Renewing a spousal visa for South Africa after 2 years - what is the process if the relationship changes ?

Hi crisa,

The spousal permit works in a similar regardless of whether you are married or not. An unmarried couple simply need more documents to prove that their relationship is genuine whereas a married couple will have the advantage of having a marriage certificate.

When it comes round to renewing your visa, if you are still unmarried you will simply need to sign an affadavit with your partner to state that the relationship still exists and also provide other documents to prove that the relationship is real (e.g. joint bank accounts, rental contracts, letters from family and friends). If the relationship has changed and you are married the documents you sumbit will be different. Either way it won't be greatly different from the process you have just been through.

As far as I am aware a child born in South Africa with South African father would be entitled to a South African passport. Once the child is born you will just need to submit the documents and register the child at the Department of Home Affairs. If you'd rather your child have a British or Spanish passport - you would need to look into the requirements.

For an overview of the visa process take a read of the Expat Arrivals page on Visas for South Africa

Hope this helps.

Shantalie

Thank you Shantalie for your answer. Having a baby here in SA.. will my situation changed? Do I still need to apply for a second spousal visa if I want to carry on living here after 2 years? or if a register my son at Home affairs then I won't have to do anything else for myself? Thanks.

Hi crisa89,

Having a child in South Africa won't change your status. You will still need to reapply for the spousal permit. The fact that you have a South African son will just provide more evidence to support your application for remaining in the country.

Good luck