Relative Visa South Africa Processing Time
How long does it take to get a relative visa?
Applying in South Africa will take about 5 months to process your relative’s visa or any other type of visa. What is a relative permit in South Africa, you might be thinking. Our blog post gives you all the information you need.
The reason why temporary residence visas in South Africa take five months is because of the pandemic and certain changes that the Department of Home Affairs has made.
During the pandemic, the Department of Home Affairs announced that they will accept applications and in late 2021 they announced that they are accepting visa applications. Since then they have received a huge amount of applications which they could not keep up with.
The second change they made was to request all South African embassies to send all visa applications to the Pretoria head office to have them processed there. This created a huge backlog but the Department of Home Affairs has since changed this and South African embassies are issuing visas abroad again.
South African embassies abroad are generally faster when issuing visas or permits. Many embassies are not as busy and the process takes about 30-90 days to issue a temporary resident visa or visa application.
Collecting the relative visa South Africa requirements can take some time as the following items can cause delays:
- Birth certificate and if not obtaining paternity tests as proof.
- Police clearance report from your country of permanent residency.
Who qualifies for relative visa in South Africa?
The relative’s visa for South Africa can be thought of as an family visa for South Africa which has sub-visas beneath the main category:
- A foreign national who has family members in South Africa in the first level or second levels kinships such as a brother, sister, mother or father who are a South African citizen or permanent resident.
- A foreign national who is married to a South African citizen or permanent resident. This is called the spousal visa.
- A foreign national who is in a relationship with a South African citizen or permanent resident for more than 2 years and has proof that they have been cohabiting for at least two years together. This is called the life partner visa.
You must be wondering can you work on a relative visa in South Africa? This is a bit of a complex issue which we can put into perspective for you.
If you qualify for the relatives through a family member then you are not allowed to work.
If you qualify for a relatives visa through your spouse or life partner then you have to apply for the 11.6 visitors visa which is an extended visitors visa in which endorsements can be added such as work, study or business endorsements. A spouse or life partner visa holder can read about the relatives visa work endorsement South Africa.
You might be wondering what is a spousal visa in South Africa.
The foreign national family members, spouse or life partner must show proof of financial assurance.
If you are applying abroad then the this is the relative visa application form South Africa that must be used at the South African embassy.
What happens if the visa is rejected?
If the visa has been rejected then this would further delay the application process.
You would need to collect the outcome from your closest VFS centre in South Africa and then depending on the reason for your refusal, you would have to collect evidence to prove that you do indeed qualify.
How long does a visa appeal take in South Africa can vary from months to years?
Once you’ve gathered all the documents to overturn the decision, you have ten working days to submit an appeal.
You must rebook an appointment with VFS and if no date is available within the ten days, then you would have to go to VFS to submit without an appointment.
If your application has been rejected abroad at a South African embassy then you would have to find out what the necessary steps are to appeal with them.
Each embassy has its procedures and certain days or times when you are allowed to submit.
Appealing for temporary residence permits abroad typically would receive an outcome between 30-40 days if not quicker.
Who qualifies for a permanent residence permit?
This visa allows you to apply for a permanent residence permit if you meet the following criteria:
- 1st level kinship – minor or major children applying through their parents and vice versa (Unfortunately 2nd level kinship does not qualify such as brother and sister)
- Married to your spouse for 5 years
- In a relationship with your partner for more than 5 years.
Applying for permanent residence in South Africa takes about 6 years to process. If you qualify then you should immediately apply for permanent residency.
Bear in mind that you need to keep your temporary residence visa up to date when awaiting the outcome of your permanent residency application.
We would advise that you make use of an immigration consultant to prepare your application for permanent residency as submitting on your own can be risky. Waiting 6 years for an application only to be refused can be heartbreaking.
Immigration consultants are experienced and have submitted many applications before. Each case is unique and their experience can be applied to your application.
We can apply for permanent residency for your entire family within one application.
Migrate With Q
Migrate With Q can assist you with immigration services for South Africa whether it’s complicated immigration issues or if you need advice. Complete our free assessment form and we will get in contact with you to discuss your situation.
Charl Vollmer has 8 years of experience helping people immigrate to South Africa. I am passionate about helping people and making their dreams a reality. Charl constantly stays up to date with South African Immigration rules and regulations. To contact Charl, visit our contact page.