One of my English friends has been granted a 90 day visitors visa for SA, but she's wanting to stay on until June 2008. Applying for a temporary residents permit etc. seems out of the question. Can she cross the border into Namibia or Botswana, for instance, every 90 days and return a few days later and get another 90 day visitors permit?
We're bacially trying to save a few hundred pounds by not having to buy a new flight back to the UK every 90 days.
Any assistance or advice would be hugely helpful!
saffashells
1
colind
Find a local Home Affairs Office, take your return tickets and about 350 Rand, wait for a while and they should tell you to come back in a day or so to collect your extended visa.
They close at 3.30, the best time to visit is about 3.10 when they are hurrying to close.
Did you know that people In South African can tell the time only once a day and that is closing time !!
South African Tours and Safaris
2
colind
Sorry you can do this 2 times maximum 9 months.
3 months at a time
You will need flight tickets with the correct dates.
Either change the tickets each time or be creative.
E tickets are wonderful things !!!
South African Tours and Safaris
3
missalaska
Saffashells - What your friend has is a temporary residence permit, colin (despite being jaded ;) ) is correct you can stay only 9 months through doing extensions. Unfortunately longer temporary residence permits require a whole lot of documentation and are usually granted on condition of various factors.
Yes you can certainly leave and come back. I think the best thing to do would be get an extension on the current permit and then leave for a couple of weeks before that expires and come back on a new temp. residence permit and then get that extended and then leave again.
if she does an extension - as well as flight tickets she will also need bank statements proving she has enough money to support herrself. she will also need to go 30 days before the current permit expires and submit the application and pay.
i guess it depends on where in the country you apply, but certainly the branches in cape town will not issue it in a couple of days.
4
colind
Jaded me I don’t think so!! I love South Africa but it is still the pointless paperwork capital of the world.
I tokk me 3 years and boxes of papers to get my permanent residence permit
I forgot the bank statements sorry.
We have a separate section in Port Elizabeth for foreign nationals and they are quite quick and efficient and will issue in a few days.
The leaving and coming back only works if your 3 month visa expires when you are away otherwise you will simply come back in on the existing visa.
South African Tours and Safaris
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