Your first weeks in South Africa: the proof of address every counter asks for, the bank before SARS and the traffic register number of six weeks
In South Africa there is no municipality to register with: you exist for the counters through your visa and a proof of address. After that everything hangs together. The bank identifies you under the FIC Act, SARS registers a non-resident only at the counter and wants your bank details with it, within 60 days of your first income; the traffic register number for a car takes up to six weeks. The visa itself keeps running meanwhile, with the renewal at least 60 days before the expiry date.
Yes, the first weeks in South Africa can be planned, but differently from Europe: there is no municipality that registers you and no citizen number you receive. You exist for the counters through two things you bring yourself, your visa and a proof of address, and the government says literally which proof of address counts: a utility account in your name or, if it is in someone else's name, an affidavit from the account holder with that account attached. What it costs is little; what it requires is order. The find is at SARS: a non-resident is registered only at the counter, with the original passport or permit, and must show their bank details with it, so the bank comes before the tax number, and that number must be there within 60 days of your first income. The trap is the car: the traffic register number a foreigner needs to buy one takes up to six weeks.
Why does everything start with the lease?
Because every counter asks for a proof of address and you only have one once you live somewhere. The lease is the first step, the utility account or the landlord's affidavit the second, and only then do the other doors open. The bank falls under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and must identify and verify you before it makes you a client; what that file looks like is in banking and paying. With that account you go to SARS, because the government page names three documents for the registration: proof of identity, proof of address and proof of your bank details. Whoever works remotely for a Dutch employer has the same order; working in South Africa says when the registration becomes mandatory.
| Step | Counter | What you bring | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proof of address | landlord or utility company | utility account in your name, or affidavit from the account holder | at signing |
| Bank account | a bank, under the FIC Act | passport with visa, proof of address | after the identification |
| Tax number | SARS branch, counter only | original passport or permit with a copy, proof of address, bank details | within 60 days of first income |
| Traffic register number | registering authority | certified copy of passport or driving licence with residence permit, two photos, proof of address | up to 6 weeks |
| Car in your name | registering authority | traffic register number | within 21 days of the purchase |
| School | the school itself | residence permit or proof of the application, birth certificate, immunisation card | register between April and October |
What do I arrange in the first week?
The lease and the proof of address, and right after that the appointment at the bank. In the same week look at the expiry date on your visa and put the renewal in the diary: Home Affairs wants it submitted in person and at least 60 days before the expiry date. Whoever came on permanent residence knows another clock from the visa routes: the permit is withdrawn if you do not take up residence in South Africa within a year of issue. And call the school. The education department lets parents register between April and October for the next school year and asks non-South Africans for the residence permit or proof that it has been applied for; whoever lands outside those months reads in school in South Africa how the place then comes about.
The traffic register number is the longest clock of the first weeks: the application can take up to six weeks, and without that number you cannot put a car in your name, while a purchased car must be registered within 21 days. Apply for the number as soon as your proof of address is there, and buy the car only when the number has arrived.
What do I do in the weeks after?
The SARS branch, with the bank details and the proof of address, within sixty days of your first income; SARS itself writes that automatic registration via eFiling requires a South African identity document and so does not work for you. The traffic register number, with the certified copies and the photos. And the first check on the Dutch side: does the SVB have the new account number, and has the first AOW payment arrived on it before you cancel the old account. Your driving licence stays what it is: the obligation to convert starts only with permanent residence, and then within a year, as driving licence and car explains.
What is not needed, and what runs by itself?
No registration with a municipality, no citizen number, no ID card: the visa in your passport is your status, and the proof of address your registration. The medical aid you took out before departure keeps running; the general waiting period of three months a scheme may impose has then already partly lapsed, and healthcare in South Africa says what is and is not covered in that time. The step-by-step plan puts these steps in order in phase 5 and guards the two clocks that matter: the sixty days of SARS and the sixty days before the expiry date of your visa.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to South Africa or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change — when in doubt the source is leading, not this article.
- South African Government — the traffic register number for foreigners: passport or driving licence with residence permit, proof of address or affidavit, up to six weeks — gov.za
- South African Government — registering a car within 21 days of the change of ownership — gov.za
- Financial Intelligence Centre — the FIC Act: identification and verification of every client before the service — fic.gov.za
- South African Government — registering as a taxpayer within 60 days of first income, at the counter, with proof of identity, address and bank details — gov.za
- SARS — how to register: a non-resident comes to a branch with the original passport or permit and a copy — sars.gov.za
- Department of Home Affairs — the visa types: the renewal in person and at least 60 days before the expiry date — dha.gov.za
- South African Government — converting a foreign driving licence: mandatory only within a year of permanent residence — gov.za
- Department of Basic Education — admission to public schools: registering between April and October, and for non-South Africans the residence permit or proof of the application — education.gov.za
- Council for Medical Schemes — the general waiting period of three months with a new medical aid — medicalschemes.co.za
Read on
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