If you are looking for visa and permit services for immigration to South Africa, Intergate Immigration is pleased to be able to offer you South Africa’s most comprehensive immigration service.
We provide a comprehensive visa and permit service and cover all aspects of relocation to South Africa too. The links below provide you with more information on each area:
Permits and Visa’s for Immigration to South Africa
- Work permits / visa
- Retired permits / visa
- Relatives permits / visa
- Corporate permits / visa
- Business permits / visa
- Study permits / visa
- Spousal permits / visa
- Life Partner permits / visa
Some general hints and tips for immigration to South Africa
When looking at immigration to South Africa, there are a number of different factors that you must take into account:
What type of visa or permit is best suited to your needs?
Many factors influence this including:
- What do you intend to do on arrival?For example work, retire or maybe run a business.
- The period you wish to stay in South Africa? Is it a permanent move or a temporary one? Is it a 2-year contract work purposes or that retirement destination?
- If you have a relationship with a South African Citizen or permanent residency holder – be it married, a permanent relationship but unmarried or a relative.
What criteria must you fulfil?
Each visa and permit category has different criteria that must be met for an application to be made successfully. For example, there are 4 categories of work permit alone and below are just come of the categories applications scan be made under:
- Business permits / visa
- Retired permits / visa
- Relatives permits / visa
- Study permits / visa
- Work permits / visa
- Spousal permits / visa
- Life Partner permits / visa
- Corporate permits / visa
Where must I apply?
There is no hard and fast rule here. It does depend on the type of visa or permit you are playing for but there are many advantages to submitting your permit or visa application in South Africa.
Can I make the application myself?
Applications are accepted by members of the public.
Why should I use professional immigration experts to compile and submit my application?
- When deciding the most appropriate type of permit or visa to apply for, a multitude of decisions have to be made. It is sometimes not a simple as it seems. For example, a spouse may rightly assume they need a spousal permit – however the issues of where to submit and whether you will be working, setting up a business or studying affect the submissions process.
- An immigration practitioner not only submits but answers queries and monitors the progress of your application at Home Affairs. This is a cumbersome task involving long queues, technical knowledge and the support of a professional infrastructure.
- The accuracy of the application is paramount. More than 50% of applications received by Home Affairs are completed incorrectly! This can lead to long time delays and ultimately the refusal of a permit or visa.
- South Africa’s immigration rules are not point based, so there remains areas that are open for interpretation.
What do I look for when selecting an immigration partner
- Is the company a registered company in South Africa? There are unfortunately many sole traders and some fly-by-nights that are not registered, meaning no come-back for inappropriate advice or poor service.
- How many immigration practitioners do they employ? An immigration practitioner is registered and tested by Home Affairs to allow them to provide advice, submit, monitor and interact with Home Affairs. Again there are some ‘immigration experts’ who do not employ immigration practitioners and submit using 3rd parties and unqualified personnel.
- How many staff do they employ? Dealing with one man bands holds intrinsic risk – these entities simply cannot be in Home Affairs chasing applications and in their office at the same time.
- How often they are in Home Affairs? Applications need to be monitored daily.
- Do they specialise and are they based in South Africa? Regulations and rules alter on extremely short notice and it is essential that you practitioner operates in South Africa to ensure they are up to date with the latest developments.
- How experienced are they in dealing with immigration to South Africa? Immigration to South Africa is becoming more popular and as with any industry in demand, this attracts lots of opportunists.
Never be afraid to ask questions and see proof – immigration is one of the most important decisions you will make and making sure you have the correct immigration practitioner is essential in ensuring a successful move.
The permits and visas seem so confusing?
Immigration to South Africa is quite complex. From deciding which type of permit to apply for, compiling the application, submitting it and following up, it is time consuming and technical. The wrong decision can have severe repercussions on your ability to stay in South Africa, carry out your preferred activity and the success of your application.
Intergate Immigration is there to guide you through every step of the way. Your dedicated client managers will advise you on which permit or visa best suits your needs.
The compilation of your application will be dealt with by a senior administrator who will be your main point of contact throughout the process.
Our relocation support is second to none – with a team of in excess of 40 qualified professionals.
Contact us today for a free consultation
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