APPLYING FOR A RELATIVES (SPOUSAL) VISA

Note: This is the only Visa that you can apply for in South Africa that counts as changing your visa status. If your application is also a renewal, your application needs to be submitted in person, no less than 60 days prior to the expiry date of your Visa.

Note: You cannot legally leave south Africa while your application is pending

Note - you can apply for Permanent Residency after 5 years of marriage. Then it takes another +/- 2 years for it to be processed (if successful of course). So it'll take you 7 years roughly.

Applying in South Africa

Step one - gather paperwork

First read over the checklist - then consult the tips below

Here are some tips about the various paperwork required:

  • Medical Report —

    This report will only remain valid for six months, so incase you gather everything early, it is best to complete this process closer to the time of submission. Make sure you get an official stamp by the doctors office.

  • 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 (your local South African Bank account if you have one and your international bank account), 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 :

    • 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

  • Passport Photos —

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

  • Police Clearance — from South Africa and any country you lived in for more than 12 consecutive months since turning 18 years of age - during the five years immediately preceding the date of application). These cannot not be older than six months at the time of its submission. 

  • Proof of Health Insurance — (this is optional though suggested, unless you are Brazilian - then you must have this)

    While you can obtain health insurance in your home nation, there are also some options locally 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 that gives a substantial discount (30%) to YWAMers - many of our missionaries use them

Step two - make your appointment

Click here to Apply for Relatives (Spousal) Visa Online - make sure to print a copy of your appointment confirmation

Follow this Guide to Making your Appointment (still being written, sorry!)

step three - 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 four - PREPARE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT

On the day of your appointment plan to arrive 15 minutes early at the Visa Facilitation Centre. Bring all your documents, and have a copy of your appointment letter and passport on hand.

Address of VSF: 7th Floor, 2 Long Street, 2 on Long Building, Cape Town 8001

We've put together the map below for the easiest route to get to VFS and find parking.

Count on it to take just over an hour in total to go through the three steps of the appointment:

  1. Quality control: An agent checks your documents are in order

  2. Submission: Another agent officially submits your visitor permit extension application (this is also where you can pay the remains service fees, if you haven’t done that)

  3. Biometrics: They take your photo and fingerprints

When you arrive at the Visa Facilitation Centre you will collect a token. Wait until your token is called to make your application. Once the visa application process is completed you will be issued with an acknowledgment receipt. Keep your receipt safe as you will need this later to collect your documents - it is very bad if you loose it as the decision will be handed over on submitting this receipt.

STEP seven - OUTCOME RECEIVED!

The emails you get don’t tell you whether your application was accepted or not, so the journey to the VFS office to get the verdict is a nervous one. It helps to make an early appointment.

First, double check what you have received. There are often errors in dates or names, which you would rather get corrected in person rather than be held back at the border when you next travel.

If need be, you can apply for a an appeal.

Step eight - update our community about your next steps

Next update our Visa Team about the outcome of your application so we can update your information and be prepared to comply with government regulations.

STEP five - safely store your vfs receipt

When you go to VFS, you will get a receipt of your visit. You cannot loose this receipt. They request it when you pick up your visa outcome and will not accept any other proof of payment.

I would recommend not only storing this receipt in a very safe place, but also making a copy and then getting a certified copy made at the police station as a backup.

STEP six - TRACK YOUR APPLICATION

Regularly check the status of your application on the VFS account that you created.

You should have signed up for email / SMS notifications - which unfortunately are not a guarantee that you will receive information in a timely manner.

While waiting for the outcome of your visa, only travel internationally if you have a valid visa to re-enter. If traveling while waiting for results it is also wise to have someone authorized to collect the results in case they come in while you are away. Information for having an authorized representative is here.

To understand what the various stages of tracking mean - refer to the FAQ tab to the left - but basically, when you see “Forwarded to the Pretoria OC”, you can make an appointment to collect your outcome. We suggest you make it for at three days after you see this notification as that is typically when it will arrive by. Or you can wait until you see “Received at VFC” as that is when it is confirmed it will be at VFS, and then you could make an appointment for as soon as possible.