The spouses of many returning South Africans have a desire, or need, to carry out some sort of income producing role and / or some may wish to carry on with their studies.
There is bound to be some confusion regarding whether a spousal permit holder can indeed work, study or run a business due to new immigration regulations in 2014.
Below we guide you through the regulations for:
- Those who held Spousal permits prior to June 2014 (issued under the old rules); and
- Those who are applying or received spousal visa’s thereafter.
What are the regulations around working on a spousal permit?
Lets start with the new and current regulations about working on a spousal permit. Under the new regulations there was a change in what permits and visa’s were classified as:
Temporary residency holders – Any holder of temporary residency (spousal visa) needs to have an endorsement to be able to work, run a business or study. Below we provide you some links for more information on this.
- Work endorsement for a spousal visa
- Business endorsement for a spousal visa
- Study endorsement for a spousal visa
Permanent residency holders – Any holder of permanent residency (spousal permit) need not apply for an endorsement and may carry out work, study or business in the same manner as a South African Citizen would.
What were the regulations for endorsing a spousal permit?
If you currently hold a spousal permit that was issued under the old terminology of Spousal Permit, whereby both temporary and permanent spousal were referred to as permits, the key is whether you hold temporary residency or permanent residency.
If you are not sure simply check for an expiry date on your permit stamp in your passport and in the case of permanent residency you will also have received a permanent residency certificate.
If you are a temporary spousal permit holder then you will need to apply for the applicable endorsements. You can find further information on this here.
Getting it right
For new applicants the terminology will make sense:
- Spousal visa means an endorsement is required
- Spousal permit means no endorsement is required
For existing holders as of June 2014 please ensure you get the correct endorsement where required, a failure to do so means you will be illegally carrying out an activity and breaking the terms of your permit.
Getting help with your visa or permit application
We welcome the opportunity to consult with you as to your eligibility for a visa /permit and answer any questions you may have with no obligation.
You can take our free one minute assessment here or request a call back for more information. Or simply call us at +27 (0)21 424 2460.
Alternatively you can fill out the below online enquiry form to contact us.
