Permit relief for foreign spouses
9 June 2011
Namibian
Werner Menges
People married to Namibian citizens do not need any additional permits to live and work in Namibia.
The Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, Rosalia Nghidinwa, has stated this view in an affidavit filed with the High Court in a case in which her ministry has come under fire over its treatment of foreigners who are married to Namibian citizens.
In her affidavit, Nghidinwa conceded that people who are domiciled in Namibia in accordance with the Immigration Control Act – that is, who are married to a Namibian citizen and regard the country as their permanent home – do not require permanent residence permits, employment permits, students’ permits or visitors’ entry permits. The same applies for their spouses and dependent children. She also agreed that the Immigration Control Act does not specifically require people to apply for “domicile certificates”, which her ministry has been issuing to non-Namibians who are domiciled in the country.
Nghidinwa’s affidavit was filed in a case in which three South African men and their Namibian wives were asking the High Court to declare that the men do not need to apply for residence or work permits to be allowed to stay and work in Namibia.
With the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, Government and the Chief of Immigration not opposing the application, an order as asked for by the three couples was issued on Monday.
Judge Dave Smuts ordered that the three men - Clifford Warden, Jaco Haasbroek and Johan Cornelissen – are declared to be domiciled in Namibia as provided for in the Immigration Control Act.
He further ordered that the three men are not required to apply for or to obtain a Namibian permanent residence permit or work permit.
It was also ordered that it is not required by law for a person domiciled in Namibia to apply for a domicile certificate.
The three respondents were ordered to pay the applicants’ legal costs in the matter.
In her affidavit, Nghidinwa pointed out that someone can only obtain domicile in Namibia if he or she had been lawfully resident in the country. This means that an illegal immigrant cannot obtain domicile in Namibia, even if the person marries a Namibian national in good faith.
She stated that her ministry must investigate the lawfulness of a foreigner’s entry into Namibia and of the person’s subsequent residence in the country in order to establish that the person has lawfully acquired domicile.
Although the Act does not say that people domiciled in Namibia should or can apply for “certificates of domicile”, there is a need for her ministry to legalise a foreigner’s presence in Namibia, Nghidinwa also said.
“The rationale for us requesting and advising (note, not compelling) foreigners to apply for ‘domicile certificates’ is because we want to manage and control the status of any foreigners in Namibia,” Nghidinwa added.
The only way her ministry can investigate if a non-Namibian is lawfully domiciled in Namibia is if an application of some sort, for instance for a “domicile certificate”, is made to the ministry, Nghidinwa said.
She also stated: “An official document (the ‘domicile certificate’) gives certainty not only to the person so domiciled in Namibia and/or to his/her spouse and dependent children, but also to all immigration officials and employers to the effect that the person is legally entitled to be in Namibia and to work in Namibia.”
Lawyer Norman Tjombe represented Warden, Haasbroek and Cornelissen and their wives in the case. Charlene Potgieter from the Office of the Government Attorney represented the Minister, Government and the Chief of Immigration.
Read More Articles from other News Agencies.