# Renewing Relative's Permit



## DAlex (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi!

I am an Indian citizen, married to a South African citizen. 

I came to SA on a Relatives Permit that lists as conditions: To be allowed to reside with spouse. Also was printed "Enter on or before Aug 2011". My first question -* is this an expiry date?*

Last year, I got a job and applied for endorsement to work (however with all documentation such as employers declaration why a Sa citizen was not found etc, as I was not aware that they weren't required)'. I got a separate work permit stamped on my passport which is due to expire in March 2012 - though I only wanted an endorsement - *is it the same?*

I have now received another job offer and hence applied for a spousal visa with endorsement to work. This time I only submitted the documentation required for a spousal visa (radiological, marriage certificate, pcc(waivers) etc) along with the letter of employment that I got from the new employer. I submitted my application in april 2011 and am still awating any response.

In spite of calling the HA call center, I cannot get a status of my aplication as they say their system is offline and they can't view it.

While I wait for a response, I realize that if the Aug 2011 date on my Relative's permit is the expiry date, I will need to renew it.

*Can I apply for a renewal of the Relative's permit while awaiting the outcome of the Spousal permit+work endorsement? What documentation will I need to submit?*

Sorry about the long post, I have tried to get help from the people at the call centre but probably owing to this wierd situation I am in, they haven't been able to give me any helpful info.

Thanks in advance for the help!


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2011)

DAlex said:


> Hi!
> 
> I am an Indian citizen, married to a South African citizen.
> 
> ...


Hi

As soon as an application has been submitted to Home Affairs, your are allowed to stay in the country until the application has been processed.

While an application is in process at Home Affairs, you cannot submit another application.

Also, you cannot hold two separate permits at the same time. The newes permit will always replace the one before.

This should put your mind at ease regarding your current status.

Now in general:

The "enter before...." is NOT the expiry date of the permit. However, if you do not enter South Africa before that date, the permit will expire.

The permit should state "valid for ....years". This period starts from the date of entry into South Africa.

Then, as long as the call center is offline there is nothing that can be done. Home Affairs takes about 3 months on average to process an application, after which the permit would still need to be sent to the regional Home Affairs office whhere your application was submitted.

Hope this clarifies matters.


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## DAlex (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you for your response. I did get contradicting responses from HA earlier, when I asked them about the renewal while other application is pending.

That is one thing solved!

My Relative's permit does not however have a "Valid until..." date. 

Also, I'm a bit worried as the application form that HA gave me this time (April 2011) was titled - "Change of conditions to existing Permit" and did not clearly say Application for Spousal permit with endorsement to work. However, the documentation that I submitted along with it was all that wa required for a Spousal permit. 

Would that be considered as an application for Spousal Permit or have I made a mistake?

Is there anybody who has gone through the same?

Thanks for the valuable advice you provide through this forum as I'm sure it helps to get a proper response as opposed to the experience that you get from the people at HA!

Susan



Joaschim said:


> Hi
> 
> As soon as an application has been submitted to Home Affairs, your are allowed to stay in the country until the application has been processed.
> 
> ...


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## Kimbasil (Jul 26, 2011)

Hi Susan,

I am in a similar position. I applied for a Spousal Visa in the UK, but the permit in my passport says 'Relatives Permit'.
I have now had a job offer and wanted to get a work endorsement, but have been told that I need to fill in the change of conditions on existing permit (DHA-1740) Form. This asks for more information with regards to the work permit. All I thought I had to do was show a letter of a job offer.......I am so frustrated at how difficult things seem to be.

Good luck to both of us!!

Kim


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## DAlex (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi Kim,

They do make things so much more complicated than they need to!! Finally after months and months of waiting, I finally got my permit. Still a bit of confusion with it. But that's for another post!Hope yours got sorted too. 

Good luck!!
Susan


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## niknik88 (May 20, 2012)

Kimbasil said:


> Hi Susan,
> 
> I am in a similar position. I applied for a Spousal Visa in the UK, but the permit in my passport says 'Relatives Permit'.
> I have now had a job offer and wanted to get a work endorsement, but have been told that I need to fill in the change of conditions on existing permit (DHA-1740) Form. This asks for more information with regards to the work permit. All I thought I had to do was show a letter of a job offer.......I am so frustrated at how difficult things seem to be.
> ...



Hi Kim,

I know this post was a while ago but I am in a similar situation and trying to find anyone who might be able to shed some light on it. I am trying to change my work endorsement and was originally told I only needed to show the new contract. After getting to HA I apparently need a lot of the original documents but as I went through an immigration practitioner I only have faxed copies of the certified copies. How did you resolve your problem in the end? Were there many forms you needed to take in?


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