You may need a VISA to enter South Africa. First, check if you do, depending on your passport type, by clicking here: Countries exempt from South African visas.
Having a visa simply means that your application has been reviewed at a South African embassy, mission or consulate and that the consular officer has determined you eligible to enter the country for the reason you stated.
Great! Now that you’re allowed in, the visa will grant you access to the South African port of entry, where an immigration official will determine if you are allowed to enter the country and for how long. Always remember, all visitors are restricted only to the activity or reason for which their visas were issued.
So now you’ve made it into the country. Once here, the visa is considered to be a visitor’s permit. The permit’s period of validity is set from the date you came in and will be set out under the heading “conditions” on the visa label.
It’s important to ensure that you apply for the correct visa or permit. If not, entry into the country may be refused if the purpose of the visit was not correctly stated.
Depending on where you’re from, visa requirements differ from country to country and the requirements are subject to change. Each application is treated as an individual case, hence you should ask your nearest South African mission or consulate abroad to see whether or not you are even supposed to apply for a visa.
Remember, there is a fee that will be charged for issuing you a visa, and you should check the cost with the office as well as this is updated annually. The fee is payable in different currencies in different countries.
It is incredibly important to get your visas. These are not issued at South African ports of entry, and airline officials are obliged to insist on visas before allowing passengers to board. If you arrive without a visa, immigration officials are obliged to put you onto a flight back to your home country.
South Africa requires a valid yellow fever certificate from all foreign visitors and citizens over one year of age. This is essential for people travelling from an infected area or for those who have been country hopping through infected areas. Click the button below to see yellow fever vaccination requirements and list of countries.
Visas are not issued at South African ports of entry, and airline officials must insist on visas before allowing passengers to board. If you arrive without a visa, immigration officials are obliged to put you onto a flight back to your home country.
Visa Invitation Letter
Our registration system will automatically generate a visa invitation letter when you indicate that you need one in the registration process. Please note that the visa invitation letter will only be issued if the delegate’s name was approved by the National President and registration has been paid in full.
Visa invitations will be sent to participants who have registered and paid the participation fee 3 months before the event.