Umhlanga Coastline / immigration information South Africa / South African Entry Visas

Umhlanga Coastline

Accommodation Association

Entry Visa

To begin with, you would enter South Africa on a Visa, which will vary according to the nature of your entry. Depending on where you are coming from, you may or may not need a special visa purely to visit South Africa. A full list of visa exempt countries is available here.

However, if you are looking at coming over for more than a visit, then even if you are from a "visa exempt" country, you will need to make special application, based on the basis of your entry.

This applies if you are coming in to take up employment, marry a local, study, retire or whatever the reason may be other than a pure short visit (3 months maximum).

Your visa will automatically give you temporary residence rights, but the length of the temporary residence will depend on the type of application. Be sure that this is correctly reflected at the port of entry, because it is only in limited circumstances that a visa can be altered once you are inside the country.

Assuming that you have entered on the correct visa, be sure to start the process of applying for permanent residence (where applicable) as soon as possible. While the time periods seem more than adequate and it may be tempting to delay application, anything can go wrong to cause delays.

If your temporary visa expires before you have your permanent residency, you may be required to leave the country and re-enter. - An expensive exercise.