South Africa’s immigration requirements are subject to change and each application is treated individually, so the following information should be treated only as a guide.
The best sources of up-to-date information about South African immigration are your nearest South African Consulate, Embassy or High Commission if you’re abroad or your nearest Department of Home Affairs office if you’re in South Africa, or the Department of Home Affairs, Sub-directorate: Permanent Residence, Private Bag X114, Pretoria 0001, South Africa (Tel. 012-314 8536).
South African immigration law recognises the need to protect the health, security and employment prospects of South African citizens. The country has a vast supply of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, so that unskilled and semi-skilled workers are rarely accepted as immigrant workers to South Africa. As a general rule, a prospective South African immigrant shouldn’t apply for a job for which there are already sufficient potential applicants in South Africa to meet the country’s needs.
On the other hand, immigrants who will contribute to South Africa’s economy are welcomed, particularly skilled workers of a type for which there’s a shortage in South Africa. Entrepreneurs and industrialists who wish to establish businesses in the country are likely to be welcomed with open arms. In view of the need to create jobs for South Africans, prospective immigrants are recommended to demonstrate a serious commitment to devoting their experience, skills and assets to the betterment of themselves and the people of South Africa.
Applications for residence are considered individually on merit by an autonomous statutory body, the Immigrants Selection Board, and its basic criteria are that you should be of good character, be a desirable inhabitant, not be likely to be harmful to the welfare of the country and not engage in an occupation which is already sufficiently practised in the country.
If you comply with these criteria, you can proceed to apply for residence, which is generally done in your country of origin, at your nearest South Africa office (Consulate, Embassy or High Commission) and you must wait for the outcome of the application before going to South Africa. You can apply for some types of residence while in South Africa, at your nearest Home Affairs office, provided that you fulfil at least one of the following criteria:
You’re in the country on a valid work permit;
You’re married to, or the child of, a South African citizen or permanent resident and have a valid temporary residence permit;
You’re being sponsored for immigration purposes by a blood family member who is permanently and lawfully resident in South Africa, and are in South Africa on a valid temporary residence permit;
You’ve been exempted from the requirement to hold a temporary residence permit.
Certain categories of person are issued with a temporary residence permit, valid for a year, during which time they must apply for a permanent residence permit. (The temporary permit may be extended if your application isn’t processed in time.) There are currently around a dozen categories, some of which are (deliberately?) ill-defined, and applications are treated individually in many cases, although the system is under review. However, the three main categories are:
Spouses of South African residents who want to join their spouse in the country.
Fiancé(e)s of South African residents who want to join their fiancé(e) in the country.
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