SA Migration International

Halfway through my visa process, I realized I’d uploaded the wrong version of my qualification certificate. I was ready to cry. Taryn calmly said, Don’t worry, we’ll fix it.

She contacted VFS for document replacement approval and walked me through the correction. I didn’t even have to reapply, they just added the right copy to my existing file.

The visa was approved three weeks later. It wasn’t just a migration service ,it was emotional support through bureaucracy!

I contacted them for a critical skill visa application in south africa in August 2023. Mrs. Tarryn told me that I need to make an urgent advance of R4000 which was a discount offer valid only for that day (the most common scam).

I was anyway planning to start my application and I paid the advance. After that they vanished and after multiple followups they shared with me a list of requirements and documents. I shared all the documents and again after multiple followups on the next steps there was no response.

Meanwhile, my plans in south africa changed and I had to move back to India permanently. After multiple attempts I reached them and they offered to refund R1500 only. Tired of fighting, I agreed to that. I have been following up for the refund since November 2023 and they are fooling around nicely. I have not got any refund.

What impressed me most about SAMI wasn’t just the paperwork it was the follow up. Mandla called me twice just to check that I’d arrived safely for my VFS appointment.

He even emailed me a reminder to collect my visa before the VFS office closed early for a public holiday and I would’ve missed it!.

It’s those small touches that make you feel like a person, not a transaction. The process took time, but everything unfolded just as Mandla said it would.

You know those agencies that promise “24 hour responses” and then ghost you for a week? SAMI is not that. Ryan was my assigned agent, and he was as communicative as anyone I’ve worked with.

He emailed me updates at every step “Payment received,” “Documents couriered,” “Appointment confirmed.” Even when there was nothing new to report, he’d drop a line just to say so. It’s such a small gesture but gives you peace of mind.

We had a bit of confusion when VFS rejected one of my invoices because it didn’t have a tax number on it. Ryan fixed it in two days, sent me the corrected one, and the visa was approved within 10 weeks. That’s how a business should be run with honesty and follow through.

When I started my Critical Skills Work Visa, I was overwhelmed by the paperwork. I had tried to apply on my own and got my file rejected by VFS due to missing translations. That’s when a friend told me about SA Migration.

My consultant, Candice, was patient from the first call. She reviewed my old file line by line, corrected errors, and even called me after hours once to explain what needed to be notarized. What impressed me most was her calmness I panicked about the timeline, but she always reassured me that it was under control.

There was a short hiccup with the courier where DHL misplaced my certificate for four days, but she tracked it and made sure it reached the right place. The visa came through in just over two months, and she emailed me the confirmation before I even saw the VFS message. Real professionals, they don’t just work fast, they work right.

Renewals can be a nightmare, but Jolene from SAMI made it simple. She cross-checked my expiring permit dates, booked my VFS Cape Town slot, and ensured I didn’t fall out of status.

Courier delays from DHL gave us a scare documents were stuck in customs but she kept tracking and even contacted DHL directly.

Two weeks later, my renewed visa was ready. The calmness she brought to a stressful process deserves six stars if possible.

Permanent residence takes ages, we all know that. SAMI never left me hanging. Every month she’d send a short “status unchanged” email, which honestly kept me sane.

When my medicals expired mid-process, she reminded me in time and even scheduled a courier pickup for the new documents. My file was finalized 19 months later and she celebrated with me over the phone.

Professionalism with empathy that’s rare.

I used SAMI to arrange a study visa for my son at UCT. Our agent Karin was excellent with details. She prepared every letter, from accommodation confirmation to medical aid proof.

VFS requested additional tuition proof halfway through, which caused panic, but Karin immediately contacted the school to issue a new letter.

The visa arrived in time for orientation week. It felt like teamwork the whole way through.

I contacted Samigration for assistance with my temporary residence visa, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with their service. From day one, they explained the entire process clearly and made sure all my paperwork was accurate before submission. The team was always patient, responsive, and professional — I never had to worry about follow-ups or missing documents. What stood out most was how personally they handled my case, treating it with genuine care. Thanks to their expertise, my visa was approved in record time. I’ll gladly recommend Samigration to anyone seeking smooth and reliable immigration assistance.

Moving employees across borders is messy, but SA Migration made it seamless. Taryn from the corporate division coordinated three transfers to Cape Town.

There was one courier issue a package of signed contracts got lost in transit between Accra and their office yet Taryn handled it professionally, had backups ready, and kept our project timeline intact.

They provided weekly progress reports and even reminded our staff about medical checkups before submission to VFS. Top-tier service.

I married a South African and decided to settle here. I had already wasted months with another agency before someone recommended SAMI. My consultant Sipho was a lifesaver.

He explained how to correct the affidavit issue from my previous rejection and personally booked my VFS slot. My only complaint: the office line can be busy in the mornings. Still, when he finally called back, it was never a rushed conversation.

Everything was processed in just under seven months exactly as he estimated. I now have my visa, and we’re planning for permanent residence next year.

When I first applied for my Critical Skills visa, I had no clue how complex it was going to be. I found SA Migration International online and scheduled a call with Lerato

She was honest right away said it could take 8 to 12 weeks depending on Home Affairs and VFS schedule. I appreciated that because most companies promised “in a month.” We gathered every document: police clearances, proof of employment, qualification verification. When DHL delayed my courier with certified copies, Lerato still kept me calm and rescheduled my appointment.

It took nine weeks total, but when my visa arrived, she phoned personally to say “congrats.” That’s small but meaningful.

I’d used SAMI years ago, so when it came time to renew my spousal visa, I went back to them. This time, Karin assisted me, and she was just as efficient as I remembered.

The renewal process through VFS was smoother than expected, though Home Affairs did ask for an updated marriage certificate. Karin stayed in touch the entire time even called to confirm I’d received the SMS from VFS.

It’s refreshing to deal with a company that remembers your name and history, not just your file number.

My Wife and I were setting up a tech consultancy in South Africa, and SAMI guided us through the business visa maze. Our consultant, Zanele, was straight to the point no marketing fluff, just facts and deadlines.

There was one small confusion about the financial minimum required, but Zanele quickly clarified it with Home Affairs’ corporate desk.

We submitted through VFS and got approval after three months. Zanele even recommended a local accountant for compliance unexpected and very appreciated!

Permanent residence is notorious for being slow, but SAMI made it as painless as possible. Megan, my agent, kept me updated monthly even when there was nothing new to report.

The application went through Home Affairs, which caused an unavoidable delay, but Megan’s professionalism never slipped. She reminded me when my medicals expired and even helped arrange a courier for new certificates.

When the approval finally came, I cried. That’s how much this process meant to me and they understood that.

I wanted to study photography in South Africa and found SAMI through a Facebook thread. My consultant, Sipho, was excellent. He explained the differences between short-term and long-term study permits and made sure my financial proof matched the regulations.

We had some confusion when VFS asked for a new biometrics appointment, but Sipho handled the back-and-forth. The process took around seven weeks, slightly longer than expected, but I got approved.

Now I’m studying at the University of Cape Town and couldn’t be happier.

SA Migration International deserves all five stars. Jolene, my case manager, was patient with my endless questions about translations and document legalization.

We had one small problem when my proof of qualifications got lost between SAMI and VFS, but Jolene re-uploaded everything within hours and kept me updated every step of the way.

Their office is busy sometimes the phone rings a bit long before someone picks up but once you’re in touch, they’re 100% professional.

My first application through another agency got rejected because of an incomplete affidavit. I contacted Candice at SAMI out of desperation. She reviewed my file, pointed out the missing documents, and built a new submission strategy.

I appreciated how transparent she was. She didn’t overpromise. She told me upfront that Home Affairs might take 8–10 months. It actually took nine, but the approval came through exactly as she predicted.

Even after my visa was granted, she checked in to confirm I’d collected it from VFS Pretoria. Small things like that make a big difference.

I applied for my Critical Skills Visa with SA Migration International in early 2023. My consultant, Thandi, was an absolute gem. She sent me a full checklist, followed up on missing paperwork, and even phoned me when my proof of employment didn’t upload properly.

There was a small hiccup when my appointment at VFS Global in Cape Town had to be rescheduled due to a system crash, but Thandi personally emailed VFS to sort it out. That’s the kind of attention that keeps you calm when you’re stressed out.

I got my visa in just over six weeks. The process wasn’t perfect, but their communication was flawless. Highly recommend asking for Thandi if you can!

I’d heard about Rod Maxwell’s firm from a coworker, and I can see why they’re recommended. My spousal visa renewal went off without drama a rare thing in this industry.

There was a short delay because Home Affairs requested additional proof of residence, but SAMI handled it right away. They even drafted the covering letter for me.

They’re not flashy, they’re just good. And that’s all I wanted.

I manage HR for an international firm, and SAMI handled three of our employee transfers into South Africa. The process was efficient and transparent from start to finish.

They coordinated directly with our head office and handled each employee’s permit, dependents, and renewals. The one small issue was billing an invoice arrived with a typo, but they fixed it within an hour.

We’ll absolutely continue working with them. It’s rare to find migration consultants who combine professionalism with friendliness.

Permanent residence in South Africa is not for the faint-hearted delays, bureaucracy, lost documents. But SA Migration International stood by me through it all.

When my application hit a snag because of a missing affidavit, they didn’t panic or make excuses. They just gave me clear next steps and handled communication with the authorities. It took nearly nine months, but I never felt abandoned.

I can finally call South Africa home, and I couldn’t have done it without them.

This is my honest and sincere review of my experience with sa migration south africa. I would like to share my experience in much details so that people like me who take online reviews seriously do not fall into trap of these crooks, unfortunately there is no authentic review from anyone on this company either good or bad, prior me signing up with south africa migration (Sami). Which made me get in touch with them. I am a software engineer in one the top 3 mncs in india. I applied for critical skill visas and signed up with sami on 31st dec 2015, the usual turn around time for this visa is about 3 to 4 months, in my case it has been over 1 yr and still not received although had I applied all by myself with the info available on the net I could have got in 3 months’ time. This delay has caused due to misguiding from the staff of sami. To go a bit further, I was given 1/3rd the quote for consolation for visa by sami. It gave me an impression that these guys are reasonable and their style of business is to provide service for an affordable price to a very large number of people. However this is not the case, I failed to realize that they are actually not reasonable but are cheap. And as the saying goes cheap is not reliable. I mean this in every breath I breathe. God knows how they able to be in the migration business with unprofessional ethics. Their main intention is to close with the clients asap, once your money is with them they don't bother to give any info to clients. The info they provide in terms of consultation is one that is available on the south african immigrating website. One will have to persistently and shamelessly call and literally beg to get service.
Some of the worst things happened to me is when getting evaluation with saqa. I was interacting with one person called mr. Noel hawes, he seemed to be a professional by the way he responds and talk to you. Unfortunately none of them in the organization is worth talking to. This person said he had spoken to someone in saqa who will take scan documents for evaluation. Assuming that he is right I scanned all my documents and sent it to him, it took him 30 days more from the time I gave him to submit to saqa. I was changed zar 500 by sami saying it is postal/courier service to send the documents from sami to saqa and from saqa to my indian address. Unfortunately I had signed up for my spouse as well at this point in time. These guys sent our documents to saqa and after I blasted their founder mr. Rod maxwell for delaying in posting, I was told that they have posted the documents and have not couriered to saqa. As expected my saqa got rejected for the reason stating that they do not accept copies of scanned documents. I was asked to plead to one of the senior officials asking them to reconsider their decisions. But when I spoke to the senior officials of saqa, the officer said clearly that they have stated on the web site that they do not entertain scanned copied. I told her that mr. Noel form sami had confirmed me that he had spoken to someone inside saqa who confirmed that they would accept the scanned copies. When I gave the name of the person to whom mr. Noel spoke, she said there is no one by that name who is or was saqa. Later noel said saqa is a government organization and one would only find liars there. So all in all time delay and rejection and some money lost.
For the second time I reapplied by myself and I got the documents delivered to my residence within 3 months. But wait what happened to my spouse documents? My spouse documents were processed by saqa and was available at saqa house. For the next 3 months I was after sami day in day out to deliver her documents. By then mr. Noel left sami and had joined elsewhere and it got even more difficult to get the documents. After three months of continues pressure rod maxell finally asked someone to pick my spouse saqa certificate from saqa house. This time these guys ideally had send the document to my indian addressed as agreed, but instead they kept the documents at their office and asked me to pay money to send her documents to india. I refused to pay at this stage and provided my receipts email confirmation on agreed terms and clarified that they have already charged me for that and pushed hard for them to post her from then they took another 3 months to confirm. 3 months later sami guys misplaced the original saqa certificate of my spouse, at this point in time I completely got pissed off and blasted them for their lack of responsibility. Post which they neither respond to my calls or emails. It’s an indirect way of their communication to sulk not to reach them. Being in a foreign country one cannot do much when they throw such unprofessional attitude.
Apparently all the while I was in communication with mr. Noel the so called ex-employee of sami. He was on my side whenever I shared my feedback about sami. When I got my skill registration, mr. Noel the ex-employee committed to me that he shall be arranging an offer letter from a company who have proper tax returns. And we would get our visa for 5 years instead of 1. When I asked him about the legal consequence of it, he said there are many body shopping companies who employee people upfront, when the client get their visa and requirement these body shopping companies would place them in such companies. I believed it to be true since I know for the fact that this model works in us. This person initially quoted me rands 3000 for two offer letters. Thankfully I did not pay him so much, I paid 1000 rands, and guess what? This person also gets absconding. There is no way he responds to emails or picks my calls after the money is in account. All in all perhaps south africa is having a high crime rate and a very bad reputation because of people like rod maxwell, shane (The replacement to noel in sami) and noel. This is how people from civilized world get cheated. These guys do not have any integrity, they are one bunch of liars really have no value for your hard earned money and time. Responsibility and accountability is a far away from reality. I really wonder how they are in business since 12 years.
The main purpose for these guys is to make money, any money is good for them, big or small, I remember noel saying “something is better than nothing” when I agreed to pay him rands 1000 for offer letters. That is how cheap and money minded they are. Initially sami quote rand 5000 for application, when you say its too expensive they say they have a discount running in their organization and give you 50% off. If you say can only give 1000 rands, they will be ok for that, I wish I had told them rands 100 perhaps they would even agree for that as well. And then they ask you to sing up with them making an online payment. They then do all nonsense like courier charges and offer letters scams just to extract more money from you.In the process if you still want to pursue, it’s likely that you figure out your way or drop the idea of it.In any case they would have made money from you. The truth is everyone in this organization is a big liar, a third rated crook, they have no idea about immigration developments at times there is a high possibility that you are aware through online blogs and they aren’t. I have made a sincere attempt to all you people reading this article to stay away from sa migraton (Sami). I am not sure how good or bad the other consultants are.In any case you want to apply for critical skill visa to south africa, there is ample of info available on the internet and do it by yourself, it works out fast with far less expense. I am committed to help people from getting fooled by agents like rod maxwell and noel hawes. Adding on these people are there in facebook and linkedin to prove there are genuine, end of the day their intentions are not clean. I have declared there name here so that you know with whom are you interacting.

This company Is nothing but a scam!Rod Maxwell charged me R20 thou to get my permit finalised in a short space of time a up to tis nothing has transpired #this guy rod Maxwell, is nothing but a thief .this man has continuously taken money's from clients that I innocently reffered to him not knowing he is nothing but a crook!this company he operates is just to tak people's money's and no assist them.-I paid the deposit of R10 since that day it's story's after story #all he does is bluff lie in treat clients lik rubbish. He thinks thinks foregnirs are idiots #i am going to ma sure this company closes down one way or the other. He has gone to far #

http://sami.co.za/
http://www.samigration.com/

SA Immigration International
Tel: +[protected]
Email: [protected]@sami.co.za

Looking at above mentioned attractive websites and a crazy level follow-up from their agents, I decided to acquire their SA Retirement visa services but regret to say that since I paid their advance aount (5, 000 ZAR) on Feb. 10, 2016. I hardly see any of those " Crazy Follow-ups" despite I am begging them to tell me my case progress. I even contacted each and every person in the company including the CEO Mr. Rod Maxwell BUT NOTHING HAPPENED.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND " NOT TO DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY (sami) FOR IMMIGRATION SERVICES" They are Forge and Fake company. Their target is just collect a little amount like 5, 000 ZAR and disappear from the scene.

I will be visiting SA Embassy soon to file a case against them.

Take care when you choose SCAMS like SAMI for South Africa.

Saeed Mirza

I friends, SA Migration International took R5000 from me in advance for Visa services.
Once they receive the money they will never reply to your e mails an also will not pick your calls.
I they will answer your mail it will be unplesent and on phone calls they will continue to make false promises.
When i was frustated with the service and demanded my money back they asked me that they will deduct service fees and will refund rest.
I agreed on this as i do not want to risk my original documents with such unprofessional peoples.
But then they never replied my e mails or neither took my call, if they will take my call they will cut hearing my voice.
Please do not use SA Migration International for visa as most gurantee you will loose your money and they gurantee to provide non professional services.