Temporary Residence Visa South Africa 2022 and 2023

SA Migration | 09 Jan 2023

What Is a Temporary Resident Visa?

You might be interested in moving to South Africa and wondering “What is a temporary resident status”?

A temporary residence visa allows a foreign national to legally stay in South Africa for longer than 90 days and a maximum of up to five years.

Many people choose to emigrate to our beautiful country and make this their new home because we have the perfect climate plus many more things to excite you.

The most important thing to consider when emigrating is applying for a temporary visa to settle here.

People emigrate here for different reasons for example studying, working, joining their loved ones, retiring here or perhaps starting a business.

To increase your chances of receiving the desired visa or visa you must prove to officials the basis on which you are making a claim in the form of a visa application and show that you can financially support yourself.

Making such a big move requires you to be prepared and make sure that you have all the information you need to be well informed about all the logistics.

The Department of Home Affairs 2014 tightened the regulations and thus leaving you no room for error or else your application might be denied.

Changes to certain work visas were made in 2020 and thus making it even more difficult to apply for a work visa.

What Visas Are Available In South Africa?

 

There are various visas available to foreign nationals which they can apply for.

You need to apply for the right visa and you can easily find out which visa you qualify for by contacting us

Below are the different types of visas available:

Relatives Visas:

Relative Visa:

 

The relatives visa allows you to join family members in South Africa for up to two years.

You need to show evidence of either first-kin or second-kin levels.

In layman’s terms, this means father, mother, brother or sister and the advantage is that you can apply for permanent residency on basis of first level kin-ship.

Your sponsor needs to prove that they can financially support you as you are not allowed to whilst in the Republic.

Life Partner Visa:

 

This option allows you to join your boyfriend or girlfriend in SA for a period of up to two years and you have the choice of a work endorsement on a life partner visa if you have a job offer at the time of applying.

You do have the choice to add either work, study or start your own business.

The advantage of the visa is that heterosexuals or same-sex couples can apply for it. We assist with life partner visa renewals for South Africa if you need to extend it.

You need to have been cohabiting for two years at the time of submission and you need to provide substantial evidence of this.

Spousal Visa:

The spousal visa allows the foreign spouse of a South African citizen or permanent resident to stay in the country legally.

The visa is valid for 2 years and you have the option of adding working rights, study rights or business rights to the visa.

Section 11(6) of the immigration act enables you to add these endorsements to your visa.

You would need to have a valid marriage certificate to apply for this visa.

You can renew the visa and if you need to see the documents you can our blog post “Temporary Spouse Visa South Africa Requirements” to give you all the information you need.

 Work Visas:

Corporate Workers Visas:

 The corporate workers’ visa allows corporate companies that require a large number of foreign workers to apply for these visas.

The company first needs to apply for a corporate visa and once approved then only may they start recruiting foreign nationals.

Mining, farmers and construction companies are just a few examples of who can apply for this visa.

The corporate visa is valid for 3 years.

Critical Skills Visa:

 

The critical skills visa for South Africa allows foreign nationals whose occupation is in high demand to apply for this visa if they have a job offer.

To qualify for the visa, you need the following before applying:

• A job offer.
• South African Qualifications Assessment (SAQA – Assess your foreign qualifications).
• Confirmation and Membership letter from a professional body, board or council.
• Required qualifications as per the critical skills list in South Africa for your occupation.

The visa is valid for 5 years and can be renewed.

A foreign national can apply for permanent residency if they can show proof of 5 years of work experience or 5 continuous years of being on the CSV.

Your occupation must be listed on the critical skills occupation list for 2022.

The critical skills work visa is the best option where work visas are concerned.

General Work Visa:

 A general work visa is an option for foreign applicants who specializes in their field of work and can prove to the Department of Home Affairs that a prospective employer could not find a candidate who possesses the skills and experience needed for the position.

There is much red tape to get through with this visa and the Department of Labour needs to give you the recommendation to go ahead and apply.

The visa is valid for 5 years and can be extended.

Once you’ve completed 5 years on the visa you can then apply for permanent residence in South Africa.

Intra-Company Transfer Visa:

The intra-company transfer visa allows foreign nationals who work for multi-national companies, subsidiaries or affiliates to transfer from a branch abroad to South Africa.

Applicants must have been working for the company for 6 months or longer and must prove that the two companies are connected.

The visa is valid for 3-4 years and cannot be extended or applied for a change of status in South Africa.

Applicants using these options will not qualify for permanent residency.

A prospective employer must have a skills transfer plan in place to show the Department of Home Affairs that the foreign nationals’ skills will be transferred to a South African citizen or permanent resident.

All Foreign Qualifications Must Be Assessed By South African Qualifications Authority

All applicants applying for a work visa must have their qualifications assessed by SAQA, to find out if their qualifications are on par with South African standards.

If your transcripts and qualifications are not written in English you’ll then need to have them translated by a sworn translator into English.

Retiring in South Africa As A Foreigner

Retirement Visa:

 The retirement visa allows foreign nationals who receive a pension or a retirement annuity in the amount of R 37, 000.00 rands per month per couple to retire in SA.

There is no age restriction and if you can show that you are receiving a permanent retirement annuity then you can apply for permanent residence.

You are not allowed to work whilst on this visa.

You are allowed to extend the visa and the visa is valid for up to 4 years depending on your financial sources or pension etc.

Starting Your Own Business In South Africa

Business Visa:

 Foreigners who would like to start a business in South Africa must apply for a business visa.

You need to invest R 5 million within the business and employ at least 60% of South African or permanent residents within the business.

The visa is valid for 2 years and can be extended.

You can apply for permanent residency if you can prove all the qualifying criteria have been met.

Your business must not fall within the prohibited business’ who are not allowed to apply for the visa.

Studying in South Africa

Study Visa:

 

Children or adults who would like to further their studies in South Africa must apply for a student visa.

You must have an acceptance letter and the institution must be recognized by the Department of Education.

The visa is valid for the duration of the course and can be renewed.

You cannot qualify for permanent residency.

How To Get A Temporary Residence Visa In South Africa

You are not allowed to apply for temporary residence visas in South Africa if you are on a visit visa.

You are only allowed to apply for a change of status if you are:

• Spouse of a South African citizen or permanent resident.
• A child of a South African citizen or permanent resident.
• You require medical treatment urgently.

The only time you can apply in South Africa is if you are currently on a temporary residence visa for South Africa.

This is known as a change of status which means you can change from one TRP visa to another.

All applications are submitted through VFS which will send your visa application to the Department of Home Affairs.

This means that if you are applying for a temporary residence visa for the first time, you need to submit it abroad.

You must apply in the country of residence or if you hold a temporary residence visa for another country then you can apply there too.

Temporary residence visas must be submitted at your nearest South African embassy or consulate.

It takes about thirty to ninety days to process your visa abroad, then you can enter SA with the visa.

What Is The Cost Of A Temporary Residence Visa?

These are the standard costs for VFS in South Africa for all visas:

• R 1,5900.00

Family Visas:

1. Relatives visa (Minor Child) – No fees
2. Relatives visa (Major Child) – R 425.00
3. Relatives visa (Brother/Sister) – R 425.00
4. Life Partner visa – No Fees
5. Spousal visa – No Fees

Work Visas:

1. Critical Skills Visa – R 1520.00
2. General Work Visa – R 1520.00
3. Intra-Company Visa – R 1520.00
4. Corporate Visa – R 1520.00

Retired Visas:

1. Retirement Visa – R 425.00

Business Visas:

1. Business Visa – R 1520.00

Student Visa:

1. Study visa – R 425.00

How Long Is A Temporary Resident Visa in SA?

 Most work visas are issued between three to five years.

Relatives visas are issued for up to two years.

Retirement visas are issued between one to four years.

A business visa is issued for up to two years

A study visa is issued between one to four years.

The amount of years awarded is at the discretion of the Department of Home Affairs.

When Do I Qualify For Permanent Residency?

These are the permanent residence qualifying criteria:

• Relatives visa – 1st level kinship (Can apply immediately).
• Life Partner Visa – Being with your partner for five years or more.
• Spousal Visa – After five years of marriage.
• Critical Skills Visa – five years of work experience or five continuous years on the visa.
• General Work Visa – Five continuous years of being on the visa.
• Retirement visa – Permanent retirement annuity that amounts to R 37, 000.00 or more.
• Business visa – You can apply once you have satisfied all the requirements.

Temporary Residence Visa Extension South Africa

You need to renew your visa 60 days before the visa expires.

This is done through VFS and you’ll need to schedule an appointment with them and submit it on the given date.

The extension process requires you to gather all the documents which you initially did the first time around.

Due to COVID-19 the processing time has been largely affected and could take up to five to seven months before receiving an outcome.

You have the choice to make use of immigration services and SA Migration will offer you a free assessment to see which you qualify for.

Let us assist you in applying for a temporary residence visa as we are always keeping our finger on the pulse where the immigration regulations are concerned.

For more information, Please contact us on :

Tel No landline CT  :  +27 (0) 21 879 5560

Tel No landline JHB : +27 (0) 12 880 1490

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 - ( Whatsapp messages only, No calls )

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 ( Whatsapp messages only, No calls )  

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Please email us to info@samigration.com

www.samigration.com

Citizenship is a right, not a concession

Mail & Guardian Thought Leader | 10 January 2023

The removal of citizenship, and permanent residence, from South Africa’s statute books is the holy grail of a political conspiracy hatched somewhere in the deep state of the department of home affairs. Its cabal hides behind the façade of the 2017 white paper on international migration, which it authored.

The 2017 white paper contains the foundational architecture of a radical ideological transformation of the democratic state as we know it into a tribal fiefdom where constitutional norms and entrenched legislative processes, and legal practitioners, are nothing more than hindrances to the achievement of its objectives.

The white paper argues that South Africa’s existing approach to the granting of residency and naturalisation is mechanical and compliance-based rather than achieving strategic national goals, and concludes that there exists a “misconception” that immigrants have a constitutional right to progress towards permanent residency or citizenship status (naturalisation).

Its thesis is based on the pretext that South Africa’s immigration and citizenship legislation fails to protect South Africa from the risks introduced by the entry by fugitives from justice who are associated with organised crime. The only way to protect our society from these security threats is through policy and strategic “interventions” de-linking residency and citizenship, preventing the “automatic progression from residency to citizenship in law and practice”.

Therefore, the permanent residence permit will be replaced with a long-term temporary residence visa to “dispel a misconception that immigrants have a constitutional right to progress towards citizenship status on the basis of a number of years spent in the country”. The repeated use of the term misconception is used to lead us to believe that a foreigner’s legislative right to citizenship is not true or beggars some distorted belief. This is its Socratic golden lie, a classic distortion, which underscores its danger.

There is absolutely no misconception that the acquisition of citizenship in South Africa is a matter of compliance with provisions of our legislation, as is the case in most constitutional democracies the world over, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the United States, most of the European Union and the Asian countries.
Let us call the new approach contained in the 2017 white paper the “Zuma doctrine” of immigration and citizenship policy, which is aimed at replacing the existing constitutional order with an alternative regime of governance.

Section 3(3) of the constitution requires national legislation that provides for the acquisition, loss, and restoration of citizenship. The Citizenship Act has evolved to provide for the granting of citizenship without discrimination as to race, gender, or ethnicity, based on birth, descent, and naturalisation. The Zuma doctrine seeks to overturn this constitutional system of citizenship and replace it with a legislative apparatus based on a totalitarian concept of state security.

Home affairs management, including its deputy director general, Jackson McKay, and inspectorate chief director Modiri Matthews (brother of foreign affairs minister Naledi Pandor) should be called to account for the Zuma doctrine, which originated when home affairs was an active participant in the state capture project and when its current leadership were fully fledged senior members of its management complex.

Last year saw two pivotal judgments emerging from both the constitutional and supreme court of appeal (SCA), shining an unwelcome light on the manifestation of the Zuma doctrine in the lives of foreigners who attempted to acquire citizenship in terms of the Citizenship Act.

The first case arose from the refusal of home affairs in 2013 to register the foreign births of a group of people in terms of section 2 of the Act, rendering them stateless. The refusal was based on the state’s choice of the least constitutionally compliant interpretation of such provision that denied them citizenship.

In its judgment, Chisuse & Others v DG, Home Affairs & Another, delivered on 22 July 2020, the Constitutional Court upheld the rights of the applicants and awarded costs against home affairs.

An exasperated court noted that citizenship does not depend on a discretionary decision; rather it constitutes a question of law. Once the requisite conditions to acquire citizenship are met, home affairs is obliged to recognise this citizenship and proceed with the necessary administrative procedures without any further deliberation.

By vindicating the applicants, the court declared:

“Citizenship and equality of citizenship is therefore a matter of considerable importance in South Africa, particularly bearing in mind the abhorrent history of citizenship deprivation suffered by many in South Africa over the last hundred and more years. Citizenship is not just a legal status. It goes to the core of a person’s identity, their sense of belonging in a community and, where xenophobia is a lived reality, to their security of person.”

On 25 November 2020, in Minister of Home Affairs & Others v Jose & Another, the SCA scathingly dismissed an appeal brought by home affairs against the Pretoria high court’s order directing the minister to grant citizenship to the Jose brothers, born in South Africa and who reached the age of majority, in terms of section 4(3) of the Citizenship Act. The minister led the charge claiming that the high court was not competent to order him to grant, as opposed to consider, the Jose brothers’ applications for citizenship and on this basis appealed the high court’s order to the SCA.

The minister contended that the applicants never actually applied for citizenship in the first place because they failed to make use of the proper application forms and for this reason the high court should have remitted the applications back to him for consideration. The SCA noted that it had in 2018 ordered the minister to prescribe those forms, but the minister had failed to do so.

The court excoriated the minister for basing his appeal on his own failure to comply with its previous order, and angrily dismissed the appeal with punitive costs against him.

Since 26 March 2020, with the onset of the national lockdown, home affairs has been closed. Since 22 September, however, home affairs began accepting and processing thousands of visa applications, filed in far greater numbers than permanent residence and citizenship applications in any ordinary year. Home affairs continues to refuse to accept and process permanent residence and citizenship applications on the basis that they do not constitute essential government services.

The Zuma doctrine has firmly taken hold of South Africa’s immigration and citizenship system, thwarting it, purposefully frustrating its practical implementation even if this has meant acting in brazen contempt of orders of our highest courts with significant financial implications for our state coffers because of cost orders imposed on home affairs for its insolence and high-handedness. The minister’s attitude, guided by the Zuma doctrine, has never been supine. On the contrary, the minister and the home affairs cabal behind the 2017 white paper have purposefully hijacked South Africa’s immigration and citizenship legislation, attempting to paralyse it.

The very notion of South Africa’s inclusive constitutional democracy is in grave danger of being subverted into a re-conceptualised nation based on border and state security. South Africa’s national state of disaster is facilitating this transformation on our president’s watch. Perhaps this realisation prompted the SCA in Jose to issue a resounding warning for South Africa, paraphrasing Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism:

“‘Citizenship is more fundamental than civil rights’. For Arendt, the issue was not simply a question of statelessness, but of common humanity, and the responsibility we have to one another as human beings who share the world in common. As long as we live in a world that is territorially organised into national states, a stateless person ‘is not simply expelled from one country’ they are ‘expelled from humanity’.”

The 2019 home affairs white paper, while recognising that South Africa is a new state with a history rooted in the denial of citizenship and identity, persists with the view that this history contributes to the current narrow mandate of home affairs to be primarily a producer of enabling documents.

This restatement smacks of a palpable dissatisfaction with the legislative powers and discretion accorded to home affairs by our existing refugee, immigration, and citizenship legislation.

The Zuma doctrine demands nothing less than total power to control national sovereignty at the expense of law and its compliance by foreigners who stand to be granted ordinary rights of permanent residence and citizenship and the benefits of dignity and security and active political participation in our society which our constitution promises them.

It is clear for all to see that the Zuma doctrine prevails with the full support of the Ramaphosa cabinet. Let us uproot the Zuma doctrine and its authors before the transformation of our country into a totalitarian state takes place, where the granting of citizenship, and permanent residence status, will no longer be granted on the basis of legislative compliance but, if at all, at the whim of a security apparatus. We have everything to lose if we don’t.

www.samigration.com

 

Court rules on stateless children

The Mercury | 10 Jan 2023

As long as we live in a world that is territorially organised into national states, a stateless person is not simply expelled from one country; they are expelled from humanity

CHILDREN born to foreign nationals and raised in South Africa are South Africans, the Supreme Court of Appeal has said.

In the ground-breaking judgment, the court quoted political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt in the opening to the judgment, saying “citizenship is more fundamental than civil rights”.

It said the issue was not simply a question of statelessness, but of common humanity and the responsibility people had towards one another as human beings who shared the world in common.

“As long as we live in a world that is territorially organised into national states, a stateless person is not simply expelled from one country; they are expelled from humanity,” five judges said in the ruling.

The high court in Pretoria earlier ordered Home Affairs to grant the Jose brothers, born from Angolan parents, South African citizenship.

The department, however, appealed the ruling on the grounds that the brothers did not prove that they had the right to South African citizenship.

Although the brothers were born and raised here, Home Affairs insisted that they had to go back to Angola from where their parents hailed, although they had never set foot in that country. The Citizenship Act provides that a child born here of parents who are not South African citizens or who have not been admitted into the Republic for permanent residence, qualifies to apply for South African citizenship upon becoming a major (18).

This is provided that the child lived in South Africa from the date of birth to the date of becoming a major. Another prerequisite is that the child’s birth had to be registered in accordance with the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act.

The parents of the brothers fled Angola in 1995 and sought asylum in South Africa. Joseph Jose Diabaka was born in February, 1996, and his brother Jonathan Diabaka “Junior” in August the following year.

Both, who were born in Coronation Hospital in Joburg (now the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital), have lived in South Africa their entire lives.

JUDGES’ RULING

The brothers each received a birth certificate at the time their births were registered. They, together with their parents, were also granted refugee status in 1997.

That endured until January, 2014, when they were informed by the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs that pursuant to a repatriation process initiated by the South African government their refugee status had been withdrawn. Joseph was then 17 and Junior 16.

Both were then learners at Barnato Park High School. They were informed by the department that their refugee permits would not be renewed and that they should call on the Angolan Embassy for further information.

At that embassy, they were told that in order for them to remain lawfully in South Africa, they had to apply for Angolan passports or face “repatriation”.

The brothers did so as it was the only option available to them to lawfully remain in South Africa, the place that they regarded as their home. At the time they were in high school and needed to regularise their stay in South Africa in order to continue with their schooling. The brothers said the alternative of being repatriated would mean “a forced removal from our country of birth and home country to a foreign land”.

Apart from them never having been to Angola, they have no family there and cannot speak any of the country's languages.

Although they did qualify for citizenship in terms of the law, Home Affairs steadfastly refused to grant this.

The department claimed the brothers never applied for citizenship because they “failed to make use of the proper application forms”.

In turning down the appeal, the judges frowned upon this argument as there were simply no such forms in existence.

www.samigration.com

Can I get an ID if I was born in SA to foreign parents but my uncle has a valid South African ID?

SA Migration | 10 Jan 2022

The short answer

Possibly. In terms of the 2018 judgement in the Naki case, Home Affairs should accept and consider your application.

The whole question

Dear Friend

I was born in South Africa, although my parents are foreign. I am currently undocumented and cannot further my studies (I have completed matric). I only have a birth clinic card. My father returned to his country and my mother has disappeared. The only family I have left is my father's younger brother who has a valid South African ID. What can I do to get documented?

The long answer

As you were born in South Africa to foreign parents, you can apply for South African citizenship when you are eighteen, if you have not lived anywhere else but South Africa, and if your birth has been registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1992. (This is in terms of the amended Citizenship Act.)

But as your birth was not registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act, you need to apply for a birth certificate in “late registration of birth”. It is a long and difficult process, especially as your parents have left the country, but at least there is your father’s brother who will have to stand in and assist you. 

As you are older than 15 years, you would need to provide the following documents to Home Affairs (DHA). You can get the forms from their offices:

• Application for an ID (Form B1-9);
• Completed Forms DHA-24, DHA-24/A x 2 and DHA-288 for the registration of birth;
• Supporting documentation like proof of birth, clinic card etc, as well as written reasons why the birth was not registered within 30 days of birth;
• Fingerprints of parents or adoptive parents;
• Your biometrics (fingerprints);
• Certified copies of parents’ IDs, or asylum permit etc;
• Certified copy of ID of next of kin (this would have to be your father’s brother).

Even though it probably won’t be possible for you to produce all these documents, and neither of your parents can be there, your application must still be accepted and considered by Home Affairs in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of 2000 (PAJA), which gives effect to the constitutional right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair.

In the 2008 Naki case in the Eastern Cape High Court, the court ruled that the Births and Deaths Registration Act should be read to mean that both parents’ documents must be presented “where possible” when registering a birth. This is because the court took into consideration the difficulties that an undocumented parent/s would experience in trying to register the birth of their child. 

www.samigration.com

Can an adult apply for South African citizenship through their informally adoptive father?

SA Migration | 09 Feb 2022

The short answer

If her de facto father was assumed to be her biological father, the child would qualify for South African citizenship by descent

The whole question

Dear Athalie

What is the legal status of a child who was born in Zimbabwe to a Zimbabwean mother who then married a South African man living in Zimbabwe at the time? The South African husband gave the baby his name and signed her birth certificate. Can the child apply for South African citizenship through her informally adoptive father, and can the father could legally adopt her, given that she is 22 years of age?

The long answer

If the man has acted as the child’s father all her life, married her mother before the child was born, gave the child his name and signed her birth certificate, then why should the authorities suspect that he is not her biological father in the first place? He has been her father in fact, ‘de facto’ as the law puts it, even if he is not her parent biologically.

If her de facto father was assumed to be her biological father, then the child would qualify for South African citizenship by descent, if she was born outside South Africa and one of her parents was a South African citizen at the time of her birth and if her birth was registered.

This is the list of documents required by Home Affairs in South Africa for an application for citizenship by descent: 

• Completed BI-24 form to be endorsed by South African parent of child being registered;
• Completed BI-529.  Child and South African parent;
• Original or notarized copy of foreign birth certificate;
• Original or notarized copies of South African parents' proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, ID book, or valid passport;
• Original or notarized copy of parents' marriage certificate;
• A notarised letter of consent from the child's non-South African parent giving her/his consent for the child's birth to be registered in South Africa;
• Adoption order (for those who are adopted by South African citizens).

If for some reason she does not qualify for citizenship by descent, then she could automatically qualify for South African citizenship if she was adopted by a South African citizen. 

In South African law, according to the Children's Act 38 of 2005, a child is considered someone under the age of 18 years and when it comes to the adoption process, anyone older than 18 cannot be adopted in South Africa.

In Zimbabwe, too, the person to be adopted must be under 18 years of age.  But unlike in South Africa, Adoption.com states that “A waiver from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare is required for children over the age of 18.”

So it appears that it is not an open and shut case as in South Africa.

Danai Chirawu of kubatana.net says in a 2021 article that, in Zimbabwe, men cannot individually adopt girls except in “certain proven circumstances” and with permission from Social Welfare (Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare). She goes on to say that a foreigner can adopt, “provided that they have been given permission by the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.” She says that the High Court “may endorse foreign adoptions.”

In South Africa, the law says that “an adoption order in relation to an adult may be granted by the Court if there was a significant parent-to-child relationship in existence between the intending adoptive parent or parents and the adult before they attained the age of 18 years.” 

That might be a good point for a lawyer to advance when applying for a waiver from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.

The following quote from Anne Louw (South Africa) in a 2017 paper for A de facto adoption doctrine for South Africa?, may be helpful too: 

“…In the case of Maneli v Maneli, the court held that by agreeing to give the boy his name, the defendant impliedly represented to the boy himself, to the plaintiff and to the world at large that he proposed to stand in relation to the boy as a father to a son. The court argued that during the course of the marriage the defendant discharged the duties of a father in his dealings with the boy – willing to place himself, literally, in loco parentis when the family was still intact.” 

“… With reference to the Maneli case, the curator furthermore stated that nothing in the Children’s Act precludes the recognition of de facto adoptions.”

“…It should be evident from the above exposition that South African courts have consistently recognised a de facto adoption for purposes of the recognition of a duty of support between the child and the putative parent. A doctrine of de facto adoption has thus evidently emerged in this context. Equity in this context can be justified by the child’s constitutional rights to parental care and best interests encapsulated in section 28." (of the Constitution)

Perhaps your best bet is to approach a lawyer or an organisation that assists people who cannot afford lawyers.

www.samigration.com