A permanent residency in South Africa is a status that grants the holder the right to live and work in South Africa indefinitely.
What is the objective of permanent residency in South Africa?
In order to get permanent residency in South Africa, you need to apply for permanent residency. There are a few categories of people who are eligible for permanent residence in South Africa. These include people who are married to a South African citizen or someone who is applying for citizenship, children of South African citizens, widows, or widowers of a South African citizen and people whose parents were born in the Republic of South Africa before 1994.
How to apply for a permanent residency in South Africa?
Applying for a permanent residency in South Africa is a long and complicated one. It is not the same as applying for citizenship.
To apply for a permanent residency in South Africa, you need to be sponsored by an employer, spouse, or partner who holds citizenship or permanent residency. You can also apply for it if you are an international student in the country or if you have applied for asylum and have been granted refugee status.
Applying for a permanent residency starts with getting your eligibility assessed. Employers, spouses, and partners can sponsor their family members who are not citizens or permanent residents to get their eligibility assessed by submitting the application form, providing proof of their relationship and meeting the financial requirements set out by Home Affairs.
The next step is to apply to Home Affairs through an online system called Immigrations Online Services (IOS). You will then be required to attend an interview at your nearest Home Affairs office where they will assess your application based on the information you provided in your online application.
