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Port-of-entry / visitor visa — visit up to 90 days

South AfricaShort stays and visits

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in South Africa Read the five questions ↓

For the relevant traveller scope, is a visa, electronic authorisation, visa on arrival or no advance visa normally required?

A foreigner entering South Africa must, on demand, produce a valid port of entry visa to an immigration officer, subject to the Act's exceptions. The Minister may exempt any person or category of persons from needing a port of entry visa in order to obtain a visitor's visa, for a specified or unspecified period, unconditionally or on conditions.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Which nationalities and passport types are exempt is set out in the Department of Home Affairs exemption schedule, which this answer does not reproduce.

What short-visit purposes does this route cover?

A visitor's visa may be issued for any purpose other than those provided for in sections 13 to 24 of the Act, to a foreigner who complies with section 10A and provides the prescribed financial or other guarantees for departure. The holder may not conduct work, although the holder of a visa under section 11(1)(a) or (b)(iv) may be authorised by the Director-General to conduct work. Attending an activity or event is a contemplated purpose: the port of entry visa application must then include a letter from the organising body confirming attendance and whether the foreigner will be remunerated.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The captured sources define visitor purposes negatively and give no positive list of ordinary short-visit purposes such as tourism or family visits.

What maximum stay, rolling-period rule, validity and entry rules apply?

The visitor's visa under regulation 11(1) is issued for a period not exceeding three months. A port of entry visa issued at a mission of the Republic only becomes a valid section 11 visa once an immigration officer admits the holder, and its period of validity also then does not exceed three months.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The Immigration Regulations, 2014 were captured as published on 22 May 2014; later amendments to them, including the amendment that inserted regulation 18(12) and (13) referred to by the 2024 points-based system notice, were not captured in this run and could have changed this text.

What important funds, accommodation, invitation, insurance, onward-travel or passport evidence may be required?

A visitor's visa application needs a valid return air ticket or proof of its reservation and proof of sufficient financial means in the form of a recently bank-certified statement for the last three months. A port of entry visa application needs a valid passport for each applicant, the applicable fee, proof of sufficient financial means and proof of a valid return or onward ticket or its purchase. For dependent children accompanying or joining the applicant, it needs proof of consent from one or both parents or the legal guardian, a court order granting parental responsibilities where applicable, a letter from the person receiving the child with the residential address where the child will live, a copy of that person's identity document or passport and visa or permanent residence permit, and the parents' or guardian's contact details.

See recorded sources

Where/how is permission obtained when required, and under what important circumstances can a stay be extended or changed?

The visitor's visa is applied for on Form 8 at a South African mission where the applicant is ordinarily resident or holds citizenship (or another mission designated by the Director-General); the port of entry visa is applied for on Form 11, in person, at a mission in the applicant's country of residence or of passport, in advance of travel (or, for good cause, at another mission, which may refer the application onward). An extension of either, under section 10(7) of the Act, is applied for on Form 10, in person, no less than 60 days before expiry (seven working days if the original visa was issued for under 30 days).

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The Immigration Regulations, 2014 were captured as published on 22 May 2014; later amendments to them, including the amendment that inserted regulation 18(12) and (13) referred to by the 2024 points-based system notice, were not captured in this run and could have changed this text.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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