Visiting South Africa: passport must have at least 1 blank visa page available
The Visa instructions for an American visiting S Africa state that one's passport must have at least 1 blank visa page available. He knew this, as he had carefully read the requirements. When he arrived in London to board his SA flight to Capetown, the airline refused to allow him to board. They said that although he did have blank pages in his passport, they were not specific "Visa pages" and he would not be admitted through immigration when he arrived in Capetown.
Just a warning to anyone going to S Africa - make sure you have blank VISA PAGES in your passport.
South African law requires travelers to have one (1) blank (unstamped) visa page in their passport to enter the country. In practice, however, travelers may need more than one page as there have been instances in the past of South African immigration officers requiring travelers to have two (2) blank pages. You are advised to have at least two blank pages; one for the South African temporary residence permit sticker that is issued upon entry to the country, and an additional page to allow for entry and exit stamps for South Africa and other countries to be visited en route to South Africa or elsewhere in the region.
Travelers without the requisite blank visa pages in their passports may be refused entry into South Africa, fined, and returned to their point of origin at their own expense. South African authorities have denied diplomatic missions access to assist in these cases.
When I traveled there I was advised to have two consecutive blank pages.
My friend had actually read this and knew he needed blank pages - he just didn't realize that there were different kinds of blank pages. Sorry, but this just seems like harassment to me. I just don't see the point.
My friend had actually read this and knew he needed blank pages - he just didn't realize that there were different kinds of blank pages. Sorry, but this just seems like harassment to me. I just don't see the point.
Passports and passport replacing documents of all non-South
African nationals must contain at least 1 unused visa page
for entry/departure endorsements by South African
Immigration Service. Please note that this does not include
the page reserved for Observations or Amendments and
Endorsements".
Your gripe should be with the US State Department for designating so many pages of the US passport as something other than "Visa" pages, not with South Africa for simply following the ICAO standards that all countries have agreed to.
My friend had actually read this and knew he needed blank pages - he just didn't realize that there were different kinds of blank pages. Sorry, but this just seems like harassment to me. I just don't see the point.
I am not intimately familiar with US passports per se, but the point is that governments, when they design passports, designate certain pages as for their (issuing government's) own use (e.g. renewals, annotations, etc). Foreign authorities (in this case RSA) are not allowed/supposed to use those pages. There are specific pages marked VISAS that are to be used for travel (visas, entry/exit stamps etc).
This is an unfortunate incident, a misunderstanding at best, certainly not harassment.
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So next year we will be flying SYD-JNB.We will be cruising from CPT then flying back from Ghana.Then safari in Botswana and back to JNB to fly home.So there will be 3 separate entries to South Africa over 6 weeks.Do we need to have 3 or more visa pages for this trip?
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Stamps have changed since the start of this year. They no longer use the little stickers but rather a new larger size entry stamp which they fill in with the purpose and duration of stay.
So next year we will be flying SYD-JNB.We will be cruising from CPT then flying back from Ghana.Then safari in Botswana and back to JNB to fly home.So there will be 3 separate entries to South Africa over 6 weeks.Do we need to have 3 or more visa pages for this trip?
I would be interested in an answer to this as well. We're headed to S.A. in June, and I already had to get my wife a new passport because she didn't have the blank pages (during a technology changeover, the USA passport agency ignored her request for the "extra pages" passport the last time she applied, so it was inevitable that she would run out of pages eventually). But one of my kids is down to only 3 blank "visa" pages. The first time we enter S.A., we're immediately taking a flight to Zambia (Livingstone, Victoria Falls) No need for a "visa" in S.A. that day, right? But the Zambians are probably going to put something in his passport. As will Zimbabwe (other side of Victoria Falls). Then we head back to S.A. I don't want him to be denied entry because of visa page nonsense.
I would be interested in an answer to this as well. We're headed to S.A. in June, and I already had to get my wife a new passport because she didn't have the blank pages (during a technology changeover, the USA passport agency ignored her request for the "extra pages" passport the last time she applied, so it was inevitable that she would run out of pages eventually). But one of my kids is down to only 3 blank "visa" pages. The first time we enter S.A., we're immediately taking a flight to Zambia (Livingstone, Victoria Falls) No need for a "visa" in S.A. that day, right? But the Zambians are probably going to put something in his passport. As will Zimbabwe (other side of Victoria Falls). Then we head back to S.A. I don't want him to be denied entry because of visa page nonsense.
We just did multiple entries to SA. We were aware of the warning and had extra pages added to our passports ahead of the trip. SA passport control stamped the same page every time we entered and exited, so in the end the extra pages were unnecessary.
A tip on the flight from JNB to LIV: get a seat up front. The BA and SAA flights arrive within 15 minutes of each other and immigration (2 officers) can become a real snafu. Also, if you plan to go to Zimbabwe buy a double entry visa on arrival ($80).
We just did multiple entries to SA. We were aware of the warning and had extra pages added to our passports ahead of the trip. SA passport control stamped the same page every time we entered and exited, so in the end the extra pages were unnecessary.
A tip on the flight from JNB to LIV: get a seat up front. The BA and SAA flights arrive within 15 minutes of each other and immigration (2 officers) can become a real snafu. Also, if you plan to go to Zimbabwe buy a double entry visa on arrival ($80).
Thanks for the tips. I'm going to bet that 3 blank pages will be enough. I'm suffering from "bureaucratic travel fatique" (things like being required to get yellow fever vaccination when there's no yellow fever risk) so I'm not inclined to spend even more money on nonsense if I don't need to.
....and I already had to get my wife a new passport because she didn't have the blank pages (during a technology changeover, the USA passport agency ignored her request for the "extra pages" passport the last time she applied.
They ignored my "extra pages request" some years ago,
but on receipt I wen't back to the Post Office
(this is some years ago ago!)
... they took it back and re-issued a 48-pager without further charge.
But it was annoying enough, the next time I applied
I attached on top a full page in huge font saying
48-PAGE PASSPORT requested,
and it seemed to work.
They ignored my "extra pages request" some years ago,
but on receipt I wen't back to the Post Office
(this is some years ago ago!)
... they took it back and re-issued a 48-pager without further charge.
But it was annoying enough, the next time I applied
I attached on top a full page in huge font saying
48-PAGE PASSPORT requested,
and it seemed to work.
Yeah, there's even a thread about this somewhere on flyertalk. When my wife's "regular" passport came, we were annoyed but figured we'd fix it later -- extra pages were free, so why do it now. The passport was still good. Of course, later, they instantaneously announced that it would be $82 for more pages. Since she now has less than 4 years left, it seemed silly to pay that.
We actually called our Congressman to see if his staff could help us (they once helped get a passport issued a few years ago when they were all backed up). No dice -- the State Dept wouldn't budge. I tried directly as well, and nothing. Other than sue them, I'm not sure what else I could have done! My wife was cheated by our own gov't of 4 years worth of passport services.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iahphx
Of course, later, they instantaneously announced that it would be $82 for more pages.
Well it wasn't instantaneous. They made wide announcements several months in advance. And we had at least two lengthy threads on the subject here on Flyertalk leading up to the change. I, and a number of other Flyertalkers, had 48 more pages added to my passport a few weeks before the $82 charge went into effect.
