Going back for longer than 90 days on Aussie passport

[Masongibbs]

Hi all,

 

I need to go back to South Africa due to family reasons for about a year but I believe my SA citizenship fell away when I took my Aussie citizenship. The consulate here have a form I fill out and can send back to SA to check status and give me PR but it takes 6 months and I need to leave ASAP so I cannot wait. I have heard I can apply in SA but  I have no idea where I go besides home affairs who I know will be clueless. Has anyone done anything similar or can anyone point me in the right direction? 

Edited May 12, 2017 by Masongibbs

[ottg]

There may be a way around. What I remember is that with an Aus passport (without RSA citizenship) the max stay in RSA is 3 months

To extend your stay you need to leave RSA and apply for a further 3 months extension

However, you can apply for temporary residency visa online but requires the same type of documents as for a visa

That you need to do 60-days before your current 90-days in RSA lapse

The processing duration is 8-10 weeks. It seems you can do that before leaving Aus or while in RSA.

http://www.vfsglobal.com/dha/southafrica/ (give them a call)

 

Note that all permanent residence visa applications will have a minimum average processing time of 8 - 10 months

 

Edited May 13, 2017 by ottg

[ChrisH]

Can't you just go for a weekend trip to Lesotho or would they actually check this?

[Masongibbs]

It's actually more complicated than I thought as you cannot apply for a change of status from within the country so I have contacted migration agents in SA to help me sort this out. Hopefully they will get back to me today.