South Africa Retirement

Retiring in South Africa is an increasingly popular option for overseas nationals who wish to immigrate to South Africa on a permanent or seasonal basis. The South African retirement visa may be issued as a temporary or permanent visa and requires candidates to have a lifelong pension fund or income in order to support themselves whilst in South Africa.

Visit the Global Visas online assessment area now to begin your application for a South African retirement visa. Our assessment forms take just minutes to complete and a specialist South African immigration consultant will contact you directly.

South African Retirement Visa – Temporary or Permanent?

The South African Retirement visa may be issued as either a temporary visa or a permanent immigration service. Applicants are free to choose which option they prefer and temporary retirement visa holders will not be placed under any obligation to transfer to a permanent visa, though a permanent retirement visa application must be submitted from within South Africa. The key benefit of a permanent visa over the temporary route is that it grants its holder permanent residency in South Africa, and therefore many of the same rights and privileges enjoyed by South African citizens. Although a permanent retirement visa does not offer all the rights afforded to citizens, most notably the right to vote, it is essential for those who wish to pursue a grant of South African citizenship at a later date.

The ‘temporary’ retirement visa can be somewhat misleading as the initial grant is for four years, and the visa may be extended by additional grants of four years indefinitely so long as the criteria continue to be met. A successful application for a temporary South African retirement visa enables the candidate to choose whether to live in South Africa permanently or to remain on a seasonal basis.

South Africa Retirement Visas - Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements of this South Africa immigration service are financial and although applicants may work in South Africa If they wish, they do not need to have a job offer in place as is the case with a work permit or business visa. It may be assumed that in general, the financial criteria of the investment visa will attract candidates who do not need to support themselves by working in South Africa, however, should they choose to do so they may be permitted to work subject to approval. Where candidates apply for the permanent retirement visa, they will be awarded a grant of permanent residency in South Africa and will therefore be able to seek and undertake employment as they see fit.

Candidates must be able to fulfil one of the following criteria.

• An applicant must have a pension, or another source of retirement income worth a minimum of 20,000 Rand per month. Where applicants are applying with their spouse or partner, it should be noted that this figure applies to each individual.
• Alternatively, candidates may apply where they have a net worth which equates to an income of 20,000 Rand or more per month. Once again this figure applies to each individual submitting a retirement visa application.

Retirement Visa Applications – Spouse and Dependent immigration

Although South African retirement visas, whether temporary or permanent are designed to allow an applicant to either live in South Africa on a permanent basis or to spend period of months at a time in the country, they do not make specific provision for the spouse or dependent of a candidate. Unlike a work permit or business application, the spouse or partner and dependents must apply in their own capacity.

As South African immigration specialists Global Visas offer the full range of South African visas and immigration services from short term tourist visas through to work permits, business visas, study visas and applications for South African citizenship. To find out how Global Visas can help you visit our online assessment area.