# Permanent Residence



## tapsmatenga (Apr 8, 2014)

hie all

i applied for a permanent residence under the 'relative' category last year (December 2013). My father is a permanent residence holder. i checked at the Home Affairs website and it says 'code 102: processing at head office. ' i called home affairs and they said the application was received on the 21st of February but he did not tell me the meaning of the codes.
Does anyone know about these turn around times of the PR application? Home affairs told me that a relative one should take 4 to 6 months is that true? 

Any advice is much appreciated because im really in need of it plus i got a job but i do not have the newspaper advert. the employer does not want to issue an advert because they do not want to receive unnecessary applications for a work permit.

Regards


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## claireduplessis (May 23, 2012)

Hello

My PR took over 2.5 years to come through (spouse category!).

I got told the same thing every time I called (application being processed - no update)

Good luck!


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

As mentioned elsewhere, a court order to Home Affairs always speeds things up.


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## tapsmatenga (Apr 8, 2014)

thank you so much. I think i need a work permit at the moment. im worried that if i apply for a work permit then they will no longer classify me as a dependent which means they will not process my permanent residence application since it is on the 'Relative's ' category


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## tapsmatenga (Apr 8, 2014)

LegalMan said:


> As mentioned elsewhere, a court order to Home Affairs always speeds things up.


I think a court order is the best. i will try it maybe after 8 months as i heard that the minister gave a reasonable time span for a permanent residence application to be 8 months.


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## tapsmatenga (Apr 8, 2014)

claireduplessis said:


> Hello
> 
> My PR took over 2.5 years to come through (spouse category!).
> 
> ...


thank you so much for the information. i have heard that they try to clear the backlog so fingers crossed


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## irishexpat (May 25, 2011)

I made my application on April 23rd. 
Just found out it has not left the office of application yet and got advised to go in and ask them to do so.
Let the games begin.....


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## Magijani (Apr 29, 2014)

Application can take up to 6 to be sent to Pretoria Hub. Seems they wait for the batch to reach a certain number before they courier it to Pretoria. Did my application in July'12 and was only sent to PTA in Oct'12. You just have to be patient otherwise you will loose your mind. My PR finally came out in Oct'13 and Applied for my ID on the same day in Randburg, to date I have not received my ID, I was told it would take between 3 - 6 mths, when I made a follow up was told it takes 6-8 mths and on recent follow up am told the PR ID application can take up to 12 months to be processed.

They have re-faxed my PR certificate for verification at my request on several occasions, but they have not received any feedback yet and they say they just have to wait and have no control over the process.


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## tapsmatenga (Apr 8, 2014)

yah i have also received that same information. on the Home Affairs website it just says 'Code 102: Processing at Head Office" and i have no idea what it means. 
But i think Legal Action can speed things up. I will consider that after at least 12 months of waiting.


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## tapsmatenga (Apr 8, 2014)

claireduplessis said:


> Hello
> 
> My PR took over 2.5 years to come through (spouse category!).
> 
> ...


Hi C 
i finally got the sms last Friday. it was a surprise. How long did you wait from the date of sms of finalization to the date it arrived at the office you applied? 

Kind Regards


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## yojimbo (Aug 3, 2014)

*Which court and how to do it?*



LegalMan said:


> As mentioned elsewhere, a court order to Home Affairs always speeds things up.


Hi LegalMan, I see a references to court orders here from time to time as a way to speed up a PR application. What court we talking about and how to do it on practice by layman? I'm not a legal professional and have a very slight idea how the court system works. Is it possible to apply for PR and if it stuck somewhere use court order as a "lube" to move things faster? I'm about to apply for PR from London and not in mad rash but anything over a year wait will be of great nuisance so if nothing going on with application say in 8 month can I poke them through court order? Or more simple way is to go through immigration lawyers (like yourself perhaps?) on presumption that they will use court order by definition to speed things up? The reason I'm asking is because I do not really understand why DIY applications often stated as "slower" than through lawyers? If all things done in Pretoria nowadays, how anybody can claim to speed up any application then?


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

The law says Home Affairs must give a decision in 30 days.

After that we send a letter of demand. Home Affairs then either gives a decision or says they won't after which we take the final step and get a court order which by their own law they cannot refuse.


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## yojimbo (Aug 3, 2014)

*thats interesting! why then everybody not suing them?*



LegalMan said:


> The law says Home Affairs must give a decision in 30 days.
> 
> After that we send a letter of demand. Home Affairs then either gives a decision or says they won't after which we take the final step and get a court order which by their own law they cannot refuse.


Am I right to understand that it is a part of package that you offering? Or anything like that require additional agreement? Also, I my understanding is that I can apply at the same time for TPR and PR. In this case if I'm run out of patience and we moved on TRP while PR still not back from Pretoria, will I have go back to London (initial application place) to collect Permit in person or will be forced to start it all over again in SA? Can I involve attorneys at later stage if application stuck?


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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

Yes, as immigration lawyers we do offer this. Message me after making 5 posts.

You can apply for both at the same time, or PR from within SA. Yes, you must usually collect where you submit.

You can involve anyone, attorneys, etc whenever you like.


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## USMAN24 (Jul 15, 2014)

LegalMan said:


> Yes, as immigration lawyers we do offer this. Message me after making 5 posts.
> 
> You can apply for both at the same time, or PR from within SA. Yes, you must usually collect where you submit.
> 
> You can involve anyone, attorneys, etc whenever you like.


I will definitely get with you when it comes time to use this service. 

I am assuming you are able to offer these services to your clients even if they reside outside South Africa?


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## yojimbo (Aug 3, 2014)

*will do*



LegalMan said:


> Yes, as immigration lawyers we do offer this. Message me after making 5 posts.
> 
> You can apply for both at the same time, or PR from within SA. Yes, you must usually collect where you submit.
> 
> You can involve anyone, attorneys, etc whenever you like.


I will sort out all the paperwork (medical, police, radiology etc) first and will be in touch.
Regards. Thats post number 5


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## USMAN24 (Jul 15, 2014)

LegalMan said:


> Yes, as immigration lawyers we do offer this. Message me after making 5 posts.
> 
> You can apply for both at the same time, or PR from within SA. Yes, you must usually collect where you submit.
> 
> You can involve anyone, attorneys, etc whenever you like.


good to know


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