The Lowdown on Financial Emigration for Standard Bank Clients

Have you ever wondered how to emigrate financially if you are a Standard Bank client? What are the procedures involved? How do you even fill out the paperwork? What supporting documentation needs to go along with your application? We’ve got the lowdown on everything you need to know about financial emigration for Standard Bank clients, right here.

 

Standard Bank financial emigration: When can you financially emigrate?

According to the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), when individuals leave South Africa to take up permanent residence in any county outside the Common Monetary Area (which includes Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) they are able to apply to an Authorised Dealer (like Standard Bank) for emigration facilities to be granted.

 

What facilities do financial emigrants qualify for?

• Foreign Capital Allowance of R10 million per adult per calendar year or R20 million per family unit per calendar year.
• Travel allowance of up to R1 million per adult and R200 000 per child under the age of 18 years. The travel allowance may not be accorded more than 60 days prior to departure.
• Export of household and personal effects, motor vehicles, caravans, trailers, motorcycles, stamps, coins and minted gold bars (excluding coins that are legal tender in South Africa) within an overall insured value of R2 million.

 

Okay, so what is the process for financial emigration?

Your financial emigration needs to be placed on record with the Reserve Bank in order to be effective. This requires you to complete Form MP336 (b), and return the original to your financial emigration specialist at Standard Bank together with the following documents:

• Tax Clearance Certificate – Emigration.
• Certificate of Citizenship/ Naturalisation or Permanent Residence permit in the Foreign Country (Please include spouse & children if they are South African residents as well).
• Certified copy of passport and Identity documents/birth certificates of all individuals listed on the Form MP336(b).
• If there is any item of value listed on the Form MP336(b) we would require a copy of the document of title in support thereof. The original of title e.g. property title deeds etc. will need to be dispatched to the Non- Resident Centre to form part of your South African blocked assets.
• The letter of confirmation needs to be signed by you and your spouse.

 

How long does it take to receive feedback on my financial emigration application?

We expect to hear back within 6-8 weeks from submission of your application. Only once your application is approved will Standard Bank be able to transfer your funds abroad.

 

Here is a handy checklist of all the supporting document required with your financial emigration application:

• Emigration: Application for foreign capital allowance – Form MP336(b)
• Tax Clearance Certificate – Emigration
• Certified copy of valid passport
• Certified copy of South African Identity Documents
• Letter of confirmation
• Certificate of citizenship/Naturalisation/Permanent Residence
• Title documents for all assets in Lesotho, Namibia, SA and Swaziland.

If you’re planning on handling your own financial emigration application (it’s totally doable!) Standard Bank has put together this handy booklet for their clients containing all the information you’ll need in order to fill the financial emigration application forms out correctly, every step of the way.

 

Why not work with the financial emigration specialists?

If time and patience is in short supply for you, it’s worthwhile outsourcing the financial emigration application process to the professionals – life is too short to spend it filling out paperwork yourself!

 

Here are some more smart reasons to work with the experts on your financial emigration:

• You’ll get professional advice to objectively assess whether financial emigration is the right option for your financial future.
• We’ll handle all the paperwork and make sure all the supporting documentation is correct and present before submitting to the various entities to prevent delays.
• We’ll coordinate the flow of documents to ensure the shortest possible turnaround time to completion and approval.
• You’ll get expert help on all complex exchange control matters, plus the peace of mind that comes from knowing that everything we do is fully compliant with the exchange control and tax authorities.
• We’ll even act as tax agent on your behalf to engage with SARS, in order to save you the time and effort it would take to engage from outside the country. That’s right. We’ll handle EVERYTHING.

What else can we handle for you? We can help with retirement annuity withdrawal, pension funds, expat tax, foreign exchange and so much more! We provide a full suite of cross-border financial services for South Africans.

 

 

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