Hello, Bonjour and Sawubona from my newest adventure of moving from Europe to South Africa, Cape Town. Corona virus is not a friendly helper, but that’s a whole different story. In this blog I want to focus on advices how to get a visa, which is already an interesting battle itself.
When deciding to leave a continent with family and friends that you know behind, you go through many stages; from being euphoric to worried to happy. And then it comes: the naughty visa application. Some say it’s worse than going to the dentist, some say it’s random and unfair, I say it’s a struggle to survive even if you think you might be prepared for it.
First things first, you have to find out which visa application form is the one you need to correctly fill out. This really is a bigger step than thought if you have no one with experience to tell you. Afterwards, you need to gather all documents and proofs demanded by the application form. Now this really is a masterpiece of its one, almost impossible if you don’t have any competent help and leading to lovely, time-consuming trips to the embassy. Most of the time you can’t rely on help of the employees of the embassy so make sure you got all your paperwork done correctly.
Every visa application process is different and it even differs from embassy to embassy for the same country. So here my advice if you want to survive the visa application process efficiently when applying for an intra-company work visa from Germany to South Africa, Cape Town:
- Check out which embassy is the one you need to go to (Berlin for whole Germany except Bavaria. If you live in Bavaria, Munich is responsible for you).
- Make sure the intra-company work visa is applicable for you. This should always be the case if your German employer sends you to Cape Town to a branch or subsidiary within the group and you don’t quit your job in Germany but will be re-employed after the expatriation time in South Africa.
- Download the application form from the SA embassy website.
- Get a folder ready for all documents to come.
Gather all your documents
- Gather all documents mentioned in the visa application. This is:
- passports from all nationalities you have,
- copies of all your passports,
- download and print the form DHA-1738 and fill it out,
- biometric picture not older than 6 months,
- a letter of the branch / affiliate in South Africa confirming the transfer and specifying whether your position is junior or senior. This needs to specify your new occupation and the relationship between your German employer and the one in South Africa. Documentary proof is likely to be asked, so better be already prepared with the registration documentation issued by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPS) for the South African company. Furthermore, a translated trade register excerpt for the German company will be needed. Most likely you will also be asked to present an organogram to show the relationship between the German and South African company, best to show as well your current and future position and how they are related,
- a written undertaking by the South African company so ensure all points mentioned under this number in the application,
- a plan developed by the South African company to transfer your skills to a local citizen incl. currently certified copies of their identity with their ID numbers. If you don’t present the original letters but copies that are sent to you via email, the HR person signing all those letters need to present a certified passport copy as well,
- a confirmation of your German employer that you will be transferred to the South African company, mentioning the time period for your stay,
- your original contract translated into English and certified by a sworn translator incl. an attached copy to it. As a back up take a copy of your original contract. Moreover, you need your original assignment letter or contract for your new position in South Africa,
- original police clearance certificate,
- a signed medical report as provided on the website of the embassy,
- a signed radiological report as provided on the website of the embassy,
- if you have children accompanying you, take a proof of parental responsibilities with you,
- if a spouse is accompanying you, take your marriage certificate translated into English and certified by a sworn translator with you,
- if you travel through a yellow fever country, take your vaccination proof with you,
- proof of payment of the application fee 5 working days before your application in the embassy,
- an A4-size envelope franked with the Express easy DHL online label (0,5kg).
Checklist for the intra-company visa
DHA-1738 form needed for no. 3
Supplement documents potentially needed for no. 5
Medical report needed for no. 11
Radiological report needed for no. 12
Make sure all HR departments from all countries involved, provide you the right documents. Check and check again bevor booking your transfer to the embassy. YOU need to go to the embassy and YOU will be the one who needs to go again if anything is missing. Keep that in mind.
Print your documents in good quality, the embassy won’t print anything for you.
If you think you got all the papers together and are ready for the application, check again if you really got it all correctly together before heading to the embassy. The one in Berlin opens at 9.00am every day but make sure to be there no later than 8.30am to avoid long waiting queues. Anyways you must be in the embassy before 11.30am or your application will not be processed that day and you need to come again. Keep also in mind that no visa application will be processed on Wednesday in Berlin.
The place to be
So when you have finally arrived in the embassy and received a waiting number, be patient and just give a short prayer to god. This might raise your chances. Once it’s your turn you will need to hand over all documents you have gathered in the correct sequence as mentioned according to the application form, this is essential to have the employees‘ goodwill at least. Then you be patient and wait until your application is thoroughly checked and you are called again.
This now is the moment of truth, was all your preparation good enough or will you go back home and redo your homework more carefully again? Whatever will be missing or additionally required by the embassy is going to be highlighted, so hope for no highlights at all. If your application will go through immediately, count yourself as very much privileged and well organized while understanding the language of bureaucracy to the highest standard. Congratulations! Now you walk out the embassy and spoil yourself with some bubbles before a long period of patience, patience and patience.
Get your papers in order for the embassy
If you have to come again to the embassy, don’t worry this is the normal case. For the next time however, bring the same forms with you where the employer of the embassy has left the marks, highlights and information. Do not use a new version. This time when walking into the embassy, pray again that it will be all to the satisfaction of the embassy. If this will be the case, you can be happy and be patient as well. From now on it might take a while until you hold your visa in your hands – if no corona virus comes in between to make a perfect mess.
My newest lessons learned:
- Rely on help – relocation agencies might know the interpretation of bureaucracy language or even a sworn translator,
- You can’t check enough – not even your own helpers,
- Be an early bird – arrive early at the embassy and wait patiently until they open in front of the gates.
Cheers to wandering the world and the wonders of our lives – bye bye, salut and sala kahle ∞
