Passports and Visas
Every visitor to South Africa must have a valid passport:
- Passengers travelling to South Africa must be in possession of a passport with two unused pages for purposes of endorsing a port of entry visa, permanent residence permit, or entry and departure stamp.
- The passport must be machine readable. However, the foreigner may be admitted into or depart from South Africa with a non-machine-readable passport provided that he or she is from a foreign country that is issuing machine readable passports and has not completely phased out the non-machine-readable passports
- Passports must be valid for at least 6 months after your intended date of departure.
Passport holders from more than 80 countries, including USA, Canada, UK, Japan, and the EU can visit South Africa without a visa. A list of countries that currently do not require a visa can be found at the SA Government website:
http://www.dha.gov.za/index.php/immigration-services/exempt-countries
Information regarding visas can be obtained from your travel agent or the South African diplomatic or consular representative in your area. Members requiring visas, and who intend taking tours to neighbouring Southern African countries, are advised to secure a multiple entry visa. Tourists must satisfy immigration officers that they have the means of support for the duration of their stay in the country and return /onward tickets. Visas cannot be obtained on arrival.
If required, upon request, our event organisers, Turners Conferences can send you a letter of invitation. It should be understood that this letter will be sent only to help participants to obtain a visa. A letter of invitation is not a commitment on the part of the organisers to provide any financial support. Please note that only registered members who have paid their registration fees will be issued with a letter of invitation.