pomkiwi

I guess most people likely to be affected probably know but just in case. Since around the start of 2017 NZ passport holders need a visa to enter SA - this must be applied for in person at a consulate in your country of residence. It takes (at least) 10 working days to issue. This is in retaliation for NZ imposing visa requirements for travellers from SA (but at the least the NZ visa can be obtained online).

My son and I have just had to cancel a safari trip next week as he lives in Australia, has an NZ passport but was unaware of this change which was not in place when I travelled to SA last year nor when we booked our tickets.

(Apologies if this has been mentioned before but I couldn't find any reference when I did a search)

jswong

Yes this is a major hassle. I avoid visiting countries which require a visa is required unless the process is very simple (which is not the case for SA)

http://www.vfsglobal.com/southafrica...3)-months.html

skywardhunter

As a South African I was quite sad to hear about NZ imposing visa restrictions on South Africa. Can't say I'm very upset that Kiwies need to now also get visas, though I do agree South Africa's visa application process is due for modernization.

johan rebel

SA is shooting itself in the foot by playing childish tit-for-tat games.

Johan

Cheetah_SA

I wholeheartedly agree - but as a South African all too often I just have to grit my teeth and suck it up. Having just applied for my umpteenth Schengen visa I am bristling anew with indignation at the whole bureaucratic obstacle course that one is put through every time.

And as for vfsglobal - what an annoyingly obstructive organisation staffed by a bunch of jobsworth automatons whose purpose seems to be to make the whole process as unpleasant as possible. When you present your reams of supporting documents, painstakingly assembled with attention to every nuance of their web site's instructions, they find a way to make you come back and join another queue to satisfy their whims. "The bank statements have to be authorised." "This hotel confirmation doesn't have the address on it." If those are the requirements why don't you make them explicit instead of wasting my time!

Can you tell I hate the whole visa rigmarole? And most especially vsfglobal?

And breathe...

Cheetah_SA

Not just South Africa. Is it really necessary in 2017 to have to produce a physical photograph for a visa application? (Another annoying, time wasting obstacle in the bureaucratic nightmare.) Only to have your photo taken digitally when you visit the agency! And this for supposedly first-world Schengen countries.

By comparison, for a Cambodian visa you submit your digital photo online with your application.

pomkiwi

Fair enough but I guess many of the 20000 Kiwis who travelled to South Africa will now go to countries whose visa application process is less of a hassle - my future Safari trips are more likely to involve Kenya or another country that offers visa on arrival.
In any event the purpose of my post was an attempt to avoid anyone else in my position from being caught out as I have been - certainly wouldn't want you to be upset.

Mwenenzi

New Zealand and Australia has been a very popular place for South Africans to to immigrate to. And is continuing. These people now often have NZ Au citizenship/passports and will return to RSA for visits. And with their NZ Au born children. The flights by QF & SAA on the Aust RSA route have enough passengers (and cargo) to keep 12 flights a week going.

Cheetah_SA

Maybe, as was the case when the UK introduced visas for Saffers, the noose was tightened because corruption in the Department of Home Affairs made ZA passports untrustworthy.

skywardhunter

But those passports were phased out and the new ones have a much higher standard, in fact I find them to often be of higher quality in terms of the bio page than most other country's passports I've seen, save for the lack of biometric information encoded in a chip in them.

I heard rumours last year the UK was going to re-introduce visa-free travel in the coming years as all the phased out passports would be expiring around about now.