24 hour transit visa for SA

Old Jun 3, 2014, 1:02 am
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24 hour transit visa for SA

Hello,

I have a 24 hour transit visa for SA for onward travels to Botswana. Question - I assume this entitles me to leave the airport to head over the Intercontinental hotel? I fly in on EK and have a very short connecting flight onto Maun which I can't risk .......... hence flying the next day.

Thanks in advance
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Old Jun 3, 2014, 4:04 am
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What passport are you traveling on?
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Old Jun 3, 2014, 10:42 pm
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India
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 3:12 am
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You do need a transit visa to transit, however, I do not know if you can leave the international departures area. There is a Protea hotel that is available in the transit area if you can't leave.
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 7:58 am
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All the information you require is to be found on the *A website here.

From my reading of the information you will need a transit visa since you are connecting to a country bordering ZA. (Kind of an odd rule that...)

As for entering the country: transit without visa, when it is allowed, is for pax staying airside unless otherwise stated. ZA is not one of the exceptions.
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 10:59 am
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No leaving transit area, regardless of circumstances. If you don't take a room at the airside hotel for an overnight transit, SA Immigration will throw you into a detention cell instead (and believe me, you don't want to wind up in one of those EVER!).
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 5:30 pm
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I'm having a bit of trouble following this, since the OP will have a transit visa in hand. Those typically allow leaving the airport during the stated period of time on the visa (2 days, 3 days, etc). It seems that most of the information mentioned would be for someone on TWOV, in which case they can not leave the airside terminal. Unless South Africa is a complete exception to the general rule on transit visas?
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 10:30 pm
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Thank You all for your responses - I got in touch with the SA consulate in Delhi ...... I am permitted to leave the terminal as long as I can show them proof of onward travel the next day (tickets) ....... They say, they issue this all the time.
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Old Jun 4, 2014, 10:32 pm
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Originally Posted by Cheetah_SA
All the information you require is to be found on the *A website here.

From my reading of the information you will need a transit visa since you are connecting to a country bordering ZA. (Kind of an odd rule that...)

As for entering the country: transit without visa, when it is allowed, is for pax staying airside unless otherwise stated. ZA is not one of the exceptions.
This is a bizarre rule ........ I need a transit visa to fly to JNB just to connect to connections (Botswana, Namibia) etc etc., Yet - If I was to transit in JNB onwards to say, Livingstone or Rio etc etc., (not a neighboring country) - I don't need a transit visa. Most bizarre .........
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