# Life Partner to Spouse



## Spiggles (Mar 19, 2014)

Hi All,

My fiancée got a new Life Partner visa and the next application will be a Spouse visa as we are getting married soon.
I know its not 'Change of Status' to go from Life Partner to Spouse as both are Relative's visa.

So which form should she use for the next application- 
Must she simply use DHA-1739(Application for renewal of existing visa) and submit a Marriage Certificate instead of Notarial contract & Affidavit? 

Any help would be appreciated!


----------



## kristybee (Jul 12, 2014)

No it is not a renewal for an existing one...unless it is necessary if s/he wants to immigrate before five years have lapsed since the marriage... you would need to be married at least five years to be an applicable candidate for a spousal visa.


----------



## Spiggles (Mar 19, 2014)

kristybee said:


> No it is not a renewal for an existing one...unless it is necessary if s/he wants to immigrate before five years have lapsed since the marriage... you would need to be married at least five years to be an applicable candidate for a spousal visa.


Hi kristybee,
No, that's not true. You Must have 5years to apply for a *Permanent Spousal permit*, but if you don't qualify for that, you can still apply for a *Temporary spousal visa*.
5 years is for Permanent Residence Permit, less than 5 years is for Temporary Residence Visa.


----------



## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

*Correct advice*



kristybee said:


> No it is not a renewal for an existing one...unless it is necessary if s/he wants to immigrate before five years have lapsed since the marriage... you would need to be married at least five years to be an applicable candidate for a spousal visa.


Not correct at all. @Spiggles, your answer is correct.

To your previous question, you could actually do nothing, otherwise yes, you'll need to submit a new application. VFS will gladly tell you which documents to use.


----------



## Spiggles (Mar 19, 2014)

LegalMan said:


> Not correct at all. @Spiggles, your answer is correct.
> 
> To your previous question, you could actually do nothing, otherwise yes, you'll need to submit a new application. VFS will gladly tell you which documents to use.


Hi LegalMan,

Thank you very much for answering me.
We plan to leave it as is until her next application for TRV, by which time we will be married - so it will be Relative's visa(Spouse). She is currently on Relative's visa(Life Partner).
That application will be with a marriage certificate.

The form needed for application will be which one:
1. DHA-1738 (Application for temporary residence visa)
2. DHA-1739 (Application for renewal of existing visa)

VFS is yet to be tested, I would like to hear your advise


----------



## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

I don't talk about actual documents needed on forums, since this is information our clients pay for. All I can tell you is that it is a new application.

Phone VFS.


----------



## hopeful1986 (Feb 5, 2014)

hi guys, 

So, to understand the position fully, a person in a long term and permanent hetero/**** sexual relationship with a south african citizen/permanent resident qualifies (if they have been together for, 5 years) for:

a. a permanent spousal permit
b. a temporary spousal visa

my questions RE a PR application if the above is true are:

1. Is this regardless of marriage, cos Spiggles did say s/he is not yet married? i.e. can a notarial contract, affidavits and proof of joint financial responsibility and support by the South African partner suffice for the application along with the other standard docs?
2. Does one have to have had a temporary spousal visa for 5 years in order to qualify for the permanent permit (is this the only basis for a spousal permit for an unmarried couple, if it even exists)? or is the application mainly centered around the length of the relationship and not so much the visa that the person was on? (i have had 2 study permits, a million visitors' permits, 2 work permits [interrupted] so no PR qualification from that unfortunately)
3. A spouse in terms of the new act (same as the old act) includes unmarried couples. is this a correct understanding, or is it really defined in the more colloquial sense?
4. Section 3.1 of the new act says a permanent hetero/**** sexual spouse as defined above, with a notarial contract etc, that has been together for *2 *or more years (no longer 5 per my reading, not that any one at VFS or DHA can confirm this, and even though its all over the news and the copy of the new signed act i have from Green Gazette) qualities the foreign partner for PR. what am i missing here? does it have to be a notarial contract of 2+ years? is this clause not actually enforced at DHA? am i misreading? i finally reached someone from home affairs (some regional manager guy no doubt. Albert Matsaung i believe) yesterday after many fruitless convos with VFS and the old DHA call center, to help understand the section (as well as EXACTLY what one uses to prove joint financial responsibility in lieu of a joint 2 yr old lease/bank account which normal human beings don't always have) and he laughed at my contention as i am unmarried to my bf. 

NO fun.

Excuse the tirade, but i'm SO confused! NO PERMANENT RESIDENCE. NO ADMISSION AS AN ATTORNEY. i'd really need to understand it all so if i'm mistaken i can move on and just get a life partner visa before my current permit runs out (2016 thankfully) but i cant keep thinking i may be right and not knowing for sure.


----------



## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

> 1. Is this regardless of marriage, cos Spiggles did say s/he is not yet married? i.e. can a notarial contract, affidavits and proof of joint financial responsibility and support by the South African partner suffice for the application along with the other standard docs?


Yes.



> 2. Does one have to have had a temporary spousal visa for 5 years in order to qualify for the permanent permit (is this the only basis for a spousal permit for an unmarried couple, if it even exists)? or is the application mainly centered around the length of the relationship and not so much the visa that the person was on? (i have had 2 study permits, a million visitors' permits, 2 work permits [interrupted] so no PR qualification from that unfortunately)


Length of relationship.



> 3. A spouse in terms of the new act (same as the old act) includes unmarried couples. is this a correct understanding, or is it really defined in the more colloquial sense?


Yes.



> 4. Section 3.1 of the new act says a permanent hetero/**** sexual spouse as defined above, with a notarial contract etc, that has been together for 2 or more years (no longer 5 per my reading, not that any one at VFS or DHA can confirm this, and even though its all over the news and the copy of the new signed act i have from Green Gazette) qualities the foreign partner for PR. what am i missing here? does it have to be a notarial contract of 2+ years? is this clause not actually enforced at DHA? am i misreading? i finally reached someone from home affairs (some regional manager guy no doubt. Albert Matsaung i believe) yesterday after many fruitless convos with VFS and the old DHA call center, to help understand the section (as well as EXACTLY what one uses to prove joint financial responsibility in lieu of a joint 2 yr old lease/bank account which normal human beings don't always have) and he laughed at my contention as i am unmarried to my bf.


No, in short, you must be together for 5 years for PR, 2 years for TR (or immediately if married).

The new law is very good in most places. It is the implementation that is horrific. Home Affairs was plagued by people in "life partnerships" after being "together" for only 2 weeks. Australia and the UK demand very strict proof of relationships. SA is catching up and the current Act is very similar to the German immigration law. Good for SA!

I hope this helps and I also hope that you will get where you want to be.


----------



## hopeful1986 (Feb 5, 2014)

thanks Legalman,

I'm still a little foggy in some respects. i cant find ANY reference to a relationship of 5 years in the amendment regulations, esp after reading regulation 3 (2)(a)(i) where they mention 2 years in respect of PR and TR (i find it strange that they'd mention the same relationship length for the 2 applications even though PR is known to usually have more stringent requirements than TR, but legislators are known to be strange at times so thats not surprising) and of course the Act itself mentions no time period at 26 (b) so presumably only the regulations apply in that respect.

The reason this matter is a documentary issue (3 (2) (d)). Its much harder to prove 5 years than 2 years unless we had a joint lease/bank account/notarial contract that is already 5 years old.

I still have no clue what they accept as proof of a relationship (whether 2 or 5 years), because the requisite proof is not specifically (enough in my opinion) stated in either act.

out of curiosity, practically speaking, if TR for a married couple is immediate, how long is the PR period? i.e. how long does one need to be married to qualify for PR? i am convinced that if we were to get married the clock would start to run again and we would qualify after a further 5 years from date of marriage.


----------



## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

For PR, 5 years, either way. It's not an amendment - it's in the original Act.


----------

