APPLYING FOR YOUR FIRST VISA

Note - this application must happen outside of South Africa in your country of origin

Step One - confirm information needed

Find the closest South African Embassy to you, contact them to confirm all that is needed (start with the checklist below and confirm that there isn’t anything in addition). You are applying for a “Temporary Residence Visa Exceeding 90 Days 11(1)(b)(II).” We have some information compiled - but this information changes often, and you are responsible for double checking that there isn’t anything new.

Step Two - gather paperwork

First read over the checklist - then consult the tips below. The item that typically takes the longest is getting original police clearances certificates.

Though every country has different requirements for visas, the following items are typically included:

• Medical & Radiological Reports —

  These reports will only remain valid for six months, so it is always best to complete this process closer to the time of submission. For both reports make sure you get an official stamp by the doctors office.

  • Children Under 12 or Pregnant Women: this report is not needed. If you are pregnant - ask your doctor to put it in the medical letter “this patient is pregnant, ___ weeks along at the time of this appointment, so is prohibited from any xrays. She has no signs of TB.”

• Proof of Financial Means —

  They want to see that can can pay for your living expenses while in South Africa in the form of bank statements, salary advances, undertakings by the host(s) in South Africa, bursary, medical cover or cash available (including credit cards and travelers’ cheques) There are a couple of methods or items to include to prove your financial means:

  • They just want to see the totals. You don’t need to print all the transactions.

  • Take your bank statements from your bank accounts from the last three months, copy them on to a Word doc (or similar app), black out account numbers (to protect your information), and print them as a PDF.

  • You can also ask your bank to write a letter of recommendation (Here’s an Example)

  They are typically looking for at least R5000 per month. If you are in a tight financial position, here are some ways to do this :

  • You can supplement with wage advance slips, invoices you’ve sent for work, proof of credit card limits

  • Ask other people to loan you money to add to your account for the sake of proof, as soon as you paper work was accepted, transferred the money back to those people. Have them do this in different amounts on different days, so that when you print your statements there is not just one big amount that comes in (as this could be a red flag for them)

  • Have one or some people that can be a ‘garant’ for you— so they show that they have proof of sufficient financial means and a letter that states that they support you financially for the total amount of living costs here or something like that. Often people ask family members, friends or their church

• Letter of Invitation from Our Visa Team —

  We send the Invitation Letter no sooner than two weeks prior to your visa appointment (as there are additional identification documents we send along that often have to be re-certified so it doesn’t make sense to send them any earlier). This means that its best to just make your appointment first, and then contact us to request this letter, more information is in step four

• Passport Photos —

  Download this app to take the photo for free and print at a local print shop

• Original Police Clearance Certificates —

  This is usually the most time intensive aspect of your application so start this early - you can check with your embassy how to do this, often you can hire companies to help expedite this process for an added fee, just confirm that they are approved by your government.

• Provisional Flight Booking / Itinerary —

  If you don’t have one yet, buy a ticket on Expedia, save the ticket, then cancel it within 24 hours for a full refund. Visatraveler.com has complete instructions. Or email to visa@ywammuizenberg.org to ask for help with an itinerary.

  In your Letter of Invitation, we will include a line to request that proof of a return ticket not be required due to the length of the visa application (eg. you don’t need to buy a roundtrip ticket)

• Proof of Health Insurance —

  While you can obtain health insurance in your home nation, there are also some options locally that are popular that you may want to consider: Discovery or Momentum

  Another option for missionaries is Talent Trust an international insurance company specifically designed for missionaries that gives a substantial discount (30%) to YWAMers - many of our missionaries use them

Step three - make your appointment

Find the closest South African Embassy to you and make an appointment - make sure to print a copy of your appointment confirmation

Follow this Guide to Making your Appointment (still being written, sorry!) — you are applying for a “Temporary Residence Visa Exceeding 90 Days 11(1)(b)(II) ”

step four - request a visa letter from our visa team

You can send your request for a Visa letter by emailing us this information (your answers should be whatever you have stated on your visa application so that everything syncs):

• A copy of your passport

• A statement of what ministry you are a part of

• The start & end dates of the visa you are applying for

• Your residential address

step five - prepare your paperwork

Make photos copies of everything you turn in, because you just never know what you’ll need to be prepared for (for example, we recently had a staff members paperwork in transit get hijacked), plus it helps you remember the whole process if applying again in 3 years.

Copies have to be legible and pictures on passport copies crisp and not too dark.

Any document (e.g. medical report) that you can have someone put an “official stamp” on is good, especially if it is a photo-copy. You can also get everything certified by stopping by a local post office or police station - this is a free service, you just need to bring the original with you.

Optional: if you would like our Visa Team to meet with and review your documents before you submit them to double check for any possible errors, email our Visa Team and we can find a time to meet with you

STEP SIX - PREPARE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT

On the day of your appointment plan to arrive 15 minutes early. Bring all your documents, and have a copy of your appointment letter (if your Embassy sent you one) and passport on hand.

STEP SEVEN - OUTCOME RECEIVED!

First, double check what you have received. There are often errors in dates or names, which you would rather get corrected in person rather than be held back at the border when you next travel.

Step eight - update our community about your next steps

Next update our Visa Team about the outcome of your application so we can update your information and be prepared to comply with government regulations.