# Life Partner Visa: Is there anything I can do now to expedite the process?



## enk2121 (Oct 21, 2011)

Hi all,
Reading the posts in this forum about life partner/spousal visas has been incredibly helpful, but I do have a specific question related to my situation.

I understand that if you can prove that you are cohabitating with and financially/emotionally supportive of your significant other, it's possible to get a temporary life partner residency permit of up to 3 years. I've been with my South African boyfriend for 2 years, and I will finally be in a position to relocate to SA in May 2012 (exact date TBD). However, we've been long-distance for most of our relationship (the longest we've spent together consecutively has been about 3 months, during which I unofficially lived with him in SA), and I know that this will present an issue in terms of my ability to get a life partner residency permit.

*Should I wait until I arrive in SA, get a tourist visa when I arrive, and worry about obtaining the necessary proof that we're in a serious relationship then? If I do this, will I have to return to the US to apply for my life partner visa?* I have seen a lot of discussion of a change that requires one apply to for this permit from outside of SA, but I'm unsure if this change has taken effect or what its specific requirements include.

Though I can probably pull it off if I really have to, I would prefer not to have to jet back and forth between SA and the US to sort out my visa.* Is there any way we can prove that we are in a relationship before I move to SA, so that I could apply in the US before May?* I've heard anecdotal evidence that it's possible to get this visa without having lived together in the past, but I don't know if I should count on it. 

He will be here over the Christmas holidays, if that helps, and we have many friends and family members in SA as well as in the US who would be willing to attest to us being a couple. (So obtaining those notarized letters would not be a problem.) We also have tons of photos together, email and chat records, and we're Facebook official (fairly certain that one won't help much, lol). *Are there any especially convincing types of proof we can create/obtain/etc. from afar, or while he is in the US in December?*

I will be seeking the assistance of an immigration service to help me with this process, but I wanted to learn a bit more about what to expect before I jumped in headfirst. 

Thank you so much for any advice you can provide!

- Erica


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## martinaloeb (May 12, 2011)

Hi Erica,

My personal situation is that I'm British, my boyfriend has been transferred for work so we applied for a life partner visa for myself to accompany him for 2 years. Whilst in SA it is enough to have a signed affidavit that we are life partners, the UK embassy said that we must be married and denied our application. This meant that I had no choice but to arrive on a 3 month visa and apply as soon as I got here. It has been said that if you apply at home then it will be a much quicker process, but we had no choice. The criteria applying in the US may well be different to the criteria here, so do investigate that. 

If you only apply once you arrive, whilst your application is being dealt with you can stay here legally, which means that if it takes longer than 3 months (which it will) you will not have to leave. You can actually extend your 3 months to 6. If the visa is then denied you will have to leave before coming back on another 3 month visa. 

As far as I'm aware, if you have all the paperwork that you need at the start, you will not need to jet back and forth to sort out your visa. You should be able to do it all from here. I have a friend from the US going through the process now and she says that she had to have FBI checks and a joint tenancy lease agreement from here to show that they are living together, plus all of the health checks that we have to have (TB etc). She said that they did not have to have been living together for a certain amount of time either. The joint lease was sufficient. 

I'm no expert, but can only let you know what we have experienced - it takes a LONG time to do anything in SA so prepare to be patient, but congratulations on making the decision to move over - I absolutely love it here and hope that you will too 

Martina


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