gabs for a couple of days, but I wouldn't try to do it on the same day, or more than once. This isn't guaranteed though, and you could run into an immigration official who thinks that you're just trying to get around the rules to remain in SA, and refuses to issue the permit.

The correct procedure, if you want to extend your visit, is to apply for a temporary residence permit at the Department of Home Affairs. I'm not familiar with the process, but I expect you'll have to justify/motivate this, and it's not granted automatically. Check here: Department of Home Affairs - Types of Visas. Don't leave it till the last minute.

Getting permission to live and work in SA is another matter, and is probably going to be very difficult.

scot47

The days of mass migration from Britain to South Africa are over. Even for those with highly marketable skills it would be difficult to go there to live and work.

MartynK

Many of the 'expats' I've come across were on inter-company transfer work visas. These are relatively easy to obtain, but are limited to 2 years and aren't renewable as far as I know.

I agree that emigrating and obtaining permanent residence is far more difficult than it used to be, and it's not going to get any easier, but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of interest in this anyway.

TomC

Thank you for all the replies, every bit of information helps greatly as its been a rather clouded subject to find things out about. Should I have any more questions I'll be back seeing as so far this has been the most helpful place to come to.

MartynK

OK, good luck Tom! I hope it works out for you. This forum isn't very active compared with the way it was some years ago, but ask us about anything else that you need to know and we'll try to help.