A retired permit, as a means of immigration to South Africa, is granted to immigrants wishing to spend their retirement years in South Africa. For immigration to South Africa, under the category of a retired permit, the criteria is based on premise that the immigrant is not looking to work, study or carry out an own business.

RETIRED PERMIT / VISA - CRITERIA

As with all permit applications associated with immigration to South Africa, there is a number of criteria that must be satisfied, below are some of the main points:

• There are no age restrictions on a retired persons permit, either for a minimum age or maximum.
• Applications for retired person’s permits can be made under the temporary and permanent categories.
• Both income and capital can be used depending upon whether a temporary or permanent retired person’s
  permit is being applied for.
• The value of pensions and rental income form property can be utilised for proving income.

More details can be found in our knowledge base and brochure download section.

Working out whether you meet the qualifying criteria can be quite complex as only certain types of income and capital are allowable. To ensure you meet the qualifying criteria please use one of the links below:

I would like to complete the online enquiry form
I would like to request a call back
I would like to e-mail Intergate

RETIRED PERMIT / VISA - TEMPORARY RESIDENCY

Applications for retired permits under temporary residency can be made for a period of between 1 year and 4 years. After the 4 years they can be further extended by making an application to home affairs and proving that the criteria is still being met.

As a retired persons permit the one of the main criteria is concerning the prospective immigrant’s financial status and proving they have sufficient means to support themselves.

For temporary residency each applicant must demonstrate that they have:

ZAR 20 000 per month income or sufficient capital to equate to this, or a combination of both.

As examples:

Retired permit / visa based on income alone

A married couple with income of R40 000 per month from property rental and pension.

The criteria would be met and the couple could apply for the maximum term of 4 years under the retired persons permit category. They could also apply for permanent residency – for more details see the below section Retired Permit / Visa permanent residency.

Retired permit / visa based on capital alone

A married couple with no income, but ZAR 6 million in investments.

For each month the couple apply for a temporary retired person’s permit they would need to show capital of ZAR 40 000 (ZAR 20 000 each). Therefore for the maximum 4 year permit the equation would be 48 (months) times ZAR 40 000 (required monthly income). A figure of ZAR 1 920 000 would be needed meaning the couple qualify easily.

Retired permit / visa based on a combination of income and capital

A single person with ZAR 10 000 in monthly income and ZAR 3 million capital.

The retired permit specifies a monthly income of ZAR 20 000 per person so in this case the applicant is ZAR 10 000 per month short.

This shortfall can be made up from the available capital of ZAR 3 million.

In order to apply for the maximum 4 year temporary retired persons permit, capital of 48 (months) times ZAR 10 000 would be needed. A total of ZAR 480 000. The individual would therefore meet the criteria for a 4 year temporary retired permit easily.

RETIRED PERMIT / VISA - PERMANENT RESIDENCY

Permanent residency applications under the retired permit category can be made without the need to first obtain temporary residency, but in practice most immigrants will apply for both (where they meet the qualifying criteria) due to the long processing times of home affairs, approximately 24 months.

The financial criteria for retired permits under the permanent category are similar to that of temporary in so much that ZAR 20 000 monthly income per applicant needs to be proved. However this needs to be income and not capital based.