We went again to a Home Affairs Office last Tuesday to try to submit our application for a renewal of our South African Visa. Before we went, we had conferred with our friend who had recently submitted her application about what supporting documents we needed with us. She assured me that our list had everything she had brought with her and extra. We also conferred with a woman who has helped others obtain their visa, and she thought we were prepared.
We went to a different Home Affairs Office than the one we had to stand in line outdoors when we went the previous week. This was in another town at greater distance from where we live. But we were glad we tried this new location. We were able to wait indoors, which was nice since there was some rain during that morning. And also, since we arrived early, we were able to sit during our wait. However we were not sure we were waiting in the correct office. The doors were not marked and there were many rooms. And we were not sure that the application that we had filled out was the correct form.
We waited two hours before it was our turn to be seen. The first person at the desk said that she was not doing what we needed, and I was afraid that our wait was all for nothing. But she said that we needed to just go to the desk next to her as soon as that applicant was finished.
When our turn came at the next desk, the woman looked at our supporting documents and said that we were missing proof of our air flight out of the country. I questioned her because it is not until December or January that we expect to fly out. But she said we needed proof of this before we could get our visa extended. I asked her if we had everything else that we needed for our return and she gave us a list of needed articles and assured us that we were only lacking the one thing. I asked if we needed to start all over in the lines, and of course the answer was yes. I asked her which day is less busy, so the lines would not be so long. She said that every day is busy.
Now we are getting help from our sending organization, the Franciscan Mission Service, for the air flight documentation that we need. Then we will try again to get our application accepted at the Home Affairs Office. The two people we had conferred with before we went to the Home Affairs office about the documents needed, said that they had never heard of such a requirement. However they were people from a Religious organization which was perhaps recognized as being a financial support for having the necessary money for a flight ticket. So even though we had proof of our finances with us, more was needed.
We will try again on another Tuesday when we have a day off of work.
Cecilia
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Renewing Our Visas - Step 1
We have heard horror stories from others who have tried to renew their Visas in South Africa. Our friend, Franciscan Sister Dierdre, started her application for renewal last September. The papers she submitted have been lost three times and she still has not received her renewed visa. She has phoned them every two or three weeks as they requested, with a registration number, repeated long details to them on the phone, and still not been granted the visa. She in not alone in this situation, as we have heard similar stories from others. The Home Affairs Office, which handles visas and other business is apparently overwhelmed. I have heard that they process 4.000 applications from refugees every month as well as other business.
I had hoped to get the application form on the internet. I learned that it is necessary to go to the Home Affairs office just to get the paper. Tim and I went to the nearest Home Affairs office last Tuesday. We learned that that office does not have the forms, and we were given directions to another office some miles away.
We arrived there to find a line of people outside of the building. We joined the line and stood for 1 - 2 hours. There was traffic in and out of the door ahead of us. Some of those people must have been jumping their turn, because when the number ahead of us got to about 10, the number stayed the same even though there was traffic in and out. Finally I went into the building to see what I could. There was a staircase which people went up to a small area at the top of the stairs which was filled with a crush of people. They were standing against a gate which held a small area the size of a small elevator. Inside that gate there was another crush of people. There was a guard inside with the people. I think perhaps he was trying to let one person in as one left. I asked him about getting a blank application form. He said that I needed to go inside. When I repeated my request for just getting the paper, a different man gave me a form. I said I needed two, and could I copy this one. He said I could.
I went outside to where Tim was waiting in line. We looked at the form which is titled "Application For Renewal of Existing Permit" We are not sure that this is the correct form, but we have filled it out and gotten the signature of the St. Francis Care Center Manager on the form
In the following days we gathered the supporting documents which we might need for the Visa Renewal. We plan to try Step 2 of the process on this coming Tuesday. We plan to go to a different Home Affairs site with the hope that the crush of people will be less or more fairly handled.
Cecilia
I had hoped to get the application form on the internet. I learned that it is necessary to go to the Home Affairs office just to get the paper. Tim and I went to the nearest Home Affairs office last Tuesday. We learned that that office does not have the forms, and we were given directions to another office some miles away.
We arrived there to find a line of people outside of the building. We joined the line and stood for 1 - 2 hours. There was traffic in and out of the door ahead of us. Some of those people must have been jumping their turn, because when the number ahead of us got to about 10, the number stayed the same even though there was traffic in and out. Finally I went into the building to see what I could. There was a staircase which people went up to a small area at the top of the stairs which was filled with a crush of people. They were standing against a gate which held a small area the size of a small elevator. Inside that gate there was another crush of people. There was a guard inside with the people. I think perhaps he was trying to let one person in as one left. I asked him about getting a blank application form. He said that I needed to go inside. When I repeated my request for just getting the paper, a different man gave me a form. I said I needed two, and could I copy this one. He said I could.
I went outside to where Tim was waiting in line. We looked at the form which is titled "Application For Renewal of Existing Permit" We are not sure that this is the correct form, but we have filled it out and gotten the signature of the St. Francis Care Center Manager on the form
In the following days we gathered the supporting documents which we might need for the Visa Renewal. We plan to try Step 2 of the process on this coming Tuesday. We plan to go to a different Home Affairs site with the hope that the crush of people will be less or more fairly handled.
Cecilia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)