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South Africa - entry restrictions and rules [merged thread]

South Africa - entry restrictions and rules [merged thread]

Old Jul 6, 2022, 4:46 am
  #1621  
 
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Visa services are by appointment only - that may have been the September reference. To schedule an appointment send email to [email protected]

I'd contact one of the many visa processing services in the United States. They'll at least tell you what's up and what is required.
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Old Jul 6, 2022, 8:21 am
  #1622  
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Originally Posted by B747-437B
Post-customs bag drop was closed this morning FWIW.
has been closed for quite some while IME
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Old Jul 6, 2022, 9:30 am
  #1623  
 
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Originally Posted by danpeake
Visa services are by appointment only - that may have been the September reference. To schedule an appointment send email to [email protected]

I'd contact one of the many visa processing services in the United States. They'll at least tell you what's up and what is required.
Thanks. That is the email we have been using.
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Old Jul 7, 2022, 1:51 pm
  #1624  
 
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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.
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Old Jul 8, 2022, 3:33 am
  #1625  
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Originally Posted by B747-437B
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.
ANC cadres looking to punish DA run Western Cape😕
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Old Jul 8, 2022, 6:01 am
  #1626  
 
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Originally Posted by Swanhunter
ANC cadres looking to punish DA run Western Cape😕
I wouldn't want to speculate publicly of course, but the statistics (if eventually made available to Western Cape by DHA) would confirm one way or the other...
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Old Jul 11, 2022, 9:52 am
  #1627  
 
Join Date: Jul 2022
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Out of the blue, she received an email Thursday evening setting an appointment for Wednesday morning. We will travel to DC tomorrow. I am not optimistic and had mentally moved on from this trip happening so any good news in a bonus. Another bonus is that there are some nice Virginia wineries on the drive where we can stop and get a few bottles!
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Old Aug 14, 2022, 6:55 am
  #1628  
 
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Originally Posted by B747-437B
Arrived this morning at JNB into a typical South African chaos....
Similar to my experience on 26 May. Utter chaos. The Port Health 'Authority' insisted all international pax had to have a PCR test there and then despite us all having Certificates. No NHS ones were accepted as the Port Health said they were 'not certificates', and they made us all move to another very long queue' (I use that term in the loosest sense).


courtesy of Just Nats on Twitter

It was a shambles, so many people incredibly upset, missing onward flight connection, etc. When the 'queue' for the PCR test became unmanageable, someone suddenly shouted we were free to leave, and to proceed to pport control. From disembarking it took 2 hrs just to get to passport control. On Twitter, OR Tambo put out a tweet, saying their Operations Team were deployed to help the Port Authority with 'queue management'. There was no queue, just a mass of people, who were wondering what the hell was happening.

I was there in January, no problems at all, but May was abysmal. I am due back next month, and to be honest, really not looking forward to the OR Tambo 'experience' again.
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Old Aug 14, 2022, 8:13 am
  #1629  
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Originally Posted by HGOLI
Similar to my experience on 26 May. Utter chaos. The Port Health 'Authority' insisted all international pax had to have a PCR test there and then despite us all having Certificates. No NHS ones were accepted as the Port Health said they were 'not certificates', and they made us all move to another very long queue' (I use that term in the loosest sense).


courtesy of Just Nats on Twitter

It was a shambles, so many people incredibly upset, missing onward flight connection, etc. When the 'queue' for the PCR test became unmanageable, someone suddenly shouted we were free to leave, and to proceed to pport control. From disembarking it took 2 hrs just to get to passport control. On Twitter, OR Tambo put out a tweet, saying their Operations Team were deployed to help the Port Authority with 'queue management'. There was no queue, just a mass of people, who were wondering what the hell was happening.

I was there in January, no problems at all, but May was abysmal. I am due back next month, and to be honest, really not looking forward to the OR Tambo 'experience' again.
Wow... And you don't even need PCR test results anymore, right? What a mess.
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Old Aug 14, 2022, 8:59 am
  #1630  
 
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
Wow... And you don't even need PCR test results anymore, right? What a mess.
That was before the latest change to the entry requirements (around June 22).

https://www.gov.za/covid-19/individu...virus-covid-19
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Old Aug 14, 2022, 9:10 am
  #1631  
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Originally Posted by cheltzel
That was before the latest change to the entry requirements (around June 22).

https://www.gov.za/covid-19/individu...virus-covid-19
Ah, I missed that part. Was worried this was still an ongoing issue. We're entering SA in a month and our plan is to
a) have a QR code with our vaccine passport, and if that's not recognized (Smart Health),

b) we both got COVID two weeks ago (after dodging it for 2 years...), So I'll have recovery certificates as a backup (since that is within the 10-90 days pre-arrival as per your link)

​​​​​Either one of these should be enough to avoid any serious complications - sounds like a good plan?
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Old Aug 14, 2022, 9:36 am
  #1632  
 
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Originally Posted by cheltzel
That was before the latest change to the entry requirements (around June 22).

https://www.gov.za/covid-19/individu...virus-covid-19
True, but the point was, despite their rules at the time that required inbound pax to have the vax certificate or a negative result, the Port Health didn't accept the official certificates in either hard copy or digital copy, i.e. the actual entry requirements that day were irrelevant. I think they do what they want, when they want.
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Old Aug 14, 2022, 10:57 am
  #1633  
 
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
Ah, I missed that part. Was worried this was still an ongoing issue. We're entering SA in a month and our plan is to
a) have a QR code with our vaccine passport, and if that's not recognized (Smart Health),

b) we both got COVID two weeks ago (after dodging it for 2 years...), So I'll have recovery certificates as a backup (since that is within the 10-90 days pre-arrival as per your link)

​​​​​Either one of these should be enough to avoid any serious complications - sounds like a good plan?
I was there a few (three ish) weeks ago and other than the mass temperature scan port health weren't doing anything. No queues or no paperwork wanted and the passport person gave the quickest of glances at my proffered iPhone vaccine certificate.
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Old Aug 15, 2022, 2:23 am
  #1634  
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Originally Posted by HGOLI
True, but the point was, despite their rules at the time that required inbound pax to have the vax certificate or a negative result, the Port Health didn't accept the official certificates in either hard copy or digital copy, i.e. the actual entry requirements that day were irrelevant. I think they do what they want, when they want.
Remember, TIA
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Old Aug 15, 2022, 2:34 am
  #1635  
 
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Originally Posted by B747-437B
I wouldn't want to speculate publicly of course, but the statistics (if eventually made available to Western Cape by DHA) would confirm one way or the other...
Were struggling to get visas approved for people coming to Gauteng too. Or is Gauteng now being considered non-ANC? Seems to me to be the usual incompetence and / or bureaucracy, and a spike in xenophobia the last year.
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