tekman

Hi, I am an Englishman who has been living with my South African wife in Cape Town for the past couple of years and are looking to go for a visit back to the UK to visit family. As my wife is South African does she still need to get any kind of Visa to visit the UK bearing in mind I as her British husband will be accompanying her.
I'd appreciate some direction on this please if anyone is happy to advise please.

BritInParis

As a South African citizen your wife is considered a 'visa national' by the UK authorities and therefore will need to apply for a visa to come to the UK regardless of her intentions or circumstances.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...u-need-a-visa/

MartynK

Correct. As a South African citizen, your wife requires a visa to visit the UK. I'm afraid your British citizenship doesn't have any bearing on this.

Times have changed. My mother, a South African, married my Scottish father just after WW2 and acquired British citizenship immediately. That changed quite a while ago, and the visas for SA visitors were brought in a few years back. There were allegations that corrupt Home Affairs staff were selling SA citizenship - with the right to a passport - to aliens seeking relatively easy entry to the UK, possibly for the purpose of terrorism.

tekman

Ok folks thanks for your answers much appreciated. Just have one other question. My wife is currently pregnant with our first child. As my child will be born in South Africa will he too have to have an entry Visa when visiting UK please.

BritInParis

Depends on a number of factors, but generally speaking, if you were born in the UK and are a British citizen then your child will be a British citizen by descent through you. You therefore will just need to apply for their British passport. This used to be done via the High Commission in Pretoria but the Passport Section has now closed so you will need to make your application directly to the HM Passport Office in Durham.

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passport...d/south-africa

tekman

Many thanks for that info. My passport expires next year and I was under the impression I would need to renew it via the High commission in Cape Town but knowing that I need to go through Durham is useful to know. Thanks for that.
Had a gut feeling regarding our soon to be born child re citizenship but thanks for confirming, much appreciated.

scot47

At one time, when life was simple, Embassies and High Commissions issued passports. No longer, alas.

MartynK

Yip. The UK used to do this through their consulates in South Africa, then the level of service deteriorated. First, they consolidated it into their Hatfield (Pretoria) centre, then they stopped personal, walk in, service and forced us to rely on a very expensive courier service, now everything has to go overseas.

BritInParis

The FCO is having to deal with huge budget cuts in real terms over the course of this Parliament. One of the biggest ways it is coping is by delegating many of its previous roles to other departments - it will no longer fund the BBC World Service for instance - and returning overseas passport operations to the Home Office is another way to save money by cutting staff and moving to smaller premises.

Westgate1

Hello,

Can anyone help me regarding how to obtain a temporary resident permit for South Africa. I have been there couple of times and would like to stay there independently for a period of 6 months. I have a very good friend who lives there and we are looking to get into some type of business together or even separately.
Please can anyone tell me if i will be eligible for the temp permit.

Thanks

christmasoompa

You'd be better off starting your own thread - this one is really quite old, and is about visas for the UK!

Good luck with it.

Westgate1

Thanks mate.

ededed

I've moved this thread to South Africa and it's bumped to the top, so will attract attention I'm sure.

You need to check the SA government website on temp permits. I am sure you get 3 months on arrival but can't work - but that was a few years ago.

Here's a link to get you started:

http://www.southafrica.info/travel/d...m#.U2yCQ2xZqM8

Westgate1

thanks for helping ededed. My intentions are to get a permanent resident later on down the line. But for now some type of temp permit will be good. I know i can go there for 3 months and then can apply for another 3 months whilst there. But i dont know the conditions of that type of stay. For example what can and cant i do regarding business activities.

Houda

Hey im Moroccan engaged to a British we've been suffering and we still didn't get a chance to be together all we want is living together he can't come to Morocco it's hard for him to work here and he was working to send me a fiancé visa but now he lost his job he really need me I need to go to the UK but I don't know how can I get visa I just wanna be in his side and marry him Help please