Travelling on a South African passport: how to get visas

Posted by Phillipa Hickman on 13 March 2011

Visas. Pfft. Visas are probably about on par with the worst swear words you can think of. And do you know other countries laugh at us?

Honestly, I rarely travel with other South Africans. Occasionally there have been one or two on a tour I’ve gone on, but never ones still living in South Africa. I’m not really sure why that is, actually. More often than not, the tours I do are filled with Aussies, Kiwis, Brits and even the occasional American. All people who don’t require a visa to go almost anywhere they like on our planet.

Now I won’t lie, I adore getting all the stamps and whatnot in my passport, but I have NO idea how they justify the expense. Well, I guess the beauty of something like this is that, like Telkom, Eskom, et al., they can pretty much charge what they like because, you don’t have a choice but to get one if you want to visit their country.

And it gets even more expensive if you want to use a visa service company. That said, once I weigh up what my time is worth to me, it usually comes in cheaper to just pay them to get it done. Although, I think with having to DHL my passport to the UK, the Mongolian visa is going to turn out to be the most expensive one I’ve ever needed. And for a mere 2 days where I’m not even getting off the train! (Yes, I am supremely annoyed about this, but not annoyed enough to alter my trip, so I guess I’ll just have to accept it.)

But before any of this, you have the super-fun task of compiling all their required documentation. Usually the most bizarre thing you can think of. For example, the Canadian visa states that you shouldn’t book your flights before you’ve got your visa (in case it’s rejected), but they want you to submit flight details with your application. How’s that for backwards? So there I was, booking a flight, printing the flight details and then cancelling the flight.

The Russian visa process looks like it’s going to be even more entertaining. They fully admit that they know you’re just faking it for the visa, because all the travel agents will generally procure the required documentation for you. It is a well known and accepted loophole, apparently. How dumb? They call it Russian Tourist Visa Support, which includes an invitation to stay in their country and a tourist voucher (and I think this has to be pre-approved by the Russian Home Affairs).

Sheesh, talk about jumping thru hoops just to keep travelling on my little green passport! So, yes, it’s a hassle, but far from impossible in my experience so far.

I also recommend looking for visa requirement details on visa service company websites so that you can be clear on exactly what documentation you need to submit. And I recommend comparing visa service company prices before picking one, because they range anywhere between R350 and over R500 (yes, that’s *per* visa!) but some include collection and drop-off.

If you are unsure whether or not you need a visa for a country, I would use: http://projectvisa.com/fullcountrylist.asp

To get an idea of what the visa document requirements will be, I use: http://www.visasunlimited.co.za/

Also handy is the South African Foreign Representatives website, in case you want to check where the consulate is or call to confirm details: http://www.dfa.gov.za/foreign/forrep/index.htm

Photo courtesy of Matt Stabile

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