South Africa Visa-Exempt Countries

Whether you need a visa before travelling to South Africa depends on the type of passport you hold and how long you intend to stay. The table below reproduces the Department of Home Affairs visa exemption schedule in full, so you can check your own passport rather than rely on a summary.

Being exempt does not guarantee entry. The immigration officer at the port of entry decides the period actually granted, and you must still satisfy the ordinary requirements — a valid passport, onward travel, sufficient funds and accommodation. Always check your entry stamp before leaving the immigration counter.

Visa exemption schedule

Type a country name to filter the list. The periods shown are the maximum stay permitted without a port-of-entry visa. p/a means the allowance is per calendar year, not per visit.

Department of Home Affairs schedule

Find your passport exemption

Search by country or organisation, then check the column that matches your passport type.

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— Not exempt p/a Per calendar year Swipe sideways to see all passport types

Country or organisation	Ordinary	Diplomatic	Official	Service	Special	Visa fee
Albania (Republic of)	—	120 days	120 days	120 days	—	Yes
Algeria	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	No
Andorra (Principality of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Angola (Republic of)	90 days p/a	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Anguilla	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Antigua and Barbuda	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Argentina	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Australia	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Austria (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Bahamas	30 days	—	—	—	—	No
Barbados	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Belarus (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Belgium	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Belize	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Benin (Republic of)	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Bermuda	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Bolivia, Plurinational State of	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Botswana	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Brazil	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
British Antarctic Territory	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
British Indian Ocean Territory	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
British Virgin Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Bulgaria (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Canada	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Cape Verde	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Cayman Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Chile	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
China (People’s Republic of)	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	Yes
Comoros (Union of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Congo (Democratic Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Costa Rica	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Croatia (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Cuba (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Cyprus	30 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Czech Republic	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Denmark (Kingdom of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Ducie and Oeno Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Ecuador	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Egypt	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	No
Estonia (Republic of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Ethiopia (The Federal Democratic Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Falkland Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Finland (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
France (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Gabon (Republic of)	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	No
Germany (Federal Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Ghana (Republic of)	90 days p/a	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Gibraltar	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Greece (Hellenic Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Guernsey	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Guinea (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Guyana	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Henderson	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China)	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Hungary	90 days	120 days	120 days	120 days	—	No
Iceland (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
India	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Indonesia (Republic of)	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	Yes
Ireland	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Isle of Man	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Israel	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Italy (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Ivory Coast (Republic of Côte d’Ivoire)	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	Yes
Jamaica	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Japan	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Jersey	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Jordan	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Kenya (Republic of)	90 days p/a	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland)	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Latvia (Republic of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Lesotho (Kingdom Of)	90 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Liberia	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Liechtenstein	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Lithuania (Republic of)	90 days	30 days p/a	30 days p/a	—	—	No
Luxembourg (Grand Duchy of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Macau	30 days	—	—	—	—	No
Madagascar (Republic of)	90 days p/a	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	No
Malawi	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	No
Malaysia	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Maldives	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Mali (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Malta	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Mauritius	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Mexico	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Monaco (Principality of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Montserrat	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Morocco (Kingdom of)	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	Yes
Mozambique (Republic of)	30 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Namibia	90 days p/a	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	No
Netherlands (The Kingdom of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
New Zealand	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Niger	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Nigeria (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Norway	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Panama (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Paraguay	90 days	120 days	120 days	120 days	—	No
Peru	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Pitcairn Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Poland (Republic of)	30 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Portugal (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Qatar (State of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Republic of Korea (South Korea)	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Romania	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Russian Federation	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Rwanda (Republic of)	—	30 days	30 days	30 days	—	Yes
SADC laissez-passers	—	—	90 days	—	—	No
Saint Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
San Marino (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Senegal	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Seychelles	90 days p/a	30 days	30 days	—	—	No
Sierra Leone (Republic of)	—	90 days p/a	90 days p/a	90 days p/a	—	Yes
Singapore (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Slovakia (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Slovenia (Republic of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Spain (Kingdom of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Sweden	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Switzerland	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
São Tomé and Príncipe (Democratic Republic of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Tanzania (United Republic of)	90 days p/a	90 days p/a	90 days p/a	—	—	No
Thailand (Kingdom of)	30 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Togo (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Trinidad and Tobago (Republic of)	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
Tunisia (Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	No
Turkey (Republic of)	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days	Yes
Turks and Caicos Islands	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Uganda (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Ukraine	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
United Arab Emirates	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	90 days	—	—	—	—	No
United States of America	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	No
Uruguay	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	90 days	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	No
Vietnam (Republic of)	—	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	Yes
Virgin Islands (British)	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
Zambia	90 days p/a	90 days p/a	90 days p/a	—	—	No
Zimbabwe	90 days	90 days	90 days	—	—	No
African Union Laissez-Passer	90 days on the laissez-passer					No
African Development Bank Laissez-Passer	90 days on the laissez-passer					No
United Nations Laissez-Passer	90 days on the laissez-passer					No

If your ordinary passport is not exempt

Holders of ordinary passports from the following countries require a port-of-entry visa before travelling. Diplomatic, official or service passport holders from several of these countries are exempt — check the table above.

• Albania (Republic of)
• Algeria
• Belarus (Republic of)
• China (People’s Republic of)
• Comoros (Union of)
• Congo (Democratic Republic of)
• Cuba (Republic of)
• Egypt
• Ethiopia (Federal Democratic Republic of)
• Guinea (Republic of)
• India
• Indonesia (Republic of)
• Ivory Coast (Republic of Côte d’Ivoire)
• Liberia
• Mali (Republic of)
• Mexico
• Morocco (Kingdom of)
• Niger
• Nigeria (Republic of)
• Rwanda (Republic of)
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone (Republic of)
• Togo (Republic of)
• Uganda (Republic of)
• Ukraine
• Vietnam (Republic of)

This is not a complete list of the world’s countries. Any nationality not listed in the schedule above requires a visa. If you are unsure, ask us to confirm your position before booking.

Notes and exceptions

• Angola — ordinary passport holders receive 90 days per calendar year, with each individual visit not exceeding 30 days.
• Germany and the United States — diplomatic passport holders due to assume duty at their embassies or consulates in South Africa require visas for accreditation purposes.
• Visa fees — diplomatic, official and service passport holders do not pay visa fees. For Belize, Benin (Republic of), Gabon (Republic of), Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Republic of Korea (South Korea), Thailand (Kingdom of), Turkey (Republic of), a fee applies only if the intended visit exceeds 30 days.
• Transit — since 18 December 2015, travelers transiting through OR Tambo, Cape Town, King Shaka or Lanseria do not require transit visas, though biometrics are captured. Ordinary passport holders of Pakistan and Bangladesh require a port of entry or transit visa when traveling through South Africa.
• Withdrawn exemptions — if your individual exemption has been officially withdrawn, you must apply for a port of entry visa through the South African mission in your country of origin or long-term residence, even if your nationality appears above.
• Heavy-duty vehicle drivers from Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi do not require port-of-entry visas, subject to a letter confirming employment with a transport company abroad.

Exemption schedules change without notice, and the period granted at the port of entry is always at the immigration officer’s discretion. If your travel plans depend on the answer, have your position confirmed in writing.

Email: info@vi-sa.co.za  |  Telephone/WhatsApp: +27 61 520 4787

Source: Department of Home Affairs visa exemption schedule, issued 9 December 2025 (dha.gov.za). Checked by Visa Immigration SA in September 2026. The Department publishes this list subject to change without notice. Information on this page is general and does not replace an assessment of your individual circumstances.