Immigration south-africa

Top Ten Immigration Tips for South Africa

Part of the Intergate Group of Companies
Page 1 | Copyright © 2012 Intergate Immigration Service. All rights reserved.

Hi I am Claus Lauter from Intergate
Immigration, and as always thanks for joining
me on our monthly podcast.

As promised this month I am going to give
you the inside track to a successful
immigration to South Africa as we go through
my top 10 immigration tips.


1. Be patient and plan for delays – whilst the South
African Department of Home Affairs has improved in
many areas, delays are common. Their official
website states temporary residency permits will be
approved in 30 days and often quotes the time
frame for permanent residency as 6 months.

Currently it is nearer 2 – 3 months for temporary and
2 years for permanent applications to be processed.
So applications need to be made in plenty of time
and expect delays.


2. Do your research on your selected immigration
company – Only deal with registered immigration
practitioners and lawyers – dealing with anyone else
can put your application in jeopardy and there is little
in the way of accountability.

As with most countries the immigration industry
contains rouge elements. In particular be on the look
out for unregistered companies, inexperienced start
ups claiming to have years of experience and
introducer sites.


One way of establishing whether the company is
registered and if it has been in business as long as
they claim is to ask for a copy of their registration
papers.

This will give you the date the company was
registered as well as confirming they are are a legal
company. Introducer sites are common, they are
basically websites owned by non immigration
companies, whereby the owner of the website is
paid a commission for providing a lead.


This can add to your costs and also the information
given is not supplied by a registered immigration
practitioner.

Pick a company who has sufficient resources, staff
levels and history to ensure they are able to follow
up and sustain this throughout the entire process - it
can take sometimes up to 2 years ( for permanent
residency) to be received.


3. Get medical insurance – in South Africa this is a
must.


4. Always try and submit your permit application
abroad. South African immigration rules are
changing and the new rules specify that an applicant
may not make an application in South Africa that
changes their status.

In laymans terms this means a foreigner cannot
enter South Africa on a tourist visa and then apply
for, say, a work or business permit.


Whilst these new rules are not yet entirely functional
they may be invoked any day and the Departure of
Home Affairs is notorious for giving no prior warning
notice when implementing changes.


5. Do your home work – the biggest reason for an
unsuccessful immigration is the failure of the family
to settle into their new environment. Areas need
exploring, schools selected and amenities matched
to your requirements.

The internet offers some great research
opportunities and also a few immigration companies,
such as ourselves, offer relocation support and
advice as well as a property consultant.


6. Get organised – compiling a visa or permit
application means supplying lots of documentary
evidence.

Check you have all your paperwork and it is up to
date, this includes items such as birth certificates,
marriage certificates, passports etc


7. Get the finances in order – try and set up banking
in South Africa before you arrive, again we can help
with this. Make sure your banks and credit card
providers in your home country are aware you are
moving to South Africa so they do not prevent you
accessing funds.
Ensure you have internet banking and have left
sufficient funds for any direct debits or standing
orders that may be continuing. In addition you need
to ensure you have told the relevant tax authorities
of your move.


8. Find a good money transfer company - South
Africa has exchange control in place, something that
most immigrants will not have come across before.

It controls the flow of money into and out of South
Africa and can effect your ability to repatriate funds.

In addition companies such as Incompass can save
you significant amounts on your money transfers.


9. Read thoroughly your relocation report.

The better immigration companies will supply you
with a detailed immigration report covering the many
areas that will effect you during your move.

The information in a relocation report is invaluable in
assisting you and preventing mistakes.


10. Do not assume or be afraid to ask – South Africa
offers a first world infrastructure but there are many
things will which will be different to your home
country.

No matter how small the question may be always
check.

Again top immigration companies will have in house
resources to guide you through areas such as tax,
medical insurance, finding a property, transferring
money etc etc

So there we have it – my top ten immigration tips for
South Africa. By no means does this list cover all
eventualities, but it gives you a good start.

Remember nothing substitutes expert advice so
please feel free to contact us for your free and non
obligatory consultation.

Just type Intergate Immigration into your search
engine and you will see we are easy to find.


Also check out our new instant call back – simply
enter your phone number and we ring you back
instantly and no cost to you.

On our site you'll also find all the social media links
and a newsletter subscription, all handy things for
keeping you to date.


As always a big thank you to the regular followers of
our podcasts, we thank you for joining us again this
month. For those newcomers welcome and we hope
to see you become a regular.

We look forward to seeing you online and at our next
podcast when we are going to talk you through the
process for buying a property in South Africa and
how a buyers consultant can help you.


Visit our website at www.intergate-immigration.com now


Immigration south-africa

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