# Life Partner visa granted - thank you everyone!



## saffalass (Sep 28, 2014)

Hi all,

JUST heard that our life partner visa has been granted and approved at the South African High Commission in London. Thank you to everyone who directly and indirectly helped with this very tedious and time consuming application.

I know every case is different, but I'd just like to extend an invite to anyone who might be needing help, too, as I know how stressful and exhausting the process can be.

I'll be asking some more questions soon about getting endorsements and so on as it seems there's some confusion over how it works.

THANKS AGAIN!


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## backlight (Sep 24, 2014)

*Life partner visa*



saffalass said:


> Hi all,
> 
> JUST heard that our life partner visa has been granted and approved at the South African High Commission in London. Thank you to everyone who directly and indirectly helped with this very tedious and time consuming application.
> 
> ...


Hi SAFFALASS,

I hope you can help me with this one:

here is my story:

I am currently PR status in South Africa, and would like my Fiancee to join me permanently in South Africa, and perhaps look for work in the future.

she is a Namibian citizen born before independence, however she was not born in Namibia, which doesn't give her the right to apply for PR directly.

I was thinking that she could log in an application in Namibia under regulation 27(g)RELATIVE and for normal relative visa 11(6) at the same time. What are her chances? as we have been together since 2011 and we can prove the relationship. However we are not married as of yet. Her Study visa expired last year and she's been using 3 months holiday visas ever since. the gymnastic of going in and out of SA is becoming stressful and costly. What do you propose?

Also I would like to know what you included when you applied for your life partner visa. Tips on what to include. Also we do not have enough cohabitation proofs , I wonder if thats a problem.

Your assistance on the matter above would be highly appreciate.


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## saffalass (Sep 28, 2014)

Hi there,

I'm not too familiar with the exact sections as everywhere we go they seem to say something different (we have just done renewal and waiting for outcome under 11.6 something something with busines sendorsement). I am a citizen, so your requirements might be somewhat different.

But, I'll help as far as I can.

She will have to apply in Namibia, as far as I understand, long-term applications can no longer be done in South Africa. Which exact visa she'd have to apply for I cannot assist with (sorry!) - however, if she contacts the embassay in Nam, they might be able to assist. Our experience with the consulate was moderately pleasant.

For the application, we included:

Official stuff:
Application form (obviously)
Medical report (there is an official form)
Radiolofical report (there is an official form)
Police clearance (from every country your parter has lived in for 12 months since age 18)
Certified copy of my ID
Letter of support from me (the wording varies, but basically needs to say you support her physically, financially and emptionally)
Official affidavidt required by Home Affairs (there is a form that you fill in)

Supporting docs:
Three months bank statements from me
Letter from my accountant stating I earn the min threshold required by home affairs
Partner's bank statements proving he has funds to support himself in savings
We had some leases together
We had some bills together
We included a sperate notarial agreement (I can send you a copy if you need it)

Because we spend some time apart (him in the UK and me in SA), we also included some email correspondence between us, flight tickets between each other's countries and flight tickets and accom proof for holidays we took together.
We also got our parents and friends (about six in total) to write a letter saying they are aware of our relationships and have been since the start (clearly confirming the date). And asked them to have this signed by a comissioner of oath where possible and include certified copies of their passports/IDs.
We even included our Skype history. Basically absolutely everything to prove that we "are in a relationship akin to marriage". 
It's a horrible process having to prove your relantionship is genuine with pieces of paper, but we wanted to be 100% there was no reasonable doubt that we were legit.


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## danielnell15 (Aug 5, 2018)

*Sample notarial agreement*

Hi there, 

Would you be able to message me the template you used for a notarial contract? I noticed you had offered to send this to others. 

also if you have a template for letter of support that would also be helpful. 

Many thanks for sharing your help and advise! 

Dan


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## baconsteakey (Aug 29, 2018)

> Official affidavidt required by Home Affairs (there is a form that you fill in)


Can you remember the form number you completed?
I am aware of "(DHA-1712A) Form 12", titled "Affidavit in respect of parties to permanent homosexual or heterosexual relationship".

But in our case we are already married (in SA). Your case sounds like a "life partner" situation, where you aren't technically married, so might not be relevant to me.


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## terryZW (Jun 26, 2017)

baconsteakey said:


> Can you remember the form number you completed?
> I am aware of "(DHA-1712A) Form 12", titled "Affidavit in respect of parties to permanent homosexual or heterosexual relationship".
> 
> But in our case we are already married (in SA). Your case sounds like a "life partner" situation, where you aren't technically married, so might not be relevant to me.



For DHA purposes there is no difference between being married and not in relation to the visa process and requirements. Same rules apply, same forms, same documents. The only difference being when you submit as a married couple you submit a marriage certificate whereas when unmarried you submit a cohabitation agreement.


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## baconsteakey (Aug 29, 2018)

Thanks terryZW, that's very very useful to know.

I take it that means, even though we are married, we should complete this affidavit (DHA-1712A Form 12), right?


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## terryZW (Jun 26, 2017)

baconsteakey said:


> Thanks terryZW, that's very very useful to know.
> 
> I take it that means, even though we are married, we should complete this affidavit (DHA-1712A Form 12), right?


Correct. Just remember that if you submitted that form before at any point in the past you are meant to submit Part B, not A.


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## baconsteakey (Aug 29, 2018)

Thank you once again terryZW. Hope I am not pushing my luck, but I'll give it a try since you seem to be in a generous mood 

On the form it states:


> I [insert name] being an *unmarried/divorced/widowed person ... blah blah blah
> * delete where appropriate.


Given that I am married already, am I to delete the "un" part of the word married, along with "divorced" and "widowed"? I know this is a little pedantic, but I would have assumed that they'd have added "married/unmarried/divorced/...".


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