Obtaining a Bond as a Foreign National

There are a few major Banks in South Africa, such as Absa Bank, Standard Bank, First National Bank, Nedbank, Capitec Bank and SA Home Loans. You can request a Bond through a few Mortgage Originators or directly from the Bank / Financial Institution.

The Bank's requirements for a foreigner obtaining a Bond in South Africa, differs vastly.

Some of the formal requirements are as follows:

1. Permanent Residents:  Applicants must have a green bar-coded ID or Smart Card ID.  Applicants are regarded as non-citizens for purposes of this Application and confirmations should be obtained prior to conditional approval that their immigration formalities have been completed. Permanent residents with no SA ID will be treated as foreign nationals. For Joint applications where one party is not South African or a permanent resident, the application is regarded as Foreign Nationals. The Loan to Value amount is granted on the same basis as per SA Citizens with certain limitations.

2. Foreign Nationals:  Applicants must have a valid foreign passport with a valid temporary residence visa such as a work visa, spousal visa, etc. and three years remaining on the visa.

Non-Resident clients with work permits are treated the same as citizens of South Africa or up to 50% Loan to Value (LTV) amount is lent, depending on the Bank.

A Non-Resident Client not residing in South Africa nor working in South Africa, will usually only obtain 50% of LTV amount.

Non-Resident clients with a permanent residence permit - normal lending applies with some banks and only 50% LTV amount with other banks.

Where a South African citizen purchases jointly with a non-resident, in some banks the non-resident will only qualify for 50% of his / her share in the property and the SA Resident will receive the portion qualified for in accordance with normal LTV rules.  Other banks allows between 50% and 100% LTV amounts.