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If you entered South Africa and have no visa then you are illegal and cannot get married here. Proof of temporary residence permit/visa for the foreign applicant. The following persons are not allowed to get married as per theDepartment of Home Affairswebsite. A reply SMS will be texted back to you confirming your marriage status. When two South Africans intend on getting married to one another they first have to provide evidence that they are legally allowed to get married. Be prepared to answer questions about your relationship.
Marriage ceremonies must have a licensed marriage officer. Examples of this include a religious minister, magistrate, or a Home Affairs marriage officer. The number to which SMS has to be sent can be found in the “Office Locations & Contacts” section of this page. If any of the above documents, i.e. letter of non-impediment or divorce decree, are in a language other than English then these documents need to be translated by a certified translator.
Home Affairs Interview Process for Foreign Nationals
It will establish the willingness of both parties to enter into a long-term union. Those that fail to go on an interview will not have their nuptials certificates registered, which makes it invalid. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that both parties are willingly entering into marriage of their own accord and not under compulsion. On the day that you are to get married, reach the venue 30 minutes before the time of your appointment.
The type of marriage certificate issued to you depends if you are a foreigner. The South African marriage Act states that the couple must receive a marriage certificate after they are married. The interview is quite short and if the foreign applicant is from a country where previous applicants were caught out for fraudulent marriages then you can certainly expect it to be lengthy and investigative. The couple would need to complete the above steps and then attend an immigration interview for marriage at one of your local Home Affairs. Wedding ceremonies are performed at the Department of Home Affairs or at a church which an authorised marriage officer needs to conduct.
Abridged marriage certificate
If a witness is a non SA citizen then a copy of their passport together with the page containing the entry stamp . Why we were ‘safe in the knowledge’ is because we had asked the priest multiple times if we had to go for a “marriage interview” at the Home Affairs prior to him marrying us. He said there was no need, but this was no fault of his own - he was just not made aware of immigration law changes. From what I have heard, the Home Affairs official will ask basic questions about how you met, how long you have been together, do you love this person and why do you love this person? The Home Affairs officer will look at how genuine relationship seems and ask open ended questions. My colleague said they waited for more than two hours and each interview was over within 5 minutes.
This requirement is the one that causes a few headaches because you’ll only be able to hand in this document once the foreign partner is in the country. Home Affairs only books interviews for couples once both of them are in the country. If any of the persons getting married are widowed, the deceased spouse’s death certificate must be submitted. The letter of non-impediment just confirms to the Department of Immigration that you are not married in your country of residence. This letter permits you to get married in South Africa to your partner and have the wedding of your dreams. If your letter of non-impediment is written in a different language then you must have it officially translated into English by a sworn translator.
Unabridged Marriage Certificate
You can find a full list of required documents on the Home Affairs website. If any of the required documentation cannot be produced, one of the partners must submit an affidavit confirming the documents cannot be made available for the purpose of concluding the Civil Union. The Civil Union Act allows anyone – regardless of their sexual orientation – to marry either through a civil union, a civil marriage or a customary marriage. Affidavit or no lawful impediment oath where a country does not issue no lawful impediment letters. If any party is divorced a copy of the final decree of divorce is required. If the wedding includes a minor , the written consent of both parents/legal guardian or the Commissioner of Child Welfare or a judge should be submitted on Form DHA-32 as well.
All couples married in South Africa receive abridged marriage certificates, which are presented to the couple immediately after the ceremony. If one of you is a South African and living in South Africa, this is the only certificate you require. Before getting married, you are required to present any prenuptial agreements to the marriage officer with a letter from your lawyer confirming the agreement was mutual. All couples must attend an interview session at the Department of Home Affairs offices.
Marriages in South Africa are automatically ‘in community of property’, meaning that assets from both partners conjoin. If you plan on marrying out of community of property in South Africa, consult a lawyer beforehand. A lawyer will help draw up a contract designating the division of property; this is called a prenuptial agreement.
Since these slots are in-demand, it’s best to accept the date and time, and re-arrange your schedule if needs be. The parents of a prospective spouse who is a minor must consent to the marriage. If he/she has no parents, then his or her legal guardian must consent. If the parents or legal guardian cannot consent, a Commissioner of Child Welfare can be approached for consent.
The person who marries you who is referred to as a marriage officer must be authorised in terms of Act No 25 of 1961. For divorced partners, they should have the divorce documents. The official will escort your party to a private ceremony room, talk you through all the legalities. Some officiators will allocate time for the exchange of rings and vows, if you require it. Customary marriages are registered by completing BI-1699 and paying the required fees.
A marriage officer will not be allowed to marry you and your partner and you will not be allowed to register your marriage at the Department of Home Affairs. Before getting married, you are required to present the ANC to the marriage officer with a letter from your lawyer confirming the agreement was mutual. Before marrying, you must present any prenuptial agreements to the marriage officer with a letter from your lawyer confirming mutual agreement. The foreign national marrying a South African is required to submit certain documents at the interview which will be thoroughly investigated by the Immigration officer. Still, there are still a lot of couples that do not want to separate the legal signing of documents from their celebration and elopement.
Please note that it is the groom or bride’s responsibility to make sure that your marital status on the Home Affairs system is correct. This is not an issue if you have not been married before but if you are divorced, please make sure you have a final decree of divorce issued from SA containing a case number and the court name. The marriage may then be solemnised by a marriage officer and can be done either at the Department of Home Affairs or at an official wedding ceremony.
If this is how you feel, it’s best to plan a relatively long trip to South Africa in order to try get the immigration interview done prior to your elopement/wedding. If we hand in the documents to home affairs, they may only be able to give your an interview date in 2/3 weeks. There are worse things than a vacation or a pre-wedding honeymoon in South Africa, right?! Sometimes, you could get an interview in the same week you hand in the documents , and sometimes you may have to wait a whole month to get your interview date.
Couples that want to get married, but are not interested in a ceremony at a church or other public location may hold their ceremony at any South African Home Affairs office. Marriage ceremonies taking place at a Home Affairs office are FREE OF CHARGE and entitled under the Civil Union Act 2006 for both heterosexual and same-sex couples. Foreign nationals marrying South African citizens have been found to be doing so merely in order to obtain citizenship in the country.
Importantly, each country has their own equivalent of a letter of non-impediment. For example, a US citizen must make an appointment at the consulate to attest to an affidavit which is stamped by the embassy. The foreign partner should research and determine how their particular country handles letters of non-impediment, and then follow the correct procedure to acquire the document. Letters of non-impediment should also not be older than 3 months, or risk being rejected by home affairs. A certified copy of the foreign partner’s entry stamp or visa into South Africa.
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