EMPORARY RESIDENCE VISA AS A SBS OR TITUS PROJECT STUDENT
Note - this application must happen outside of South Africa in your country of origin
STEP ONE - CONFIRM INFORMATION NEEDED
Find the closest South African Embassy to you, contact them to confirm all that is needed (start with the checklist below and confirm that there isn’t anything in addition). You are applying for a “Temporary Residence Visa Exceeding 90 Days 11(1)(b)(II).”
Note - this is a volunteer visa, not a study or tourist visa, so it is vital that you don’t mention that you are studying through YWAM, as this could actually get your visa rejected.
We have some information compiled - but this information changes often, and you are responsible for double checking that there isn’t anything new.
It is vital that throughout your application process you do not to use words like studying, as they will then not approve your visa.
Follow this Guide to Making your Appointment — you are applying for a ““Temporary Residence Visa - Visitors Visa Section 11(1)”
Make sure to print the various documents you’ll need for your application including:
Appointment Letter — You should get this to your email, it’s password-protected with your login password from when you made your appointment.
Application Form — From Step 9 in the guide above, in the table you’ll see on your screen, click the “Print” link.
Proof of Payment — This will be for R1775, you’ll receive an email receipt if you pay with a credit card.
Optional Tips:
Premium Lounge — for an additional R500 per application, you can pay to process your application through the Premium Lounge, for many of the applicants this makes the process on the day go much smoother as your application takes priority, you’ll get better service and private waiting area- so this is often ideal for families. You can apply online for this additional service
SMS Notifications — for an additional R20 per application, available for local SMS only, we also advise you to sign up for SMS notifications about the tracking of your application
STEP two - GATHER PAPERWORK
Note - it shouldn’t take too long to gather your documents, so its very possible to make your appointment prior to having all your paperwork finalized. First read over the checklist - then consult the tips below.
Though every country has different requirements for visas, the following items are typically included:
Medical & Radiological Reports —
These reports will only remain valid for six months, so it is always best to complete this process closer to the time of submission. For both reports make sure you get an official stamp by the doctors office.
Children Under 12 or Pregnant Women: this report is not needed. If you are pregnant - ask your doctor to put it in the medical letter “this patient is pregnant, ___ weeks along at the time of this appointment, so is prohibited from any xrays. She has no signs of TB.”
Proof of Financial Means —
They want to see that can can pay for your living expenses while in South Africa in the form of bank statements, salary advances, undertakings by the host(s) in South Africa, bursary, medical cover or cash available (including credit cards and travelers’ cheques) There are a couple of methods or items to include to prove your financial means:
They just want to see the totals. You don’t need to print all the transactions.
Take your bank statements from your bank accounts from the last three months, copy them on to a Word doc (or similar app), black out account numbers (to protect your information), and print them as a PDF.
You can also ask your bank to write a letter of recommendation (Here’s an Example)
They are typically looking for at least R5000 per month. If you are in a tight financial position, here are some ways to do this :
You can supplement with wage advance slips, invoices you’ve sent for work, proof of credit card limits
Ask other people to loan you money to add to your account for the sake of proof, as soon as you paper work was accepted, transferred the money back to those people. Have them do this in different amounts on different days, so that when you print your statements there is not just one big amount that comes in (as this could be a red flag for them)
Have one or some people that can be a ‘garant’ for you— so they show that they have proof of sufficient financial means and a letter that states that they support you financially for the total amount of living costs here or something like that. Often people ask family members, friends or their church
Letter of Invitation from Our Visa Team —
We send the Invitation Letter no sooner than two weeks prior to your visa appointment (as there are additional identification documents we send along that often have to be re-certified so it doesn’t make sense to send them any earlier). This means that its best to just make your appointment first, and then your School Leader sends a request on your behalf to our Visa Team, who will follow up with a draft of your visa letter. We will also send with a final draft the additional certified identification documents of our organization and of one of our South African leaders. See Step Four.
Proof of Accommodation — This information is included in your letter of invitation.
Passport Photos —
Download this app to take the photo for free and print at a local print shop
Original Police Clearance Certificates —
This is usually the most time intensive aspect of your application so start this early - you can check with your embassy how to do this, often you can hire companies to help expedite this process for an added fee, just confirm that they are approved by your government.
Provisional Flight Booking / Itinerary —
You must book a ticket for the dates of the school, with the date just after Graduation, as we only provide housing and a visa for the dates of your school.
If you don’t have a round trip ticket yet, buy a ticket on Expedia, save the ticket, then cancel it within 24 hours for a full refund. Visatraveler.com has complete instructions.
Application Fees —
You may need to pay visa fees - so look at this page. Take note whether on the far right column if it says that you will have visa fees or not, and set aside money accordingly. The cost of applying for a visa depends on the country that you are applying from. Contact the embassy before giving money to any visa service.
A passport valid for no less than 30 days after the school’s final date
Others that are often requested include : proof of medical coverage
BUTTONS TO ADD - download medical report & radiological report
Step three - make your appointment
Find the closest South African Embassy to you and make an appointment - make sure to print a copy of your appointment confirmation
Follow this Guide to Making your Appointment (still being written, sorry!) — you are applying for a “Temporary Residence Visa Exceeding 90 Days 11(1)(b)(II) ”
step four - REQUEST VISA LETTER FROM SCHOOL LEADER
Send a message to your school leader to request a visa letter on your behalf - which our Visa Team will follow up about
step five - prepare your paperwork
Make photos copies of everything you turn in, because you just never know what you’ll need to be prepared for (for example, we recently had a staff members paperwork in transit get hijacked), plus it helps you remember the whole process if applying again in 3 years.
Copies have to be legible and pictures on passport copies crisp and not too dark.
Any document (e.g. medical report) that you can have someone put an “official stamp” on is good, especially if it is a photo-copy. You can also get everything certified by stopping by a local post office or police station - this is a free service, you just need to bring the original with you.
Optional: if you would like our Visa Team to meet with and review your documents before you submit them to double check for any possible errors, email our Visa Team and we can find a time to meet with you
STEP SIX - PREPARE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT
On the day of your appointment plan to arrive 15 minutes early. Bring all your documents, and have a copy of your appointment letter (if your Embassy sent you one) and passport on hand.
It is vital that throughout your application process you do not to use words like studying, as they will then not approve your visa.
STEP SEVEN - FOLLOW UP WITH THE EMBASSY
Please contact the embassy two days after you have submitted your application to make sure they have everything they need from you in order to process your application.
STEP EIGHT - OUTCOME RECEIVED!
First, double check what you have received.
If you are not approved:
Get in contact as soon as possible with your School Leader and we can discuss your options. These options work well, but there is no 100% guarantee.
What this often looks like is that you will next try to apply for a Tourist Visa (so follow the steps under the DTS Student tab to the left), you can come into the country for 3 months and then either apply for extensions in South Africa or do visa runs. We will walk you through this process while in South Africa.
If you are approved:
If there are errors in dates or names, make sure to get this corrected in person rather than be held back at the border when you next travel.
Update our Visa Team about the outcome of your application so we can update your information and be prepared to comply with government regulations.