APPLYING FOR FIRST VISA :

• Original Police Clearance Certificates —

  Note - a recent waiver (as of April 2023) changed this requirement so that you only need to submit for what is relevant from the last five years - show the directive above incase the consulate or embassy asks.

• This is usually the most time intensive aspect of your application so do this first - 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.

  You will need police clearances from any country you lived in for more than 12 consecutive months in the last five years.

  These cannot not be older than six months at the time of its submission.

  If you are currently in South Africa before going home to file your application, you can file in country through PostNet

• Cover Letter — this helps explain all your documents, template found here

• Form DHA-84 — You are applying for a “Temporary Residence Visa Exceeding 90 Days 11(1)(b)(II)”, make sure to sign

• Proof of Payment — if you paid online for your application, include proof of payment

• Medical —

• 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 this report make sure you get an official stamp by the doctors office.

• Radiological Reports —

  Note - a recent waiver (as of April 2023) make this no longer required

• 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 contact us to request this letter, more information is in step four

• Notarized Copy of Bio Page of the Applicant's Passport

• Passport Photos —

  Download this app to take the photo for free and print at a local print shop

• Provisional Flight Booking / Itinerary —

  If you are apply for a three year visa, in your Letter of Invitation, we will include a line to request that proof of a return ticket not be required due to the length of the visa application (eg. you don’t need to buy a roundtrip ticket)

  If you are applying for less than a three year visa, and you don’t have one yet, here are some options :

  • Buy a ticket on Expedia, save the ticket, then cancel it within 24 hours for a full refund - here are instructions for this method

  • Request an itinerary from a travel agent : Wendell (from Golden Rule Travel) or Frank (from World Hopper Ministry)

• Proof of Health Insurance —

  While you can obtain health insurance in your home nation, there are also some South African companies that are popular that you may want to consider: Discovery or Momentum

  Another option for missionaries is Talent Trust an international insurance company specifically designed for missionaries

• Proof of Residence —

  You can put our current staff office as your residence in South Africa, and we can provide a Proof of Residence, but you must request this by emailing admin@oasissanctuaries.org

Other Potential Documents Needed :

• A yellow fever vaccination certificate if you have travelled or intend to travel from or transiting through a yellow fever endemic area