Hi all, I'm trying to help a friend understand a situation and after reading through this thread would appreciate any input here to gain confidence.
My friend is a Taiwanese citizen travelling on a single PNR Lufthansa return ticket: WDH-JNB-FRA-LUX and LUX-ZRH-JNB-WDH.
Airlines involved for JNB:
- WDH-JNB: SAA
- JNB-FRA: Lufthansa
- ZRH-JNB: SWISS
- JNB-WDH: SAA
As a Taiwanese-only citizen, she is not
SA visa-excempt and would need a tourist/transit visa to enter SA, but apparently this is no longer required for transit-only pax per
this DHA page:
6. With effect from 18 December 2015 travellers, with the exception of deportees, who transit through O R Tambo International Airport; Cape Town International Airport; King Shaka International Airport and Lanseria International Airport do not require transit visas as contemplated in section 10B(4)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No 13 of 2002). However, transiting passengers will be subjected to biometric capturing. Deportees transiting at any port of entry are required to be in possession of a transit visa at all times and must be escorted.
The concern here is how to gain sufficient confidence that bags will be checked through (so as to guarantee she won't need to exit the international area to reach the regular baggage collection area, which is impossible if I understand correctly); or, if for whatever reason (seen/unseen) the bags aren't checked through and the bags need to be picked up, whether JNB staff will be able to assist in helping here due to her being unable to pass through immigration. The JNB layovers are both over 6 hours so time should hopefully not be a concern.
I'd appreciate any info on this. Many thanks!