First look over this website with the latest from DHA
First, IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON GETTING MARRIED:
Ensure that you are legally allowed to marry
Understand the legal consequences of a marriage, particularly that marriages in South Africa are automatically in community of property, unless a valid ante-nuptial contract has been entered into before the marriage, and (read over the “Marriage Contracts” tab)
Should you be unsure of any of these, legal counsel should be sought before the marriage is entered into.
There are also different requirements if you are marrying someone from the US or UK.
plan to arrive at least two weeks before the wedding
As there will be interview requirements at Home Affairs Offices, you should plan on coming early.
If you are crunched for time, it is advised that you hire a Marriage Officer to help avoid delays.
From there…
1. Make a decision of how and where you want to get married.
You can go a couple of routes depending on how you would prefer your wedding ceremony to be like:
marriage ceremony at home affairs
This could be the right option for you if you want to simply get married at Home Affairs, or if you want to have a more simplified experience for the legal side of things prior to having a larger wedding / ceremony at a later date.
If this is the route you want to go - click on the tab to the left “Marriage Ceremony at Home Affairs”
marriage ceremony not at home affairs
This could be the right option for you if you want to have a larger wedding / ceremony and deal with the paperwork afterwards.
If this is the route you want to go - click on the tab to the left “Marriage Ceremony not at Home Affairs”
2. Decide if you want to hire a marriage officiate
Click on the tab to the left “Hiring a Marriage Officiate”
3. Get Your paperwork in order
Click on the tab to the left “Paperwork Needed to Get Married”
4. Review the various marriage contract to understand the legal implications of getting married
Click on the tab to the left “Marriage Contracts”
5. Schedule your DHA Interview
Click on the tab to the left “DHA Interview”
6. get married 🎉
7. apply for your unabridged marriage certificate
Click on the tab to the left “Marriage Certificates”
8. optional: you can Apply for a relatives (spousal) visa
Click on the tab to the left “Apply for Relatives (Spousal) Visa”
