Natural2Heal:


Most business plan that will be approved for the start up visa are TECH business.

The business does not need to fully be technological but it does need to incorporate some form of technology for instance, if you submit a business plan about opening up an agriculture farm, you will be immediately rejected but rather if you submit a business plan about an agriculture technology company that incorporates technology to solve farmers logistics issues as well as help aid in distributing efficiently its products all over a particular city this will likely get a thumbs up from the incubator.

The need to think outside the box is the key for approval in this visa section.

If we are going to dive into this startup segment, we will need to consider the first important discussion, which is the prerequisite for this startup. For now I'm going to focus the prerequisite on Portugal startup visa.

1. The applicant must be 18 years of age and have no criminal background, you cannot also have an already existing Schengen residency in any of the European countries.
2. Your startup innovative project must show the need to expand towards international growth, with focus on technology and knowledge with need to create skilled employments in the foreseeable future.
3. You need to have a well prepared business plan with a pitch deck attached to it(I personally recommend a pitch deck as it allows the committee that will approve your visa a more in-depth understanding of your business plan), this business plan will need to be approved by one or more of the accredited incubators in Portugal. These incubators have an agreement with Portugal startup as this then gives your startup business plan the ability to qualify to the next level which is finally being approved by IAPMEI. which is the company that gives the final approval of your startup company.
4. In your business plan you must demonstrate that your startup company in the future (5 years time), has the ability to make 325,000 euros. keep in mind that this amount can also be assessed in terms of your company's assets hence there are several ways around this after 5 years.

Hello guys, sorry for the absence, I had a few work issues to sort out. Lets kindly resume on this project discussion.

lymelyte:
I am talking about the case of not living south africa for the last 2years..

It doesn't matter if you haven't lived in south Africa for the past 2 years. If you've ever lived in South Africa for more than a year in the past you need a police report from south Africa if you are applying for a long stay in South Africa. Unfortunately that is their rule. If you've never resided In South Africa or any other country for more than a year then you don't need a police report from those countries.

Omix2:
For change of conditions, foreign PCC(s) should cover any country/countries the applicant has resided in, for more than 12 months, within the latest 5 years preceeding the application date.
Only straight renewal applications do not require foreign PCCs.
SA PCC would be paid for at the point of application in both cases.
Thus, applicant needs to provide foreign PCC(s) in respect of the 3 years preceeding the 2 years they have spent within the country.

yes

lymelyte:
police report from SA or from your country?

Depending on the countries you state on your application that you've resided in for more than a year, you will be asked to provide a police report.

lymelyte:
Hi champs,please I need help with clarification from those currently residing in sa. When changing existing visa conditions,is police clearance a must in the listed docs submitted? Even though,one has stepped outside SA for the last 2years?

If you've lived in any place for more than a year, a police report is a must in all those places including South Africa if you've lived there for more than a year.

davidoobge:


the wey i vex as i see this. So why not nigeria too? what is so good about ghana nigeria no fit achieve? no pun intended on my ghana people cuz me too i dey go ghana plenty. the place dey be and their people be cool pass but why only dem they get this favor? like if it wasn't for this i didn't even know ghanaians dey go south africa like that you catch.

You shouldn't be upset about this decision. Truth be told, there's a lot that went on with this negotiation. It wasn't just a matter of weeks but rather years in the making. In fact South Africa had already proposed a visa waiver between Ghana and South Africa in 2019. The only reason it took this long was because Ghana counter offered the deal with needing " 180 days free visit for Ghanaians as well". This is why it took such a long time to finally agree on this deal. Also the bilateral relationship between Ghana and South Africa stands firm and has been for decades now.

Ghanaians do visit South Africa in large numbers to answer your question. Most Ghanaians in South Africa based on data have always been known to follow the rules and regulations. Not to say there aren't a few bad apples but Ghanaians are very respected in South Africa and most of the world. The crime rate of Ghanaians in foreign countries are low to none and most aren't violent offenders.

tannystacey:


Again, i dont like to argue without facts.

South Africa does not have a demand for immigration like Canada or the US or the UK. Canada has multiple immigration schemes running and yet, they have managed to clear a huge bulk. (literally took 90 days from ITA to ppr for me this same year). I got my Us visa appt here in Sa within 2 weeks from application date. I got my visa approved same day. All less than a month. So again which imaginary backlog?

The bulk of SA tourists who really come for tourism do not need visas. Uk, USA, Canada and most schengen citizens can come to SA without a visa. Same goes for key Asian countries.

The pple who need visas are mostly Africans, Nigerians, Indians, Pakistans and a few 3rd world countries. The info is online for anyone.

SA however does not want this people. So they decide to make the process exhausting. Even a lot of post grad who used to come to SA have redirected to other countries.

its not about being victimized. We as a people also have issues with authenticity and sincerity in many of the documentation we present. Not just Us Nigerians, Pakistans, even Indians. Many pple come here for visit and do not go back. That is why they over stretch the visa evaluation process.

But again, its Always a case of a few bad eggs ruining things for a lot of others.

There's no covid 19 backlog anywhere. Its just more scrutiny, and unfair evaluations. And corruption, because again, some pple still pay their way out heavily to get this visa at all costs.

Not to put excessive fire to the pot but I do agree with you on this issue. Sadly it's the hidden truth we've been subjected to. It's a debatable topic but you hold enough valid points for me to side with you.

Abigbo:
Seems you applied for a business visa instead of tourist visa.
Can you remember what you clicked on during your application?

This is to answer Drakke's message: sorry I mistakenly posted on your response rather than his

At this point there's little you can do except to wait until the application automatically gets rejected and then apply again this time choosing tourist visa. You do have the option go going to vfs and physically applying for a South African visa if you feel you can't wait until the evisa automatically cancels out or gets rejected.

Indeed there are numerous startup visas available for most leading countries as of today. The reason I narrowed it down to Portugal is primarily because Portugal is very affordable when you compare it to most leading countries. The amount required alone is substantially high for United States, Canada, UK and others. Also with these countries your idea for a potential startup is rigorously analysed. competitors are on the higher side thus rejections are rendered more.


With Portugal the cost is very low, less than 9,000 euros you need to show that you have such amount in your bank account for a year. Just a year to begin the process. also keep in mind that Portugal is the only country that offers startup visa holders the ability to gain full citizenship after 5 years which is very unheard of.

I have a citizenship from Canada and I must tell you Canada is very expensive to move to as of today and job opportunities aren't that many even though Canada is trying so hard to get immigrants to relocate to its lovely country. Housing crisis alone is on the upper side in Canada.

we will dive further into all the cost and analyses so everyone can have an idea.

Processing time for Portugal is 3-5months due to backlog now, it use to be 40days but as we know things have change lately economically. As far as I'm concern Spain processing time is very fast 2 weeks for business approval for your startup.

Also keep in mind that with Portugal if you have a visitor visa you can visit Portugal and apply for the startup visa while there, you don't need to apply it in your home country, which is a huge benefit. the same applies with Spain

wittywriter:

Fixed...how much is their visas respectively?.


There are fundraiser experts one can pay for their services to get the amount...or you can raise it if your startup has a financially formidable team members...
@koffeed let's delve into documentations ; apart from P.O.F and Business Plan what other documents are required moreso how much is the fee for this visa to poland?.










Wittyness

Hello everyone. we will dive into this further

hunee:
Vfs does not influence visa outcomes. It is ok to create a scene. They can escalate to the embassy. However, if you go to VFS to create a scene and expect visa approval afterwards, it will not work. I do not work for vfs but i am just speaking logic here.

Let's pause for a second and really understand what everyone is trying to say on here or at least what I believe to be the meaning of influencing an outcome with regards to the South African Embassy. I don't think they meant influence as in approval or disapproval but rather influence as in making sure your application was in deed sent to the embassy and not just sitting at VFS. I believe that is what the other members meant by influence. Often at times we get carried away with words so let me define what the other member meant by his words.

I don't think anyone used influence suggesting they have the veto power to give you a visa approval.

The imperfections of our generation eased with the sudden reality of what defines love, has carved our generation to question the meaning behind what it means to love and to be loved. This subject for decades has puzzled writers as well as affectionate endeavours to always dance around the topic.

For a while now I've pondered on the idea of love and why some of us find it in unpleasant realities. What fascinates me the most is the conflicting world love seems to drag us all when the night owl whispers to our daring hearts. As a poet I've sat next to nothing over the uncertainties of it all while wishfully thinking on the night of autumn if love still finds us victims to our many desires?

While time and tales have permitted thy heart to perilous through the corridors of a vintage "capetownian" house I've questioned thyself what thyself what many of us are in search of when asked the sudden question, what "tis" love when reality confronts your thought process?

Members of this forum, those that have engaged in various attributes of life, if it's not too much so ask, can I ask such a thought and if your time isn't too precious to your heart can you spare a few minutes to such a need?

crusader6:
I emailed VfS on the 4th of October requesting to withdraw my application to get my passport back because I submitted it alongside with my documents. And I needed my passport back because my evisa was approved earlier. I just decided to use the two route to have a better chance of getting my visa.
I was sent a withdrawal form, which I did filled and returned to them via email. I did disturb them everyday with calls requesting that I needed my passport back for a business travel and I don't need the visa again. Surprisingly they returned my passport yesterday with an approved sticker visa, multiple entries.

A friend of mine went to VfS last week and cause a scene and after three days his visa was approved.

Another went to VfS on Wednesday, complaining bitterly and that same evening, his HR called to inform him that the embassy has called to confirm if he's working there, meaning they just started processing his file.



I feel VfS has a way of influencing those working at the embassy to process a particular file if they person complains/disturbs them about the delay or something.

Always try to go back to VfS and complain about your delay, or how urgent and important you need the visa, especially if you have a scholarship with an expiry date. They can reach the embassy through call or email and I feel the embassy respect them.

Yes VFS has a tremendous way of influencing South African Embassy, I was trying to let others become aware of this earlier on with a chat I had with one member on this platform. Often at times perseverance can get you far with the outcome. Normally the manager in charge at the vfs section handling applications for South Africa has direct contact with the Consular officer in charge of issuing the visa at the embassy, I Know this because I've had the privilege of dealing with both the Vfs management at Ghana as well as other Vfs representing South Africa on parts of Africa on business negotiations that transpired.

ahnie:
Following

Pleasure!

Rachyekong:
Exactly the point, I argued with them.... From my own understanding, it took 3weeks for my application to get to the High Commission. I hope, it won't take another 3weeks to get response, when the Embassy finalised my application.

Keep an eye on it. For what is best let's always be optimistic about future outcomes.

Cheers as always!

wilcoxz:
Please who knows how South African visa can be fastracked. It's been more than 2 months I applied via VFS office at port Harcourt, haven't gotten any response since then. My scholarship expires in less than 2 months. What do you guys advise I should do?

I think you may want to take a play book from "Rachyekong" and verify if your application has indeed left the vfs office at Port Harcourt, since another member of this site had a similar incident. Pay VFS a visit and double check your sms if your application indeed arrived at the South African High Commission on time. I'm hoping you paid(money wise) a bit to have the sms track, that way you can just verify by going through your text messages.

My biggest concern with South African Embassies with this EVISA issue is sooner or later they are scheduled to put an end to the partnership they've had with VFS Global for years now due to price increase and cutting back on the country's spending. This was primarily why Evisa was created besides trying to digitise everything and make processing applications easier for applicants and the Home Affairs department.

Most countries that have adopted the Evisa approach are intending on doing the same in the near future but from what I've been told South Africa is geared to make a shift as early as next year with all the countries they've approved for Evisa.

Rachyekong:
No.... I only went there to know the exact time, my application was forwarded. They told me, that same day but I argued with them, because, the first two weeks of tracking, I saw... Your application has been forwarded to South African High Commission... I didn't track it throughout the third week... the fourth week, I got... Your application has been received and under accessment at South African High Commission.

I insisted, they should explain.... But, they couldn't even have good explanation... I angrily left them.

Doesn't surprise me. Often at times when they receive your application, they input the information into their computer which then begins processing and sends you an update. Always be cautious that when it says your application has been forwarded to South African High Commission it doesn't mean it has left Vfs, it's just a formality to let you know it's ready to be submitted to SA embassy. Only when you receive the "received and under assessment at South African High Commission", should you believe it's finally at the said location.

This issue is not the first, Vfs not just with Nigeria but most countries tend to make this mistake. Very frustrating

dexydidi:
This is the response I got after I sent an email about my SA refusal because of my Ghana Yellow Card.

I found the email addresses here

Yes that's expected of them to email you with that appeal process. It's useless and time consuming if you choose that route, SA evisa is yet to assign staff agents to address appeals. If you do appeal you will be met with another email that instructs you to just apply again. Personally I'd suggest you apply again perhaps with this time see if you can use your Ghana yellow card to gain a proper Nigerian yellow card since you already have the vaccines. it should be an easy switch. Although I'm baffled as to why evisa will refuse your Ghana yellow card. I say this because you applied online so it shouldn't have been refused unless they've been told to only accept yellow cards from the applicants home country which means if you are Nigerian, you should have a Nigerian yellow card and not a Ghanaian one. This will seem silly to me honestly but I wouldn't be surprised.

Rachyekong:
Same here.... I applied in VFS, Port Harcourt exactly 3months today.... No response.... I even went there to ask them to be sure, they forwarded the application promptly.

So let me understand this clearly, the entire three months your application was still at VFS until you went there before it was forwarded promptly?

Rachyekong:


Please, in a situation where the Host has been contacted for confirmation and yet, another three weeks have passed without response, is it still normal? The delay is tiring 😫

Sincerely I do feel your urgency, the good thing with your application is that the host has been contacted by South African Home Affairs/embassy, which means your application is actually being processed and has picked up momentum by being looked through by a consular officer. unfortunately you just have to be a bit patient and see if you can give it a bit more time per say a week or two and see the outcome. To answer your question, it is normal unfortunately for this duration but I have a feeling a solution will be rendered shortly

When it comes to time management and fast tracking applicants with temporary stays and permanent residencies, it can be a bit frustrating but kindly hang on. You are almost at the finish line

wilcoxz:
Please who knows how South African visa can be fastracked. It's been more than 2 months I applied via VFS office at port Harcourt, haven't gotten any response since then. My scholarship expires in less than 2 months. What do you guys advise I should do?

You can always email the consulate office or if possible place a call to the embassy to see if you may get any feedback. Your visa I presume is a student visa, unfortunately long stay visas for sometime now have been backlogged when processing. It's unfortunate that they can't figure a way out of this debacle but continue to see if you can get a hold of them stressing the urgency of needing to speak to someone at the embassy. I might even suggest that you pay a visit to the embassy and when asked by the security guard if you have an appointment make him/her aware that you are there to see the consular. If they say do you have an appointment, you may want to say yes you do and insist you've been emailed and directed to come to the office. Reason why I'm saying this is realistically you are allowed to visit a South African consular on issues, they may not publicise it but you always quietly have that option. Since it's a scholarship you may be on a time crunch and I'd suggest you take this route asap. Ensure you have your scholarship letter with the date and all documents to let them know how urgent this matter is.

Most of the times documents/applications are stockpiled at the embassy without having anyone go through them especially when it comes to long stays that require temporary or permanent residencies such as yours.

NOTE: anyone applying for a long stay visa such as student visa, business visa(although recent economic improvements have prioritise this as a fast track), critical skills visa, permanent residency such as retirement visas have all been subjected to a long duration of processing, often at times extending to 6month to year due to the backlog. It has gotten to the point where those in South Africa that need renewals such as student visas have been given a blanket waiver( meaning they are allowed to stay legally in South Africa) while their application is being processed.

Africankel:


I beg to disagree with on the attitude of VFS (South Africa), Abuja Staff. They are the most polite and helpful than their counterparts handling Canada and other Schengen applications. Every single time I've gone there, they've been really helpful. They go through every single document you want to submit, and ask you to get any that may be missing.

When submitting applications at VFS, the applicant should bear in mind that the average processing time in Nigeria is three months. An application submitted earlier this year in March was adjudicated in June. Returning from SA, I submitted another application in October, and I'm not expecting a response till December. The good thing however is, I have my passport with me in case of other travels.

Thanks for bringing my attention to this. It's unfortunate though that South African visa when applied at vfs in Abuja takes such a long time, for just a normal tourist visa is just not normal and ideal. Any tourist visa for that matter shouldn't take more than three months to obtain especially if it's just a tourist visa and not for a longer stay(business visa, or permanent residency visa).

Besides audits which does prolong issuance of visas at the embassies( they normally conduct audits 4 times in a year) or being short staffed often at times I don't see why it should take such a long time to issue a tourist visa to an individual.

bright2003:
It s very nice consideration. Except that one must have over N5million in account for a year. Any other way around this will really be good

Yes you do need to have N5 million in your account for a year but there are ways around it. the N5million doesn't need to be moved from your home country to the bank in Portugal as of yet. what I'd recommend is, if you don't have that amount find family members or those that can trust you to deposit such amount into your account and have it sit in your account for 3-6months. After your application has been approved and you are in Portugal you can obviously give that amount back. Portugal is very affordable as of today, unlike Canada the cost of living is insanely low hence your living cost should be very minimum.

Also what I would recommend if you are interested is to look at the incubation companies for your startup businesses, some of them offer investment of up to. 100,000.00 euro to help fund your startup provided its innovative and shows a promising future.

Poetchi:


Thanks so much for your wisdom. I am here on work visa and inviting my 73 years old mum for 4 months from Nigeria. So you are correct- I applied on her behalf and used my bank statement (South Africa). I think I can reapply and like you suggested add her account statement in addition to mine? She's a few hundred KM away from Lagos so not practical for me to bring her to Lagos VFS- hence e-visa route. Appreciate your feedback, thanks

You are always welcome my friend. Concerning the bank account, yes you should attach your mother's account as well as yours and then, as i stated in the previous message, attach a letter explaining kindly that you will be in charge of all her living expenses. Your mother's application shouldn't be that difficult for any evisa staff member to issue her the visa. Attach your South African id, as well as attach the workers permit visa stamp you have in your passport. These two should solidify your relationship with your mother to the staff agents.

The section that tells you to upload a letter explaining her trip/stay in South Africa, be sure to detail out the relationship between your mother and yourself, elaborating the reasons why she wants to come and see you. Remember you are writing on her behalf thus any warm words will be welcome.

Make sure to also choose multiple entry on the application( due to the relationship between yourself and your mother, often at times South Africa may give a longer visa which goes up to 2 years), the only issue is your mother will have to vacate South Africa every 90 days and come back into the country just to show she didn't overstay. Normally you can have her travel to Lesotho for just a day and come right back. doesn't even have to be a day, she just needs to step into another neighbouring country and travel back into South Africa so her Visa can be renewed for every 90 days. I recommend this because you did explain you want her to visit for 4months.

Finally about your bank statement, since you are using your South African bank statement, you can log online and print out the digital stamp statements which normally comes with a reference code for each month(FNB bank has this option as well as other South African banks), this will solidify to any evisa agent that your accounts are up to date and legitimate as they will be able to use your reference number to check if need be.

Hope this helps and as always cheers!!

dynamicd28:





This is my experience with VFS Abuja. I submitted an application on 8/10/2021, and paid the premium fee, this gives you a faster submission experience at the centre, it does not affect the processing time once the file gets to the RSA mission. At the lounge, I asked the person who attended to me what steps to take if I need my passport for a seven days trip at short notice, She said I should simply write an email containing a request to temporarily withdraw my passport for the trip. Three months, after submission, no decision was made, and a need arose for me to travel to another country, I wrote an email as earlier advised, only to get a response instructing me to request a complete withdrawal of my application and accept to forfeit the fee earlier paid. I had to comply because the trip was important.


I Agree that physical submissions may be easier in other countries, for example, after the experience above, on 30/06/2022 I applied for the RSA visa through the VFS Visa application centre in Dubai, the processing time there is 6 days, professionals in certain fields can withdraw their passport and return it later for the sticker once ready. Unfortunately for me , my application was immediately rejected after two days, because my residence permit for the UAE was less than 3 months old at the time, I was aware of this requirement but took the chance anyway.

I'm beginning to notice that VFS in Abuja-Nigeria's work ethics are a bit on the rude side of things and kindly correct me if I'm wrong with this notion. You see in Ghana the service is a bit different, to be sincere the staff actually goes above and beyond their way to ensure that you are given the best of customer service. When you pay premium service in Ghana they actually ensure that you have all the proper documents, often at times they can even alert you before you exit the premises that you will get your passport back in a few days and ideally your package( is always separated from the rest. They do label your package as premium, I know this because I know one of the managers at that location and it's always a calm and fast approach to all your needs. I do apologise if this isn't the service being given at the abuja location.

Also food for thought, anytime you apply physically at vfs branch with regards to a South African visa, always try to find out the status of the South African embassy issuing visas at that time. You see every now and then they tend to pause issuing visas for various reasons, sometimes short staff or going through an audit. each time this is going on these things tend to happen. I say this because I just notice the date you mentioned when you applied during 2021, often at times they tend to go through audits which dramatically slows down issuance of visas.


Unfortunately you are right when it comes to applying for a visa in another country when your residency in that country hasn't surpassed a certain amount of weeks or months but even with that being said sometimes they do make an exception depending on your reason as to why you need to travel to another country when you've just moved into another country. My advice is also elaborate to them and further explain that you've been assign a work assignment that requires you to visit country "x" or better yet you are going for an important and delicate reason. Never use vacation as your reason. By doing so you may be able bypass this restriction.

Poetchi:
Pls is it possible to appeal a rejected e-visa and how does one go about it pls?
The reason for rejection was that I did not attach my ID. I had applied for my mum, using my own bank statement.

For now it is pointless to appeal an evisa rejection as the South African evisa department isn't structured as of yet to handle appeals. Although you may receive a letter via email insisting you can appeal, avoid this route and resubmit again with your id/passport(your missing document).

Also can you explain further what you meant by, "I had applied for my mum, using my own bank statement." what do you mean by this? Are you saying you applied on your mum's behalf( your mother being the applicant) and used your bank statement as a sponsor? If so then this can complicate things a bit, as you do need to attach a letter explaining that you are sponsoring your mother on her visit to South Africa and assume full responsibility of the cost of her vacation expenses. Ideally I will recommend that you still have to attach her bank account if she has one as often at times they still need to see her own bank account( this often at times is overlooked if applied at the consulate office but I'm yet to see the response via evisa route).

Depending on how old your mother is they may overlook it and grant her the visa if she's deemed or classified as an elderly lady. My next question will be, are you a South African residence? if so then attach your South African id and in that letter ensure to write your address elaborating that she will be residing with you at your premises.

xdastardx:
I must commend you, koffeed. All your information on the visa process has been insightful and valuable. Thank you.

You guys are always welcome. Cheers as always!