# Work Endorsement on Spousal Visa and Finding A Job...Pls Help!



## ShisaBoy (Apr 10, 2011)

Hello All:

I am a US citizen, and my wife is a South African citizen. We met about 11 months ago and got married last month in South Africa. I am now back in the states preparing to apply to the SA Embassy for my spousal permit and work endorsement. My hope is to return to SA in July and start working...I have encountered some difficulties in working out employment, however.

I am a recent graduate of Georgia Tech with a Masters in City and Regional Planning (degree to be awarded in May) and a BA in Political Science. I did not think it would be difficult to find a job, but I'm not really getting the attention from recruiters I thought I would. I have explored sites like PNet, Indeed, JobRapido, and when I submit my CV, I'm not even getting responses most times. I call the recruitment offices and basically get brushed off. So annoying.

I have two questions: 

1) Must I have obtained a specific offer of employment to get the work endorsement on my spousal permit? Or, can I get an endorsement ahead of time and "shop" myself as skilled foreign national who already has the ability to work once I find a job...? Hope that makes sense.

2) Does anyone know of a firm in SA that is really dedicated to job seekers? *I would be willing to pay to have someone take the time to try to match me with potential employers and set up interviews.* I'm very open to any reasonable opportunity. 
Maybe this is a bit much to expect, but I'll never find out if I dont ask.



Thanks in advance for your time and input.


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

ShisaBoy said:


> Hello All:
> 
> I am a US citizen, and my wife is a South African citizen. We met about 11 months ago and got married last month in South Africa. I am now back in the states preparing to apply to the SA Embassy for my spousal permit and work endorsement. My hope is to return to SA in July and start working...I have encountered some difficulties in working out employment, however.
> 
> ...


Hi

For the WORK ENDORSEMENT you need a *job offer when the application is submitted*. There are a number of job sites where you can submit your CV and one that caters a lot for foreign nationals is JobNet South Africa | Search, Apply and Advertise jobs.

Instead of the Work Endorsement, you may apply for a Business Endorsement, which means you can run your own business or work as a consultant (provided that 80% of your income does not come from one source).

In terms of your background: based on the information you have provided, you do not yet have a lot of work experience, which is counting against you, and which may be a reason for the lack of feedback from recruiters. 

Especially in your field, employing someone fresh out of university/college is not common (even for South African nationals). Many in your field start their internships at government departments or consultancy firms. Getting access to these will be easier once you are here.

Hope this helps.


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## ShisaBoy (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks! Very Helpful Info


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## bokbabe (Nov 28, 2010)

Joaschim said:


> Hi
> 
> For the WORK ENDORSEMENT you need a *job offer when the application is submitted*. There are a number of job sites where you can submit your CV and one that caters a lot for foreign nationals is JobNet South Africa | Search, Apply and Advertise jobs.
> 
> ...


Hi again Joaschim!

We have now arrived in SA safely and my (British) hubby has found a job already and was emailed the job offer yesterday. To sort the work permit endorsement onto his relatives permit, is it just as straightforward as going to Pretoria, with his passport and job offer and they stamping his passport? Or do we need a specific letter from his employer stating why they chose him over a South African for the job?

Many thanks,
Bok


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2011)

bokbabe said:


> Hi again Joaschim!
> 
> We have now arrived in SA safely and my (British) hubby has found a job already and was emailed the job offer yesterday. To sort the work permit endorsement onto his relatives permit, is it just as straightforward as going to Pretoria, with his passport and job offer and they stamping his passport? Or do we need a specific letter from his employer stating why they chose him over a South African for the job?
> 
> ...


Hi

One *cannot *add any endorsement to a Relative's Permit (kindly refer to S18(2) of the immigration Act). The catch 22 is that the SA High Commission and many SA embassies only issue Relative's Permit instead of the Life Partner of Spousal Permits.

One can add a work or business endorsement to a Life Partner/Spousal Permit (kindly refer to S11(6) of the Immigration Act).

For you this means that your husband will need to apply for a Spousal Permit (a complete new application) and submit the job offer along with this.

Kind Regards, 

Joachim Schuckmann


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## bokbabe (Nov 28, 2010)

Joaschim said:


> Hi
> 
> One *cannot *add any endorsement to a Relative's Permit (kindly refer to S18(2) of the immigration Act). The catch 22 is that the SA High Commission and many SA embassies only issue Relative's Permit instead of the Life Partner of Spousal Permits.
> 
> ...


******!! As far as I was aware, we were applying for a Spousal Temporary Residence Permit, at the same time we applied for his Permanent Residence Permit at the SA embassy in London but, when his passport came back, it had a relatives permit in it!!

Ok, will do both then when we go to Pretoria, what a palver! Hope he can still start work in May!!!

Thank you for your invaluable help.

Bok


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2011)

bokbabe said:


> ******!! As far as I was aware, we were applying for a Spousal Temporary Residence Permit, at the same time we applied for his Permanent Residence Permit at the SA embassy in London but, when his passport came back, it had a relatives permit in it!!
> 
> Ok, will do both then when we go to Pretoria, what a palver! Hope he can still start work in May!!!
> 
> ...


Hi

What you mean by "both"? If you have applied for Perm Res, then that is perfect and the application will run in the background.

In terms of working:

Legally, a foreign national needs a valid permit that authorises them to work.

There was a court case against Home Affairs that held that if a Life Partner/Spousal application is not processed within 30 days and Home Affairs does not provide a good reason, the applicant may start working for the employer.

Please note though that should Home Affairs find your husband working without a valid permit, they may still detain him (as they may not be aware of the ruling, and would first need to investigate if your husband falls within this category).

Thus, the safest option will be to have the valid permit before starting to work.

We know that the embassy/High Commission rather issues Relative's Permits instead of the Life Partner permit, and it does cause a great deal of frustration among applicants. And it seems that you are the latest example of this.


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## RSA_Newbie (Nov 5, 2011)

*Joachim, HELP!*

Joachim, I see by your LinkedIn profile you not longer work for Intergate but I am hoping you might still be able to advise on the whole spousal permit and finding employment (work permits) in SA. Can you PM me for further contact?


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## Damiana (Nov 17, 2012)

*Business/ work endorsement to spouse or life partner visa*

I submitted my application for a business endorsement to a pre-existing spouse's permit yesterday. The application was accepted by a Home Affairs official in Cape Town, who seemed very competent and to know what she was doing so I assume in theory that the process I’ve followed is correct, even though I don’t yet know if the application has been successful.

The key point I want to make is that immigration consultants will tell you that the application for work/ business endorsements to existing spousal permits is much more complicated than it is – and charge you cR7000 for doing the application for you. I chose to spend 2 hours in the Home Affairs queue and managed to submit my application no problem.

I’d been told by two immigration firms (including Intergate) that despite the fact I’d already got my spousal permit (in September from the SA Consulate in London – very efficient) I would have to re-do the entire temporary residence permit application – so all the hassle of re-submitting chest x-ray, criminal record check, etc. – and this time include the request for the business endorsement (in my case to work as a sole proprietor). When I pressed the immigration firms on this they admitted that I ‘may have a chance’ of getting a business endorsement without re-doing the temporary resident permit application.

So yesterday, I took to the Home Affairs office in Cape Town the following documents:
•	Business plan for sole proprietor business (one page outlining my skills and the type of work I would seek to do as a consultant)
•	Curriculum vitae
•	SARS registration form (very easy to get – just pop into your nearest SARS office to register as a SA taxpayer)
•	Letter of endorsement from prospective client (I don’t think I needed this but thought it might be helpful)
•	Certified copy of my passport
•	Certified copy of relative’s permit in my passport
•	Certified copy of husband’s ID book
•	Certified copy of marriage certificate
•	Letter of motivation from husband (again, I don’t think I needed this but I wanted to prove we were still married!)

When I told the official what I wanted to do she asked if I had my ‘business papers’ (yes, see 1-3 above) and if I’d filled out the form, at which point my heart sank. Then she came back with the form and it was the simplest 3-page thing. It’s BI-1740 Form 9 ‘Application for a change of condition on existing permit’. You just fill in your details and say what condition you want to change – so in my case that I wanted to get a business endorsement so that I could work as a sole proprietor – and why. It took me 3 minutes to complete and then the official accepted my application.

So I feel quite cross with the big immigration consultants who only told me half the story in order to try to get my business. I’d be really wary of this. These processes aren’t half as complicated as you’ll be told. They may be a bit fiddly and spending two hours at Home Affairs isn’t a whole load of fun, but the irony is, if I’d done this through an immigration firm they’d have not only left me R7000 poorer but also caused me a whole load of extra hassle by telling me to go and get new chest x-rays, medical certificates, etc. that it turned out I didn’t need.

However, one thing I would emphasise is that my spousal permit is only two months old. If it had been older than 6 months I don’t know whether they would have required a whole re-submission of the temporary resident permit application. But you can find that out easily enough by ringing or visiting Home Affairs.

The fact of the matter is though that although we have to seek permission to work, spouses in SA are treated as if they have the right to work (hence why we don’t have to submit all the endless documentation that other work/ business visa applicants require), so the sense I get is that the process is on our side.

Two other things that I’d like to correct that I’ve seen on various blogs:

-	You CAN get a business endorsement on a relative’s permit, as mine is called a relative’s permit not a spouse’s permit even though in the small print beneath it says it’s for the purpose of living with my spouse.

-	You CAN get a business endorsement to work as a sole proprietor, and you do NOT have to register your business. You just have to register with SARS, as you will pay tax as an individual. I’ve been told though that this route is harder to go if you’re applying overseas – e.g. that the London consulate require you to be a PTY – but this could be more inaccurate advice; I don’t know because I applied in Cape Town.

I’m posting this in the hope that I will de-mystify the process for other spouses/ life partners out there, save you some money and encourage you to be wary of the ‘information’ you will receive from immigration firms.


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## RSA_Newbie (Nov 5, 2011)

Damiana if you get your permit approved please let me know. I have been told time and time again by Home Affairs that I cannot start my own business here unless I invest 2.5 million rand and employ 5 citizens. I cannot just work for myself as a consultant or any other work where I am the sole earner. This includes my field of personal training or anything like, interior design, landscape design, graphic design, web site design, artist, consultant, Herbalife, transcription, NOTHING! My only options are to be offered a job or have the money to invest. Would be interesting to know if you get approved.
Scott


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## Damiana (Nov 17, 2012)

Scott, I'm fairly certain that's incorrect. You just have to look at some of the information online to see that spouses can apply for a business endorsement to their permit and that the requirements for minimum investment and number of employees are waived in their case. That was never the point of confusion for me - it was just whether or not in order to apply for it I had to re-submit an entire temporary residence permit application. And judging by my experience, you don't. I'll let you know how I get on.


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## RSA_Newbie (Nov 5, 2011)

Damiana, where did you see this information regarding the waiver of investment and employees for spouses of SA citizens? The only places I've seen anything of the sort are forums or immigration services websites. Nothing on DHA's site or immigration lawyers that indicate this waiver.


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## Damiana (Nov 17, 2012)

Yes, on immigration service websites and in discussions with immigration consultants. DHA website is useless and there is so much key information not on there - that's why immigration firms can make a mint because it's so hard to find out what you need to know. 
The official at HA was requiring all sorts of extra information from people ahead of me in the queue seeking work/ business endorsements, but when she saw my spousal permit she only requested the information outlined above.


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