Brightly painted houses on Wale Street in the Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, South Africa

Who needs a visa for South Africa?

Sub-Saharan Africa · Pretoria

Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Of 198 nationalities, 93 enter South Africa with no paperwork at all. The rest: 105 must be approved before they travel.

Typical decision
60 days
Stay permitted
Up to 90 days for a visitor's visa, as endorsed by the officer
Apply on the official South Africa government site

This is the government's own portal. We are not paid to send you there.

Checked 4 October 2026 — read the fees and rules on dha.gov.za

What South Africa asks for

  • Passport valid for at least 30 days after your visit ends. Home Affairs' visa page asks for at least one unused page; the Immigration Regulations say two, so carry two to be safe
  • Completed application form BI-84
  • Payment of the prescribed fee
  • A yellow fever vaccination certificate, if one is required for where you have travelled
  • Documentation confirming the purpose and duration of your visit
  • Proof of funds for your stay
  • Return or onward ticket

Worth knowing

  • We do not publish a South African visitor visa fee because the Department of Home Affairs does not publish one centrally. Ask the mission you are applying to, and get the amount in writing.
  • South Africa has no single national application tracker. Anyone claiming to check your file for a fee is not working with Home Affairs.

Photo requirements

We have not yet read the photo rules for South Africa on an official page, so we print no sizes. Photo rules we have checked, and official links for the rest

Resize a photo in your browser. It is never uploaded.

How long your passport must be valid for South Africa: see passport validity by country.

What do you need?

Who needs what

Visa free 93

Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.

eVisa (electronic visa) 27

A real visa application, made online instead of at an embassy. It is assessed, it takes days rather than minutes, and it can be refused.

Visa required 78

You must apply and be approved before you travel. Airlines will refuse to board you without it.

Guides for South Africa

About South Africa

Region
Southern Africa
Capitals
Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Cape Town
Population
64,747,319 2025 · 24th of 197
Size
1,221,037 km² 24th largest of 199
Density
53 per km²
Languages
Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Currency
South African rand ZAR
Borders
Botswana Eswatini Lesotho Mozambique Namibia Zimbabwe

Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.