Do tourists need a visa for South Africa?

Don’t be a hazard — flying or otherwise.

“And so the adventure begins.”

You know that feeling you get right before you set off to travel and explore a new place? Those pre-flight jitters of excitement? From planning your next vacation (or baecation) to the night before when you’re making absolutely sure that you haven’t forgotten any important items in your already-filled-to-the-brim travel bag, organising your next trip is exciting!

However, before you can fully reach the final stages of leaving for your destination, and in this case, South Africa, make sure you have everything, we mean everything sorted before even setting a foot onto the plane.

Before diving into the real nitty-gritty of it all, the first step is finding out if you qualify for a South African visa.

Yes!

A tourist visa, also known as a travel visa, allows you to visit South Africa for a set amount of time. Just to be perfectly clear here, under no circumstances are you allowed to work or participate in any business activities while you are in the country on a tourist visa.

It’s worth noting that different visa requirements apply to different locations. To make things easier, we’ve answered a series of questions below to guide you through your visa application process and to make sure that travelling to SA is plain sailing (more specifically, flying, but you know what we mean).

What type of visa do I need?

Generally, the most applicable visa is the “South Africa Visitor Visa” for short-term stays.

This visa allows international travellers to visit South Africa for up to 90 days or less for when visiting family, friends, or for general tourism purposes.

Erm, technically yes, but sometimes no.

Checklist: What documents do I need when applying for a visa?

Before you are allowed to enter South Africa, you need to have the following:

Remember, the requirements for entry into South Africa differ from country to country, and can change at any time. So, be sure to always do your research before!

It generally takes around 5–10 days to process your South African Tourist Visa, however, we strongly recommend that submit your application well in advance to avoid any sort of delay or disappointment. Processing times can sometimes vary depending on the South African Embassy and how busy they are at the time of your visa submission.

The 2 major role players are:

The Department of Home Affairs does all the South African visa processing and decides if a visa is granted or denied.

The final do’s and don’ts.

Visa sorted? Then don’t forget that there are certain goods that you can’t bring into South Africa and other goods on which you need to pay duties.

Find out more here:

Once you’ve gone through the above guidelines you’re one step closer to coming to South Africa.

Cape Town is definitely bucket-list central. So, with a bit of good planning, you’re in for the adventure of a lifetime. Some final words of wisdom? Make sure you’ve provided all the correct documentation needed for a South African visa and you won’t have the Department of Home Affairs breathing down your neck.

Now, it’s almost time for you to experience the best of Cape Town.

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