Relatives Visa

A Relative's Visa may be issued by the Department to a foreigner who is a member of the immediate family of a citizen or a resident, providing that such citizen or resident provides the prescribed financial assurances.

This only applies to first level of kinship i.e: Brother, Sister, Mother, Father.

The period of validity of the Visa shall be determined by the financial assurance provided, but will not exceed a period of 24 months at a time. A relative Visa issued to a spouse shall lapse upon the dissolution of the spousal relationship and the Department may at any time satisfy itself that a good faith spousal relationship exists and or continues to exist.

Let SA Migration Intl handle your entire case from filling out the documentation to processing the application.


South African Retirement Visa


A retirement visa can be granted for 4 years to someone with a monthly pension, irrevocable annuity or retirement account of R37 000 from a net worth/combination of assets realizing R37 000 per month and wishes to retire temporarily or permanently in South Africa.

A South African Retired Person's permit is ideal for people wishing to retire in South Africa temporarily or permanently subject to the financial criteria or parameters being satisfied. This South African visa category is designed for those intending to retire in the country or wishing to have a long stay in South Africa with the need to renew the visa or permit. This retirement visa is not based on age but rather on assets, rental income and / or bank accounts generating income. It is based upon foreigner providing proof that such foreigner has the right to a pension or an annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment for the rest of his or her life from the country of his or her origin; or a minimum prescribed net worth generating income for life.

This South African immigration visa is a popular option for seasonal visitors, i.e. those visiting the country for a period of six months or more. An important point to observe is that successful applicants are under no obligation to apply for permanent residence.

The temporary grant may be renewed indefinitely so long as the requirements continue to be met. However, permanent residency does bestow additional benefits upon its holder. In South Africa, immigration through the retired person's route can be either a temporary visa permit or a permanent residence visa as outlined in the eligibility criteria summarized below.

  • The temporary route is granted for four years and is renewable indefinitely for four-year periods.
  • The permanent route offers permanent residents the same rights and privileges as those with South African citizenship, with a few key exceptions, most notably the right to vote.

In both the temporary and permanent residence category the, South African Retired Persons Visa is based upon financial criteria and unlike a South African Work Visa, no prior job offer needs to be in place before an application can be made. Although unlike temporary South African visit visas, retired people can permitted to work if they wish, provided they apply under the correct visa category – Retirement plus Work Visa We wish to stress that the category “retired person", does not confer a maximum or minimum age limit for this class of visa for South Africa. Retired person's visas may be awarded to people of all ages, provided that the eligibility requirements below are met.

  • A pension, retirement account or irrevocable annuity which has a value of at least R37, 000 per month. This requirement applies to each person making an application.
  • Alternatively, candidates may obtain a South African visa of this kind by demonstrating a "net worth" through a combination of assets which equates to a minimum of R37, 000 per month. Once again, this criterion applies to each person making an application.

Work Conditions
The nature of this type of immigration to South Africa is such that no specific stipulations are in place regarding a candidate's ability to work in South Africa. In most cases, it may be assumed that people embarking upon this route, based as it is upon a steady income from a source other than employment will not be entering the country to work. However, each case will be considered individually and candidates may be able to work during their time in the country.

Applicants wishing to work will need to submit an employment contract and is not required to demonstrate that a South African citizen or resident is available for the position. The idea here is that applicants under this category can supplement their income and that the rules have been relaxed significantly from the stringent work visa requirements.

Accompanying Dependents

Spouse immigration and dependent immigration are now provided through temporary South African Retired person's visas. This route to South Africa is based upon the financial security of each applicant and unlike work permit visas or business visas, the dependent family members of retired applicants automatically qualify for visit visa status to accompany the principle applicant and does not have to meet the same criteria for temporary residence but for the purposes of permanent residence they are treated as one family unit.

However, in cases where an applicant successfully obtains permanent residence as a retired person, their spouse and/or dependent children, i.e. those aged under 21 will also qualify for permanent residency.

Financially Independent

An alternative route exists in the financially independent visa for which candidates would need to be able to demonstrate a net asset value totalling not less than R12 million.

In addition, it would also be necessary to demonstrate proof of payment of R120,000 as a non-refundable sum to the Director General of Home Affairs. The application for a financially independent visa will lead to permanent residence.

  • A retired persons visa may be issued for a period exceeding three months to a foreigner who intends to retire in the Republic, provided that the foreigner provide proof that such foreigner has the right to a pension or an annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment for the rest of his or her life from the country of his or her origin; or a minimum prescribed net worth.
  • The Department may authorise the holder of a retired person permit to conduct work under terms and conditions as the Department may deem fit to determine under the circumstances.
  • A retired person visa may allow its holder to sojourn in the Republic on a seasonal or continuous basis; and not exceed a four-year period, at the expiry of which it may be renewed one or more times.

South African Retirement Visa

A retirement visa can be granted for 4 years to someone with a monthly pension, irrevocable annuity or retirement account of R37 000 from a net worth/combination of assets realizing R37 000 per month and wishes to retire temporarily or permanently in South Africa.

A South African Retired Person's permit is ideal for people wishing to retire in South Africa temporarily or permanently subject to the financial criteria or parameters being satisfied. This South African visa category is designed for those intending to retire in the country or wishing to have a long stay in South Africa with the need to renew the visa or permit. This retirement visa is not based on age but rather on assets, rental income and / or bank accounts generating income. It is based upon foreigner providing proof that such foreigner has the right to a pension or an annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment for the rest of his or her life from the country of his or her origin; or a minimum prescribed net worth generating income for life.

This South African immigration visa is a popular option for seasonal visitors, i.e. those visiting the country for a period of six months or more. An important point to observe is that successful applicants are under no obligation to apply for permanent residence.

The temporary grant may be renewed indefinitely so long as the requirements continue to be met. However, permanent residency does bestow additional benefits upon its holder. In South Africa, immigration through the retired person's route can be either a temporary visa permit or a permanent residence visa as outlined in the eligibility criteria summarized below.

  • The temporary route is granted for four years and is renewable indefinitely for four-year periods.
  • The permanent route offers permanent residents the same rights and privileges as those with South African citizenship, with a few key exceptions, most notably the right to vote.

In both the temporary and permanent residence category the, South African Retired Persons Visa is based upon financial criteria and unlike a South African Work Visa, no prior job offer needs to be in place before an application can be made. Although unlike temporary South African visit visas, retired people can permitted to work if they wish, provided they apply under the correct visa category – Retirement plus Work Visa We wish to stress that the category “retired person", does not confer a maximum or minimum age limit for this class of visa for South Africa. Retired person's visas may be awarded to people of all ages, provided that the eligibility requirements below are met.

  • A pension, retirement account or irrevocable annuity which has a value of at least R37, 000 per month. This requirement applies to each person making an application.
  • Alternatively, candidates may obtain a South African visa of this kind by demonstrating a "net worth" through a combination of assets which equates to a minimum of R37, 000 per month. Once again, this criterion applies to each person making an application.

Work Conditions
The nature of this type of immigration to South Africa is such that no specific stipulations are in place regarding a candidate's ability to work in South Africa. In most cases, it may be assumed that people embarking upon this route, based as it is upon a steady income from a source other than employment will not be entering the country to work. However, each case will be considered individually and candidates may be able to work during their time in the country.

Applicants wishing to work will need to submit an employment contract and is not required to demonstrate that a South African citizen or resident is available for the position. The idea here is that applicants under this category can supplement their income and that the rules have been relaxed significantly from the stringent work visa requirements.

Accompanying Dependents

Spouse immigration and dependent immigration are now provided through temporary South African Retired person's visas. This route to South Africa is based upon the financial security of each applicant and unlike work permit visas or business visas, the dependent family members of retired applicants automatically qualify for visit visa status to accompany the principle applicant and does not have to meet the same criteria for temporary residence but for the purposes of permanent residence they are treated as one family unit.

However, in cases where an applicant successfully obtains permanent residence as a retired person, their spouse and/or dependent children, i.e. those aged under 21 will also qualify for permanent residency.

Financially Independent

An alternative route exists in the financially independent visa for which candidates would need to be able to demonstrate a net asset value totalling not less than R12 million.

In addition, it would also be necessary to demonstrate proof of payment of R120,000 as a non-refundable sum to the Director General of Home Affairs. The application for a financially independent visa will lead to permanent residence.

  • A retired persons visa may be issued for a period exceeding three months to a foreigner who intends to retire in the Republic, provided that the foreigner provide proof that such foreigner has the right to a pension or an annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment for the rest of his or her life from the country of his or her origin; or a minimum prescribed net worth.
  • The Department may authorise the holder of a retired person permit to conduct work under terms and conditions as the Department may deem fit to determine under the circumstances.
  • A retired person visa may allow its holder to sojourn in the Republic on a seasonal or continuous basis; and not exceed a four-year period, at the expiry of which it may be renewed one or more times.



South Africa Citizenship Options

  • South African Citizen by Descent
  • South African Citizen by Naturalisation:
  • Automatic loss of Citizenship
  • Resumption of South African citizenship
  • Deprivation of Citizenship
  • South African Citizen by Naturalisation:
  • Automatic loss of Citizenship
  • Resumption of South African citizenship
  • Acquisition of the citizenship or nationality of another country

South African Citizen by Descent:

Anybody who was born outside of South Africa to a South African citizen. His or her birth has to be registered in line with the births and deaths registration act 51 of 1992.

South African Citizen by Naturalisation:

Permanent Resident holders of 5 or more years can apply for citizenship. Anybody married to a South African citizen qualifies for naturalisation, two years after receiving his or her permanent residence at the time of marriage.

A child under 21 who has permanent residence Visa qualifies for naturalization immediately after the Visa is issued.

Automatic loss of Citizenship.

This occurs when a South African citizen:

Obtains citizenship of another country by a voluntary and formal act, other than marriage, or;

Serves in the armed forces of another country, where he or she is also a citizen, while is at war with South Africa.

Deprivation of Citizenship:

A South African citizen by naturalization can be deprived of his citizenship if;

The certificate of naturalisation was obtained fraudulently or false information was supplied.

He or she holds the citizenship of another country and has, at any time, been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in any country for an offence that also would have been an offence in South Africa.


South African Business Visa


A business visa may be issued by the Department of Home Affairs to a foreigner intending to establish or invest in a business in South Africa in which he or she may be employed, and to members of such foreigners’ immediate family providing that certain requirements have been met.

The Act calls for investment of R5,0 million in a business and you need to make sure you employ 60% South African citizens or permanent residents to get both a temporary and permanent business visa, you can get these visas with less capital investment - sometimes for as low as R600,000 investment using our expert team at SA Migration.

Many businesses do not require a capital investment as large as R5 million and in certain cases, you are allowed to reduce this amount and commit to a smaller investment if your business falls within the certain industries. The following businesses to be in the national interest, and therefore qualifying for reduction or waiver of the capitalisation requirements as determined to be in the national interest in relation to a Business Visa: Many of these business owners do not have the required investment amounts. If this is the case and the business falls in line with one of the following industries, a capital waiver can be requested. This would mean a reduction in the required investment amount.

The industries are:

(a) Agro-processing

  • Fisheries and aquaculture i.e. freshwater aquaculture and marine culture
  • Food processing in the milling and baking industries
  • Beverages viz. fruit juices and the local beneficiation, packaging and export of indigenous teas
  • High value natural fibres viz., organic cotton and downstream mohair production
  • High value organic food for the local and export market
  • Biofuels production viz. bioethanol and biogas
  • oils: tea extracts, including buchu, honeybush: and other oil derivatives (avocado, amarula etc.)
  • Diversification / beneficiation of biomass sources i.e. sugar, maize

(b) Business Process Outsourcing and IT Enabled Services

  • Call centers
  • Back Office Processing
  • Shared Corporate Services
  • Enterprise solutions e.g. fleet management and asset management
  • Legal process outsourcing

(c) Capital / Transport equipment, metals and electrical machinery and apparatus

  • Basic iron and steel
  • Basic precious and non-ferrous metals
  • Casting of metals
  • Other fabricated metal products: metalwork service activities
  • General purpose machinery
  • Tooling manufacturing
  • Foundries
  • White goods and associated components
  • Electric motors, generators and transformers
  • Electricity distribution and control apparatus
  • Insulated wire and cable
  • Accumulators, primary cells and primary batteries

(d) Electro Technical

  • Advanced telecommunications
  • Software development
  • Software and mobile applications
  • Smart metering
  • Embedded software
  • Radio frequency identifications
  • Digital TV and Set Top Boxes due to migration to full digital television
  • Process control, measurement and instrumentation
  • Security and monitoring solutions
  • Financial software
  • Manufacturing sensors

(e) Textile, Clothing and Leather

  • Spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles
  • Knitted and crocheted fabrics and articles
  • Wearing apparel except fur apparel
  • Dressing and dying of fur
  • Leather skins and hides beneficiation

(f) Consumer goods

  • White goods and associated components

(g) Boatbuilding

  • Boatbuilding and associated services industry
  • Engines and engine systems
  • Marine equipment and accessories

(h) Pulp, paper and Furniture

  • Manufacture of paper products: publishing, printing and reproduction
  • Manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials
  • Paper and paper products and furniture
  • Manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork

(i) Automotives and Components

  • engines, radiators, filters and components thereof
  • air conditioners / climate control systems
  • alarms and Tracking devices
  • axles, transmission shafts
  • body parts and panels
  • catalytic converters, silencers and exhaust systems and components
  • wiring harnesses, instrument panels vehicle interiors, electronic drive train components,
  • lighting equipment
  • seats and parts thereof, seatbelts, leather covers
  • suspension and shock absorbers, springs and parts thereof
  • steering wheels, columns and boxes
  • ignition, starting equipment, gauges and instrument parts

(J) Green Economy Industries

(jj) Power generation:

  • Nuclear Build Programmer i.e. joint ventures, consortiums and the establishment of new companies to grow South Africa's nuclear manufacturing capability and nuclear supply industry to supply into the nuclear build programme
  • Independent power generation, energy infrastructure and alternative energy

(jjj) Renewable Energy:

  • Onshore wind power - manufacture of turbines/blades
  • Solar PV and Concentrated Solar Power manufacture/assembly
  • Biomass
  • Small hydro
  • Lowering greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites
  • Energy efficiency and energy saving industries
  • Solar water heaters
  • Waste Management and Recycling
  • Reducing landfill

(k) Advanced Manufacturing

  • Nano-materials
  • High performance materials based on natural resources (advanced bio-composites
  • Advanced materials, polymers and composites
  • Medical devices, diagnostics and composites
  • Space e.g. satellite manufacturers etc. and astronomy e.g. SKA, telescopes, dishes etc.
  • Composites (intelligent textiles used in medical, building and construction industries)
  • Continuous fibre reinforced thermoform composites
  • Biochemical and biologics for applications in agriculture, industry and health/medical sectors
  • Electricity demand Site Management Solutions to improve electricity efficiency usage
  • Lasers and laser-based additive manufacturing various applications
  • Advanced Robotics Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems
  • Applications in the mining industry, data collection and analysis
  • Bio - manufacturing - Biochemical and biologics for applications in agriculture, industry and health/medical.
  • Fuel cells and Technology

(l) Tourism infrastructure

  • Accommodation - hotels, boutique hotels, lodges and resorts
  • urban integrated tourism/ entertainment precincts
  • adventure, - eco-, sport-, conference- and cultural tourism
  • infrastructure developments
  • leisure complexes and world class golf courses
  • harbour and waterfront developments
  • trans frontier conservations areas
  • Tourism transport - aviation, rail, cruise liners etc.
  • green building and green technologies for tourism
  • attractions and activity - based tourism.
  • museums and heritage

(m) Chemicals, plastic fabrication and pharmaceuticals

  • basic chemicals
  • water treatment chemical products
  • man-made fibres
  • plastic products: polypropylene and polyvinculchloride
  • medical (drips and syringes), manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredient
  • (APIs) for key anti-retrovirals (ARVs)
  • Manufacture of reagents for AIDS/HIV diagnostics
  • Production of vaccines and biological medicines

(n) Creative and Design Industry

  • Film studios, treaty film co-production ventures, distribution infrastructure
  • Servicing of foreign productions
  • Production of film and documentaries, commercials, stills photography and
  • Multi-media
  • Post-production
  • Design
  • Jewellery manufacturing and design
  • Fashion design

(o) Oil and Gas

  • Maintenance ship and rig repair
  • Fabrication - equipment and specialised components
  • Specialised services - training and accreditation
  • Specialised services - non-descriptive testing, inspection services, SHEQ services
  • Exploration - technical services: seismic surveys, logging, environmental impact assessments, etc.
  • Exploration - offshore
  • Exploration - onshore shale gas
  • Exploration - onshore coal bed methane and underground coal gasification
  • Infrastructure - refineries (Oil and GTL)
  • Infrastructure - terminals LPG/LNG import, storage and distribution
  • Infrastructure - ports and associated infrastructure
  • Infrastructure - storage
  • Logistics - pipeline

(p) Mineral beneficiation

  • Downstream processing and value addition

(q) Infrastructure Development

(r) ICT

  • Geoamatics and Digital media
  • Wireless and Telecom
  • Electronics
  • IT
  • Software Development
  • Advanced programming

List of undesirable Business in South Africa;

  • Businesses that import second hand motor vehicles into the Republic of South Africa for the purpose of exporting to other markets outside the Republic of South Africa
  • The exotic entertainment industry
  • Security Industry

Our team of professionals at SA Migration International will assist you and help you to obtain your business visa for you.

South Africa is going through a very exciting stage at the moment and there is lots of opportunity to be involved in this emerging economy and the government welcomes anyone wishing to invest and create employment. Especially for small business owners, the markets are extremely lucrative and the government welcomes anyone who wants to invest.


Beitbridge border: Motsoaledi says army makes over 500 arrests daily

At least 500 undocumented Zimbabweans are being arrested daily, trying to enter the country illegally. That's according to Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi.

JOHANNESBURG - More than 500 undocumented Zimbabweans are arrested daily, trying to enter the country illegally, according to Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi.

The Defence Force is set to deploy helicopters to patrol the Limpopo River, and the SA Police Service will be in boats, to stop immigrants from entering South Africa illegally.

Several people have been arrested near the Beitbridge border post in Limpopo. Security has been increased at the crossing from Zimbabwe, whose lockdown means only cargo vehicles are being allowed through. eNCA's Aviwe Mtila is following this story for us.

"The army arrests more than 500 every day. They arrest them right at the border and send them back. The SAPS boat is also working there, chasing them away."

Motsoaledi says more arrests should be expected.

Meanwhile, several people have been arrested near the Beitbridge border post in Limpopo.

www.samigration.com