Home Affairs recently has proposed a new set of rules for foreign couples who want to wed in South Africa due to the high number of fraudulent marriages being reported each year. The Cape Times reported on Monday that in the five years until January 2012, there were about 8,883 fraudulent marriages. The plan suggests that foreign couples will now need be interviewed by an immigration officer. These questions would relate to how long the foreigner had been in the country and whether they had a valid permit, and how long they had been in the relationship.

Now if you look at the Home Affairs Site in their marriage section is states: If you are planning on getting married, you must:

•    ensure that you are legally allowed to marry
•    understand the legal consequences of a marriage, particularly that marriages in South Africa are automatically in community of property, unless a valid ante-nuptial contract has been entered into before the marriage, and
•    make sure that your marriage will comply with all the legal requirements for a valid marriage

Should you be unsure of any of these, legal counsel should be sought before the marriage is entered into. Then there is a section that says due to the large # of fraudulent marriages being reported each year, one must check the status of their marriage. “Due to the large number of fraudulent marriages reported to the Department of Home Affairs every year, a facility has been created for you to check your marital status at any time.” You will need your South African ID number in order to use this facility.” One must pay 10 rand each time they wish to check the status via SMS. Please contact us at New World Immigration if you have concerns and would like to make sure you hold the valid permits. We will keep up to date with any rule changes.

Sarah Farthing
021-555-0951