Many people have opted to choose South Africa as a great retirement destination. It provides a wonderful climate, good standard of living, and a very beneficial exchange rate. European currencies or the United States dollar go a long way in South Africa. Many would previously have visited South Africa as a tourist destination and fallen in love with it, and now that they have time on their hands would want to spend longer periods of time in South Africa.

South African Immigration laws make provision for people wishing to retire to South Africa and this can be done in terms of the provisions with regard to Retirement Visas. Retirement Visas can be applied for as a temporary residence visa as well as a permanent residence visa. 

The primary qualification criteria for both temporary and permanent residence Retirement Visas is concerned with the applicant’s financial status, and showing that they have the required means to support themselves.

The following criteria applies to temporary residence Retirement Visas:

Each applicant applying for a temporary residence Retirement Visa must show that they have R 37 000 per month to support themselves. This amount can be in the form of cash/cash equivalents or in the form of cash generated by capital assets. The amount of R 37 000 per month can also be in the form of a combination of the aforementioned. 

An example of this would be if a single person wished to obtain a temporary residence Retirement Visa for a period of 4 years then they would have to show that they had the equivalent of 48 months (4 years) multiplied by R 37 000. This is equal to R 1 776 000.This amount can be made up either by cash or by cash generated by capital assets or a combination of the two. For instance if the person had R 1 million in cash, and then could show a monthly rental income totalling R 776 000 over a 4 year period then they would qualify. If the applicant does not have rental income then pension income can also be used.

Applications for temporary residence Retirement can be done for a maximum period of 4 years, and at the end of this period an application for extension must be made.

The following criteria applies to permanent residence Retirement Visas:

As per temporary residence Retirement Visas the applicant must show that they have R 37 000 per month to support themselves. The difference is that the funds must be life long guaranteed income and not capital based or a cash lump sum.

There is a very long lead time with regard to permanent residency applications so should an applicant wish to retire to South Africa on a permanent residency basis then it is advised that a temporary residence application is lodged at the same time. A further consideration to note with regard to Retirement Visas is that there is no minimum or maximum age limit specified.

An alternative way of retiring to South Africa would be to apply for a Financially Independent Visa. This visa does not require you to show a minimum monthly income, but you must show that you have assets of at least R 12 million and you are required to make a payment of R 120 000 to the Department of Home Affairs.

Please contact us should you wish to obtain any furhter information about retiring to South Africa.