# Relative to Work Endorsement: Journey Of an illegal Ghost



## avenger6 (Jun 8, 2015)

lane:Have been following expat very recently and it is what gave me the confidence to convert from an illegal ghost to Law abiding foreigner. 
i have never written story this long since leaving high school so grab some popcorn and enjoy.:spit: Hope i crossed my T’s and dotted my “i” For me to tell my story i need to take you back to 2013.

######2013######
Here i was a young man who had hustled hard in South Africa, had been working for 6 year was making about 450k a year and was engaged to the love of my life. i initially started working for about 48k Rand a year so finding myself making about 10 time my initial salary, i was living the South African dream.
But the constant fear that it could end at any moment kept me always on my toes.
That year series of blessing hit me, my finance (South African Citizen) and i were expecting our first baby, i later got an offer for the job of my dreams promising more pay. Also bought my first car. i always thought about going legal but at the time i never had reliable sources, was scammed by my initial contact who help me secure a 5 year work permit which i later realised was fake. i jumped the gun and accepted the new offer now lets forward a year after. 

######2014######
Had being doing my research and found out the best chance i had at going legal was applying for a Spousal Permit or Exceptional Skills Permit. Had already got married early that year and we had a beautiful daughter born SA so she had a SA birth certificate (lucky little one how i envied her) so the documentation requirements meant Spousal Permit was the safest and easiest option at the time. So early that year i processed an application for a Spousal permit (section 18) now called “Relative Visa (Spouse)” with the documents below::boxing:

- TRP application Form (forgot the document number)
- Certified/Original Wife’s ID (South African Citizen)
- Certified/Original Passport
- Certified/Original Passport had about 21 days left on the Visitor permit from the Border Gate
- Certified/Original Marriage Certificate
- Certified Unbridged Birth Certificate for my daughter
- Support Letter written by my wife (explaining marriage, need to relocate, to take care of our daughter)
- Medical Report for me only
- Radiology Report for me only
- Police Clearance from my home Country (SA not required as i was not technically living in SA ;-):heh:
- Application Fee (Zero Rand)
- My Lovely Wife and Daughter

NB: This was before the revision on May 2014, application was done at DHA, conditions have changed as to support document and place of application please consult VFS website.

After 10 months of waiting and constantly checking the DHA online tracking website, i was granted with a Relative Permit with 2 years on it. Permit reads “To RESIDE with SAC ID XXXX XXXXX” So i ended the year with a warm fuzzy feeling definitely knew that God was on my side. But i still lived a life of constant fear not from being deported but because i was working at my dream job and had no legal documents to keep me working there. Constant research followed to the end of the year.

By late 2014 had done a lot of research, felt like a immigration expert. i assisted a close friend of mine with an application for a critical skills Visa, Note that this was after the May 2014 revision. I will put the document requirements and also explain his situation. 

So my Friend Mr X, had been working for about 4 years with me on a Zimbabwean Asylum Permit (Lucky Fish was so jealous) but it was expiring that same year so he was desperate for a new permit which would allow him to continue work. At the time we found that our profession was categories under the Skill shortage in South Africa, “Cisco/Network Engineer” so hey that seemed the best option for him and for me to test the waters 
So he used the documents below and applied via VFS::boxing:

- Printed Online application courtesy of VFS 
- Appointment letter from VFS
- Certified/Original Passport
- Certified/Original Passport with Zimbabwean Permit not expired
- Medical Report (cost About R350)
- Radiology Report (cost About R450)
- South African Police Clearance (cost About R150)
- Proof of Payment Fee VFS (R1350 Rand he had paid via EFT)
- Proof of Payment Fee Home Affairs (R1400 Rand not sure about this Fee)
- SAQA Certificate (evaluation of his Certification and Qualification) (cost About R450)
- Membership Certificate to IT Society (cost About R1060)
- Critical Skills evaluation from the IT Society (Cost about R3000)

NB: Price for stuff like medical report may vary depending on where you apply, I’m giving you prices as an estimate

Although the were some initial hiccups because he had not have submit all required documents think he was missing the IT society documents, he appealed with addition documents above and had his permit issued after 3 months. Was feeling very confident at this stage.

######2015###### 
Bought a house and we had our second child. Now i was beyond confident on what i wanted to apply for Critical skills Visa obvious choice easy requirements because i was in the Engineering field, but the labour and cost kept me pushing the application back month by month. Had already started with the simple stuff like police clearance, SAQA, medical report and radiology but the big ticket items like Critical skills evaluation and membership to IT society saved those for last. Before i knew it i was fast approaching the middle of the year.
Then a rare opportunity fell on my laps, another offer to work in a Financial environment always longed for that. i was caught in a dilemma, a rare opportunity to work in an environment i was longing to move into or throw away this opportunity???:confused2:
i relooked at my current situation and remembered work endorsement, i read about work endorsement on my current Relative Permit a while back but the technicalities were against considering i was already working at the time, couldn’t risk them calling my current employer an realising i had been working for years, so this was my opportunity to finally ascend from partial illegal Ghost to Legal Working Foreigner, god was seriously looking out for me. i received this offer 1 and half months before the job start date. So do i quit my current job and risk an application that might fail for work endorsement or stay at my current job and eventually apply for a critical skills permit. 
I reviewed cost of the application and noticed with the documents i had been saving for the Critical Skills Visa meant i only had to pay for VFS application fee (R1350), so i went armed with documents below::boxing:

- Printed Online application courtesy of VFS 
- Appointment letter from VFS
- Certified/Original Passport
- Certified/Original Passport with Relative
- Medical Report (cost About R350)
- Radiology Report (cost About R450)
- Certified/Original Unbridged Birth Certificate for my daughters
- South African Police Clearance (cost About R150)
- Proof of Payment Fee VFS (R1350 swipe at the VFS offices)
- Support Letter written by my wife (explaining need to get endorsement)
- South African Police Clearance (cost About R150)
- Proof of Cohabitation (signed Lease me/wife/leasor, utilities Bill, Bank letter showing my wife has signing rights on my bank account)
- Job Offer email and Contract from new employer

So documents submitted and i received a Reference number, below i will briefly explain the flow of the application:
Day 1: Status read “Application for XXX received at VFS offices”
2 Days After: Status read “Application for XXX forward to VFS Head office”
10 Days After: Status read “ Application forwarded to Home Affairs for adjudication”
5 Weeks After: Status read “adjudication finalised and application to forward back to VFS”
2 days After: Status read “Ready for collection”

:fingerscrossed:Crossing my fingers hope everything is gonna be alright. Will update when i collect.


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## avenger6 (Jun 8, 2015)

Finally!!!!! My Relative Permit was endorsed for work HUUURRRRAAAAAYYY. 
It reads "To Continue to reside with SAC XXXX and be employed by XXX" i must say i am impressed with the process time. the Visa was approved 3 weeks after submitting to the local VFS. and ready for collection in about 6 weeks.


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## Icon (Jul 7, 2015)

All the best buddy..u all good.yo stuff seems on point.u will surely get it!



avenger6 said:


> lane:Have been following expat very recently and it is what gave me the confidence to convert from an illegal ghost to Law abiding foreigner.
> i have never written story this long since leaving high school so grab some popcorn and enjoy.:spit: Hope i crossed my T’s and dotted my “i” For me to tell my story i need to take you back to 2013.
> 
> ######2013######
> ...


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