Originally Posted by
theebigjuan
Planned on meeting friends in CPT in October. My wife is on a Bulgarian passport, so started contacting SA embassy in DC and consulate in NYC about a visa as it requires a full application and interview in person. Received a single reply to "Apply in September" with no explanation or instructions. She has tried for 4 weeks to call (no one picks up the phone/the line is busy/voicemail is full and does not accept messages) or email (multiple emails to multiple people with no reply). Any suggestions? She is off to Europe for all of August, so if this doesn't happen in the next few days, then we don't see our friends or CPT, which would be a pity. Thanks.
I've just come back from a major aviation conference in Cape Town where the general consensus seems to be that visa issuance for tourists and businesspeople seeking to travel to Western Cape has become very problematic. A number of attendees (including CEOs of airlines, IATA senior management, etc..) had visas refused or left pending for 3+ months, and needed diplomatic level intervention to eventually have some of those issued. I had a chance to speak with some of the provincial ministers and they say that while they have significant anecdotal evidence of this, Home Affairs is dragging their feet on providing statistics regarding visa applications versus issuances by province of destination. SA Tourism is also having their budget significantly cut for promotion of attractions in Western Cape. It seems that your visa process may go a lot smoother if you cite a destination in Gauteng instead.