relocation to south africa from the uk

[tamikasdad]

hi, i hope somebody might be able to help me find the right information for my situation.

i am a uk citizen and resident, my fiancee - and mother of our new baby daughter - is a south african citizen and resident. our plans for her to come to live in the uk have had to be put on hold due to her family circumstances for perhaps 5 years, so i want to relocate to south africa, as soon as i can sort my life out here in the uk.

i believe that as the parent of a south african citizen i would get permission to reside there. however i understand the whole application process may take anything up to 18 months, and i also couldn't figure out if i would need to apply for a separate work permit.

can anybody advise me as to how best to proceed?

many thanks

[inso]

i believe that as the parent of a south african citizen i would get permission to reside there. however i understand the whole application process may take anything up to 18 months, and i also couldn't figure out if i would need to apply for a separate work permit.

You best bet is to start with the Dept. of Home Affairs website, specifically their immigration policy: http://www.dha.gov.za/immigration_policy_doc.asp

[tamikasdad]

ok, i'll check it out !! thanks

[Dawie]

It is ironic that it is actually more difficult for British citizens to emigrate to South Africa than it is for South Africans to emigrate to Britain.

As a South African who has lived in London for 5 years may I wish you the best of luck in dealing with the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa. The UK Home Office is a slick, well-run, well-oiled machine compared to the Department of Home Affairs and you will need every last ounce of patience, hope and determination in your dealings with them.

Why on earth you want to emigrate to South Africa when so many of us are leaving in droves is beyond me. Do be sure not to forget your bullet-proof vest and AK47 assault rifle before leaving...you will need them.

[inso]

While Dawie seems to tend toward the very negative end on the SA-optimism scale, you will definitely need to exercise above-average levels of patience with our DHA... Sometimes things go very smoothly (like my wife's new ID document with her new surname), sometimes they don't (like her subsequent new passport, which seemingly got lost in the works).

[Dawie]

I used to be an SA-optimist, however my dealings with the Department of Home Affairs at the South African Embassy in London has worn away the very fabric of my being. They have to be congratulated for employing the most inept, useless and miserable bunch of people I have ever had the misfortune of coming across.

I have 3 more months to go until I become a British citizen and I have to say I cannot wait to become a citizen of a country that actually cares about its citizens. The Department of Home Affairs both in South Africa and at the Embassy in London treats its own citizens with utter contempt and disdain and I can only imagine how much worse they must treat foreigners wishing to settle in South Africa. And don't even get me started on the severe human rights atrocities that are committed in South Africa every day by Home Affairs officials against refugees in South Africa including illegal detention, unfair deportations and many other atrocities. So many in fact that Amnesty International has accused the Department of Home Affairs of extreme human rights violations. If you don't believe me then see the report:

http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/zaf-summary-eng

Call me bitter, call me disillusioned, call me what you want. I used to be a proud South African. Now I can't wait to get rid of that green passport that has been so utterly useless to me all these years.

[tamikasdad]

Thank you for your comments!

I have looked at the immigration policy document, and while it seems to confirm that I would be entitled to residency i'm still not clear on how to go about applying.

I have attempted to contact the South AFrican Embassy in London by telephone, but I have only managed to hear a recorded message directing me to their website. While this makes available an awful lot of information, it's very time-consuming to trawl through all of it to find which parts are relevant to my circumstances.

I didn't make it clear in my original post that I am looking for long-term temporary residency as opposed to a permanent move. Whilst I have found South Africa to be a beautiful country, I do find the direction that the political situation there is taking somewhat disturbing, and I just want to keep my head down and support my family with the minimum of fuss for about 5 years until we can come back to the UK.

As our draconian firearms laws here in the UK mean that it is in fact illegal for me to own an AK47, I am going to have to wait until I arrive in SA to purchase one...

[Static]

I know that this is completely irrelevant to the forum but Dawie is absolutely right about South Africa. The only difference is, is that it is even worse now than when you left Dawie.. Very sad but true..