Money Grubblers

I began doing enquiries for my husband who was looking to apply for a "spousal visa" that also allowed him to continue working in SA. Our first correspondence with SAMI was two months ago, after which they simply went quiet - this was before we had committed any payment. Upon following up on my query this month, I was met with a "Yes-Maam". She failed to answer my questions about the process comprehensively, but attempted to assure me that they would be able to help. A quote was sent through, which was by no means reasonable. What followed was two emails, daily, asking me when I intended to make the payment. No contract was made available to hold them accountable in fulfilling their promised service once payment would be made, and considering the push for payment and the excessive expense, I began to feel uneasy.

I continued with my due-diligence and eventually came across a representative from an affiliate of DHA. He explained that not only does the Visa, these ****** were trying to sell me, no longer exist, the replacement no longer includes an automatic work permit. Furthermore, this type of Visa application is not to be fulfilled by third party individuals. In other words, had a agreed to SAMI's exorbitant prices, they probably would have provided me with the same list of documents I received from DHA, and still told me to do the application myself - as DHA won't deal with them. Furthermore, I would have been applying for a Visa that doesn't exist!

Please do your due-diligence before agreeing to any dealings with SAMI. They are happy to demand payment, but have no idea what they're doing! If you have any Visa-related queries, I strongly recommend contacting VFS-Global - their call-centre is very competent and comprehensive about the Visa application process and are up to date with DHA-related affairs.