South Africa

Financially independent permit. Show a verified net worth of ZAR 12 million and South Africa grants permanent residence outright, no business or job required.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 25, 2026

Financially independent permit

Permanent residence directly, with the right to live, work, study, retire or run a business in South Africa.

Who qualifies

The applicant's net worth, evidenced by independently verifiable assets (bank accounts, share portfolios, property with valuations, retirement funds), must be at least ZAR 12 million (about $650,000).
Immigration Regulations, Financially Independent Permit (Section 27(g))
A non-refundable outcome fee of ZAR 120,000 (about $6,500) is payable once the application is approved, before the permit is issued.
Department of Home Affairs, Financially Independent Permit fee schedule

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Savings you could move or invest?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Investment: About $650,000.
Time: 6–12 months for adjudication, since every asset must be independently verified.
Cost: The ZAR 120,000 outcome fee (about $6,500) plus valuation, legal and translation costs of $3,000–8,000.
The hard part: Getting every asset independently valued and documented to Home Affairs' standard; self-compiled statements are rejected outright.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2033.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
Permanent residence
From the start, with nothing to renew.
2032
Apply for citizenship
With a language test.
2033
Citizenship

Language: Able to communicate in any one of South Africa's official languages (English counts); proof is asked for since 2023.
Time away: Five years ordinarily resident in South Africa as a permanent resident, continuous and immediately before applying, with no more than 90 days away in any one of those years. Time on temporary visas does not count.
Two passports: It depends on the rules at the time and on your home country.

Permanent residence from day one, with no permit to renew; the five-year citizenship clock starts on the grant.
The 90-days-a-year absence rule and the 2023 cut from ten to five years in the regulations come from a commercial consolidation (LawExplorer), not the Government Gazette itself.
The regulations still say ten years for spouses (reg. 5(1)), which looks like a drafting leftover; no shorter clock for spouses is shown.
The Act asks for 'adequate knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges' of citizenship, but no formal civics test was found.
Dual citizenship: naturalising applicants must give up their old citizenship unless their home country lets them keep it (s. 5(1)(h)). The Constitutional Court struck down automatic loss of South African citizenship on 6 May 2025 (CCT 184/23); that ruling was seen only in search results, not read.
No official decision-time figure found.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.
Whether you can keep your current citizenship depends on the rules at the time and your home country.

The law behind these dates

Department of Home Affairs — Permanent residence: financially independent (s. 27(f)) · checked 2026-09-25
South African Citizenship Amendment Act 17 of 2010 (s. 5, naturalisation) · checked 2026-09-25

Living there.

Time you must spend there: The program sets no minimum number of days. Renewal still expects it to be your home.
Tax: Permanent residence combined with actually living in South Africa 183+ days a year triggers tax residence on worldwide income.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Start with the Department of Home Affairs immigration services page.Open dha.gov.za ↗
Round up the papers.
- Proof of the funds to invest: about $650,000, and where they came from
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

16 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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