There are so many reasons why people travel out of South Africa. Some travel for educative purposes, business purposes, tourism or even searching for greener pastures.
The processes of securing a visa to travel out of the country might be a tough task as many foreign countries have strict travel rules especially when it comes to trying to gain entry to their country. Many people have been denied visas for one issue or the other.
If you really want to travel out of South Africa, then you need to have knowledge of the following:
Your purpose of traveling
The embassy of the country you want to travel to will definitely ask you this question. Failure to answer this question could bring about the denial of visas for travel.
It is very important to know why you want to travel out of South Africa before you start applying for a visa, in order to know the category of visa to apply for.
The following reasons listed below may secure a visa for you to travel abroad:
- Medical reasons
- Tourism
- Attending a conference
- Educational Reasons or Scholarship to study abroad
- Business purposes
- Marrying someone abroad
- Invitation by a family or friend
Get your international passport ready
To get your international passport in South Africa, you can visit the eHomeAffairs website to apply for your South African Passport online.
- Submit applications online
- Upload supporting documents
- Make online payments
- And schedule a booking to visit a Home Affairs enabled Bank offices
Currently, there are six types of South African passports which are issued to her citizens: Regular Passport, Maxi Passport, Child Passport, Official Passport, Diplomatic Passport, Tourist Passport. Temporary Passports has been discontinued from 1 September 2014.
Note that if you already have a passport, it should be valid for at least 6 months from your scheduled travel date.
Make a choice on the country to visit
You need to make a thorough research about the country you would like to travel to before you make a choice on where to travel.
There are some countries that are visa free to South Africans while others would require a visa on arrival that would last a period of 30 to 90 days. (Click here to see their list)
Book a hotel and plane ticket
You would also have to book a plane ticket if you want to travel out of South Africa. If you have someone you will stay with, you might not have to bother about this. But if not, you have to book a hotel for accommodation cos visa officers would ask you about that.
Apply for visa
Depending on the embassy’s mode of operation, you need to provide required documents for application and schedule an interview date.
When your visa is finally ready, you must be at the airport on the flight scheduled date so as not to miss out on your trip.
You will be searched thoroughly by hotel security in South Africa and the country you want to travel to.
Please, you should not be found with illegal items that are against the laws of both countries and respect your visa terms and conditions.
For you to travel out of South Africa for free, that’ll be possible if someone fully sponsors your travel or through visa lottery.
I will love to work in south Africa