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The question:

Does anyone have experience with visa requirements around '3-month bank statement certified by bank'? And how to handle it?

Our situation:

My Filipino girlfriend and I (Denmark), have plane tickets to Cape Town end of September. South Africa doesn't seem to allow visa applications early. That's why we need to apply in her home country, as we're staying in Manila for the whole of September until we travel to Cape Town.

In the requirements for the South African visa https://visa.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/southafrica/philippines/english/pdf/visitor-visa-less-than-3-months.pdf

It says: "Proof of financial – 3 months bank statement, certified by the bank and not older than 7 days from the time of application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted."

The challenge we're facing, is that our bank is in Dubai, and they don't allow sending a bank statement certified by mail (and would take longer than 7 days), and don't do digital signatures.

So we cannot deliver such a bank statement. We can deliver a bank statement, just not certified. What on earth do you do in a situation like this?

Does it in any way help if I, as the boyfriend, gets a digital certified bank statement and we apply with my as an economical sponsor?

Maybe the visa immigration office don't really care about these details?

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    I would try to get a hold of the SA embassy, as this is obviously a case of differing local customs and regulations Contacts
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 14:24
  • Did you check if an e-visa wouldn’t be possible? Also I suppose that if your bank account is in Dubai that’s because you are resident there? Shouldn’t you apply from there? Also where did you find a limit on how much in advance you can apply? Since you must apply at least 2 weeks prior to travel, I don’t expect a higher limit under 2 or 3 months…
    – jcaron
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 23:17
  • Not that the e-visa requires you to arrive via JNB I believe.
    – jcaron
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 23:18
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    @NicolasFormichella 6 business days to process and can only submit one month in advance… that’s an awfully small window.
    – jcaron
    Commented Jun 13, 2023 at 12:04
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    @LarsHoldgaard in the DHA home page dha.gov.za “e Visa - Online VISA applications open for Nationals from KENYA, CAMEROON, IRAN, EGYPT, PHILIPPINES, SAUDI ARABIA, ETHIOPIA, PAKISTAN, DR, MEXICO, INDIA, CHINA, NIGERIA and UGANDA who will land at OR Tambo International airport”. Though I have no idea if this up to date, all the visa-related stuff on the various DHA and embassy sites is in a sorry state with lots of inconsistent information…
    – jcaron
    Commented Jun 13, 2023 at 12:08

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Does it in any way help if I, as the boyfriend, gets a digital certified bank statement and we apply with my as an economical sponsor?

No, it won't, a visa applicant must always submit their own bank statements even if sponsored

What on earth do you do in a situation like this?

Get a hold of the SA embassy in the Philippines, as this is obviously a case of differing local customs and regulations, the contacts are on the gov.za page (if you need to phone them, the consular section is only open between 8:30 and 12:30 Filipino time which corresponds to 4:30am-8:30am Dubai time).

If that isn't fructious, contact the SA consulate in Dubai to see if they could bend the rule and allow you to apply more than 1 month early at [email protected] (you can't phone them about visas)

Maybe the visa immigration office don't really care about these details?

Never assume that they don't care

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