# British citizen married SA citizen in SA?



## padstock (Sep 28, 2010)

I (British expat) and the Mrs. (SA citizen) got married two weeks ago. When we tried to register the wedding with SA home affairs, they said they need a letter of no impediment. So we contacted the British high commission here in SA, and they said they cannot assist us, as they do not issue these letters anymore. They suggested and affidavit – but the home affairs office say they need the letter of no impediment and will not accept an affidavit. Can anyone give me any help on how to resolve this?


----------



## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

padstock said:


> I (British expat) and the Mrs. (SA citizen) got married two weeks ago. When we tried to register the wedding with SA home affairs, they said they need a letter of no impediment. So we contacted the British high commission here in SA, and they said they cannot assist us, as they do not issue these letters anymore. They suggested and affidavit – but the home affairs office say they need the letter of no impediment and will not accept an affidavit. Can anyone give me any help on how to resolve this?


I was always under the impression that one had to fill out forms and stuff before you get married --- whether your marriage is in community of property or whether you have a pre-nuptial agreement ( contract)
South Africa Marriage License Requirements -- Getting Married in South Africa


----------



## padstock (Sep 28, 2010)

all of the forms apart from the BI-31 were filled in before the wedding, and it was when the pastor was handing the forms over to home affairs, that they said that we were short the letter of no impediment.


----------



## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

Have a look at this website...? Hope you can sort your problem!
Legalisation (Authentication) of Official Documents


----------



## Emma199 (Oct 12, 2010)

padstock said:


> I (British expat) and the Mrs. (SA citizen) got married two weeks ago. When we tried to register the wedding with SA home affairs, they said they need a letter of no impediment. So we contacted the British high commission here in SA, and they said they cannot assist us, as they do not issue these letters anymore. They suggested and affidavit – but the home affairs office say they need the letter of no impediment and will not accept an affidavit. Can anyone give me any help on how to resolve this?


I had the same problem earlier this year but with an affidavit I was eventually able to apply for my unabridged marrige certificate. If either one of you has been previously divorced you also need to hand in the decree. It really does depend who is begind the counter on the day you hand in the form also, they all seem to give you different advice. My advice is dont mention anything about the certificate of impediment, just hand them the form and run! The British High Commision do not issue certificates of impediment so its crazy that we are expected to have them, you think this would have been checked out before the law was changed in 2009...... 
Hope this helps!


----------



## Stevan (Jun 30, 2009)

somtimes helps to go to a diffrent home affairs office. there are varying levels of staff knowledge(and intrest). worked for me when obtaining my id book.


----------



## padstock (Sep 28, 2010)

cheers for the help. Well after 5weeks, and 5 trips to home affairs, me and the mrs are official. the lady decided to be helpfull with the threat of going to a different office and her lack of feed back. Persistence, cool heads and a helpful home affairs office will all help


----------



## Linky* (Oct 22, 2010)

padstock said:


> cheers for the help. Well after 5weeks, and 5 trips to home affairs, me and the mrs are official. the lady decided to be helpfull with the threat of going to a different office and her lack of feed back. Persistence, cool heads and a helpful home affairs office will all help


Hi Padstock,
Could you please tell me where you went and how you got it right?? im strugling with the exact same problem and no one seems to know whats going on. I just wanna cry!! My husband is now back in the UK and im in SA trying to sort this mess out but our home affairs wont budge. Please help?


----------



## padstock (Sep 28, 2010)

yeah its a lot of extra stress that is not required.

Well we went to Rustenburg home affairs.
the home affairs employee, kept making excuses - for not having the stuff processed. She kept asking us to come back and see her, or phone her - and everytime we did...she still couldnt provide us with an answer
try and get in contact with the person who registers the marriages and just stay on their case
We phoned everyday and went there once or twice every week
We went on Monday after the lady was supposed to see her boss for the last 5weeks. After trying to get our papers back to go to a different office, then i asked her what she suggested we do as it had been over 5 weeks, then she said to come back on Wednesday and she did our certificate then and there


----------



## Linky* (Oct 22, 2010)

padstock said:


> yeah its a lot of extra stress that is not required.
> 
> Well we went to Rustenburg home affairs.
> the home affairs employee, kept making excuses - for not having the stuff processed. She kept asking us to come back and see her, or phone her - and everytime we did...she still couldnt provide us with an answer
> ...


so did you need that extra letter of no impediment from the UK home affairs? and did the UK partner have to go for an interview?..lol..other than that im just gonna get this right if i bother someone evryday? cos they dont even know whats going on in their own system. haha can you remember her bame(the person that helped you?) mebbe i can hound her 

Thanks for the help..i was just getting lost cause no one wants to help:clap2:


----------



## padstock (Sep 28, 2010)

In the end she accepted our form without the letter of no impediment. 
the lady at rustenburg home affairs is martha, she is the only person in the department (not sure if its a good or a bad thing). i went with the mrs every time she went in to the department. but there was no interview. I think you'll need a copy of his passport.

Have you seen the same person in the home affairs office you've been to?
Go back to them and say, "its been ....weeks since you have got married, I’ve been here ….. many times, what do you suggest i do to solve this problem" 

we went with a print out of the british foreign office page where they say they dont do that letter,
Certificate of No Impediment and Nulla Ostas
and do like emma199 said take the affidavit.

she was supposed to go and confirm with her boss, but she never did after 5weeks. In the end i think it was the fact that she didnt want to see us again.

phoning is a huge issue, as they very rarely answer. 

it will happen..... eventually.....just stick to it.

also Brits home affairs is better then rustenburgs (for id and passports) thats where we were looking to go re-apply at


----------



## gkloken (Aug 9, 2007)

padstock said:


> yeah its a lot of extra stress that is not required.
> 
> Well we went to Rustenburg home affairs.
> the home affairs employee, kept making excuses - for not having the stuff processed. She kept asking us to come back and see her, or phone her - and everytime we did...she still couldnt provide us with an answer
> ...


Now please go back and get the *Unabridged marriage certificate **Apostilled*. it is very important get two copies . Wherever you go from here you will need the *Apostilled* version. If you are already back in UK or another country it can take you a long time to get it done.

Then get the Unabridged version of your birth certificate two copies, if you were divorced you will also need the Original version of your Divorce certificates notarized or Apostilled from the Supreme court in Pretoria. 

At the same time apply for Police clearance or Police certificate of good conduct from every country you lived in longer than 3 months (not six months ) since the age of 16 years. You also have to have it wherever you go to get you final documents.


----------



## UK_Visa_Guru (Aug 11, 2010)

For visa assistance in your spouses settlement application, you can contact Ryan from a company called Move Up - UK Immigration Consultants. 

Based in South Africa, Move Up work on a fully refundable guarantee, that in the unlikely event of not being awarded your visa first time round, their case fee will be refunded in full. Move Up also offer the most cost effective service in the industry. Real value for money.

For any technical visa queries, email: [email protected]
For more information, email: [email protected]

Alternatively give Ryan a call on 082-531-7940


----------



## Kkris (Dec 2, 2010)

padstock said:


> cheers for the help. Well after 5weeks, and 5 trips to home affairs, me and the mrs are official. the lady decided to be helpfull with the threat of going to a different office and her lack of feed back. Persistence, cool heads and a helpful home affairs office will all help



Hi mate,

I have a few questions if I may. I seem to be in the exact same position that you were in. I am English and my girfriend is South African and getting information on this, is as you know a joke.
Can you tell me your status before you were married, were you over here just on the 90 days that they give us? I have been here for around a week now, giving me roughly 80 days left to get this sorted.
Can you please list for me exactly what documents that you had to provide, I have read the issues you had with the No impediment certificate, but A: What else did you require? (both parties) B:What fees were involved C: What is your status with regards to you living/working here, length? any restrictions?
My girfriend and I plan to live here, neither of us have any intrest in returning to England, so it is literally information on what I have to do and what I will be then entitled to do.
We can only realisticly prove the relationship for 2 years, is this enough or even relavent?
I realise that you have answered some of these querys already but if you could take the time to give me it from the top, starting with arranging the marriage I would be very grateful, as continuity on this whole issue is what I am very much lacking.

Regards,

Chris


----------



## Daisy81 (Mar 18, 2013)

padstock said:


> cheers for the help. Well after 5weeks, and 5 trips to home affairs, me and the mrs are official. the lady decided to be helpfull with the threat of going to a different office and her lack of feed back. Persistence, cool heads and a helpful home affairs office will all help


Hi there, we are in same boat and home affairs is adamant that my husband needs a affidavit from the UK. We took 4 trips to the British Consulate in Cape Town and they just told us an affidavit from the local police station should help. They would not give us anything in writing. So basically they are telling him to go back to UK and get it sorted. That is just bizarre!!! There should be another way around it. Is there any other way we could do this? Any help will be appreciated.


----------

