# Applying for a General work permit



## aaronhardy62 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi all,

I moved over to south Africa in November with my partner. She has a SA passport and I have a Temporary residence permit for 2years. I am now looking at getting a General work permit. I spoke to a woman at the home affairs contact ctr and she told me that applying for a work permit is a completely new application so I would need to provide medical reports, radiology, criminal check etc.
I did all of that 4months ago to get my Temp residence permit to get into the country and that is with the SA embassy in the UK. 

Has anyone else been in the same scenario as this and if so what did they have to do? any help would be much apprieciated.

Aaron


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## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

aaronhardy62 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I moved over to south Africa in November with my partner. She has a SA passport and I have a Temporary residence permit for 2years. I am now looking at getting a General work permit. I spoke to a woman at the home affairs contact ctr and she told me that applying for a work permit is a completely new application so I would need to provide medical reports, radiology, criminal check etc.
> I did all of that 4months ago to get my Temp residence permit to get into the country and that is with the SA embassy in the UK.
> ...


I have never heard of a "general work permit" Aaron.


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## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

aaronhardy62 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I moved over to south Africa in November with my partner. She has a SA passport and I have a Temporary residence permit for 2years. I am now looking at getting a General work permit. I spoke to a woman at the home affairs contact ctr and she told me that applying for a work permit is a completely new application so I would need to provide medical reports, radiology, criminal check etc.
> I did all of that 4months ago to get my Temp residence permit to get into the country and that is with the SA embassy in the UK.
> ...


Read through this Aaron, hope it helps?

http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/IMS Forms\TRP\TRP 6 - General Work Permit v1.pdf


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## aaronhardy62 (Jan 10, 2013)

Sorry its just a standard work permit I am looking at.


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## 2fargone (Jun 14, 2011)

aaronhardy62 said:


> Sorry its just a standard work permit I am looking at.


Do you have a job offer? You need that for the permit. Unless something has changed you need the offer then you apply for the permit.


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

aaronhardy62 said:


> Sorry its just a standard work permit I am looking at.


What type of TR do you have? If your partner is SA citizen you should have (applied for) the Life Partner TR. This TR can be endorsed for work once you find employment. It is indeed a new application and you do need to supply all of the documents that you supplied with your previous application. In addition to those documents you will also need to provide a written offer of employment and your employer should also sign your application form. 

Your medical, xray etc are usually valid, for application purposes, for six months so the ones you previously used can possibly be used again (which would save you some time and money). 

Hope the above helps.


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## VinceW (Sep 8, 2010)

As far as I can see from the forms on the Uk web site you can only apply for a relatives permit. There is no Partners/Life Partners box to tick.

http://southafricahouseuk.com/documents/bi-1738_trpform.pdf

The web site only appears to offer limited documents and infomation


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

VinceW said:


> As far as I can see from the forms on the Uk web site you can only apply for a relatives permit. There is no Partners/Life Partners box to tick.
> 
> http://southafricahouseuk.com/documents/bi-1738_trpform.pdf
> 
> The web site only appears to offer limited documents and infomation


I know that you are not able to apply for a Spousal Permit from abroad but I am not sure how it works with Life Partner Permit. Perhaps someone with such a permit would be able so shed some light on this. If it is a Relatives Permit it cannot be endorsed for work and a new application to change the permit to Life Partner (with work endorsement) must be made from within SA. 

A huge amount of people that have specifically asked for Spousal Permits upon application still ends up with Relatives Permits and are subsequently informed that this cannot be endorsed for work. This happened to me and I applied in SA and still ended up with a Relatives Permit. Took me 10 months to sort out the new one. It is a very stupid system!!!


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## 2fargone (Jun 14, 2011)

I am confused too. Because I went to HA with my job offer and got my permit endorsed to work. And the lady looked at my permit and gave me the papers to endorsed it. I didn't have to apply for a new permit. 

I just pulled out my Passport it says: Relatives permit to reside with life partner. 

I honestly think it depends on who you get at HA and what type of mood they are in. I ask different people one person says this another person says this.


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

2fargone said:


> I am confused too. Because I went to HA with my job offer and got my permit endorsed to work. And the lady looked at my permit and gave me the papers to endorsed it. I didn't have to apply for a new permit.
> 
> I just pulled out my Passport it says: Relatives permit to reside with life partner.
> 
> I honestly think it depends on who you get at HA and what type of mood they are in. I ask different people one person says this another person says this.


This is true. You can walk into one HA office and speak to 5 different people who will give you 5 different answers. If you get a helpful person they can create miracles, if you get the wrong person they can throw your application in the bin once you leave the office.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

*Home Affairs*



Saartjie said:


> This is true. You can walk into one HA office and speak to 5 different people who will give you 5 different answers. If you get a helpful person they can create miracles, if you get the wrong person they can throw your application in the bin once you leave the office.


This is one of truest things I've ever seen on this forum.


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

aaronhardy62 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I moved over to south Africa in November with my partner. She has a SA passport and I have a Temporary residence permit for 2years. I am now looking at getting a General work permit. I spoke to a woman at the home affairs contact ctr and she told me that applying for a work permit is a completely new application so I would need to provide medical reports, radiology, criminal check etc.
> I did all of that 4months ago to get my Temp residence permit to get into the country and that is with the SA embassy in the UK.
> ...


Aaron, why are you applying for a General Work Permit when you can get a simple and quick work endorsement on your Life Partner Permit? Do you have an employment contract? I would advise that you seek out and speak to an immigration lawyer first, and find out the best course of action. I am concerned that you will make a mistake.


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## Oz_Child (Jan 28, 2013)

LegalMan said:


> Aaron, why are you applying for a General Work Permit when you can get a simple and quick work endorsement on your Life Partner Permit? Do you have an employment contract? I would advise that you seek out and speak to an immigration lawyer first, and find out the best course of action. I am concerned that you will make a mistake.


This assumes he has such a permit. What type of TR do you have Aaron. I choose the General Work Permit route because my wife had not received her citizenship when we arrived in SA in 2008. There is three types of work permits, the General Work Permit is tied to a job offer - it will lapse at expiry or when you leave the employer. a Quota work permit allows you to work with any employer provided you have the same job description until the permit expires. The exceptional skills permit is for those with skills not available or scarce in SA. To get the latter two you will need at least 5 years experience. Work permits are hard to get and will take up to 9 months processing (c. 2009). Once you have the permit, extensions are generally much easier to obtain. Changing status does require new documentation because it is a new department in HA, and they will not talk to each other.

Cheers H.


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