# Legal status whilst waiting for renewal



## ski-guy (Jul 25, 2015)

Dear Readers
I hope someone can advise on this or refer me to the appropriate person:

I am South African citizen. My spouse who is from the UK has been employed on a spousal visa with a work endorsement which was due to expire on 11 June 2015. We have a child who was born in SA. She applied in March 2015 for a renewal. Previously she renewed the visa every 3 years in person at home affairs and this took a couple of weeks.
This year, it had to be done by VFS. She was employed on a permanent contract.

Home Affairs incorrectly rejected the application in May 2015. She appealed in May 2015 before the expiry date and within the time frame. Whilst awaiting the outcome, the employer terminated her (permanent) contract on 12 June 2015.
The employer was fully informed of the situation with home affairs during all of this time. 

She was granted a new spousal visa with work endorsement on 1 July 2015.


Question is:
What is the legality of her status between 12 June 2015-1 July 2015?
1) Was she legally allowed to work during this period June-July since the new visa is effectively a renewal of the old one?
2) If answer to number 1 is yes, then did the employer act illegally in terminating her contract?

Thank you.
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## Fynbos (Jan 8, 2015)

Hi Ski Guy,

1)	No. She is not allowed to work once her visa has expired. Any work conducted during the said period, even with a pending application, is unlawful.
2)	Since the answer to question 1 is No, her employment contract would have terminated once her visa expired. It is her duty to ensure she is on a valid visa at all times. Usually an employer undertakes to ensure this and should notify DHA when an employee`s visa expires.


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