The South Africa airport guide
Visas, passports and travelling with a child
Photo: Hansueli Krapf, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Most visitors to South Africa do not need a visa. What stops people at the counter at O. R. Tambo and Cape Town is almost never the visa — it is the passport itself, and the paperwork for a child. Both are avoidable, and both are checked.
At a glance
- Visa-free stay
- Up to 90 days
- Blank passport pages
- 2 facing pages
- Passport validity
- 30 days past departure
Arrivals
Photo: KeMang??, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Who needs a visa, and who does not
Citizens of around seventy-five countries may enter South Africa for tourism without a visa. The list includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil and most of the European Union. Visa-free visitors are generally admitted for up to 90 days, although the officer at the counter sets the period actually stamped and it can be shorter.
Nationals of many African and Asian countries do need a visa, applied for in advance at a South African mission or through a visa facilitation centre. The list changes, and it is set by the Department of Home Affairs rather than by airlines or booking sites. Check your own nationality against the Home Affairs list before you book, not after.
Being visa-exempt is not the same as being automatically admitted. Immigration officers may ask for proof of onward or return travel showing you will not stay beyond the permitted period, and for an address in South Africa. Carrying a printed itinerary costs nothing and settles the question.
The passport rules that actually turn people away
Two requirements catch travellers out far more often than the visa.
- Validity: at least 30 days beyond the date you intend to leave South Africa. Not thirty days from arrival — thirty days past departure. A passport expiring six weeks after a three-week trip is already marginal.
- Blank pages: two completely blank pages, next to each other. They must be consecutive, and endorsement pages do not count — only visa pages do. This is the detail that most often goes wrong on a well-travelled passport that looks like it still has space.
Count your blank pages before you fly, not at the airport. An airline can refuse to board you for this, and an immigration officer can refuse entry for it after you have landed. Neither outcome is appealable at the desk, and there is no way to add pages to a passport once you are in the queue.
Travelling with a child under eighteen
South Africa has some of the strictest documentation rules in the world for minors, introduced to make child trafficking harder. They are applied at the counter, and the exact combination depends on who is travelling with the child.
| Who the child travels with | What is generally required |
|---|---|
| Both parents | The child’s passport. Proof of parentage if the passport does not show both parents. No consent affidavit. |
| One parent only | Proof of parentage, plus a parental consent affidavit from the absent parent, or a court order granting custody or guardianship, plus a copy of the absent parent’s ID and their contact details. |
| One parent, other parent deceased | Proof of parentage plus the death certificate. |
| Someone who is not a parent | Proof of parentage, consent from both parents or legal guardians, copies of their IDs and contact details. |
| Unaccompanied minor | Consent from both parents or guardians, plus a letter from the person hosting the child in South Africa with their address and contact details. |
“Proof of parentage” usually means an unabridged birth certificate — one showing the particulars of both parents, not the short-form extract. Where a child’s passport already records both parents, the certificate may not be demanded; consular guidance nonetheless advises carrying it. Foreign minors from visa-exempt countries have been relieved of the requirement to present one, which is a change many older travel articles have not caught up with.
One figure we will not state as fact: how recent the affidavit must be. Published guidance disagrees — some South African missions say no older than three months, others four. Because the consequence of getting it wrong is being turned around at a check-in desk, we tell you the disagreement exists rather than pick one. Use the shorter period, and confirm with the South African mission you are travelling from.
Where these rules come from
Entry requirements are set by the Department of Home Affairs; the documentation rules for minors are published by South African missions abroad through DIRCO, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Passport validity and blank-page requirements as described here are consistent across the South African mission guidance and the travel advisories issued by other governments.
We checked this page on 1 November 2026. Immigration rules change without much notice, and no travel site — including this one — should be your last check before a flight. If something here no longer matches the official guidance, the official guidance wins; tell us and we will fix it. How we source and check everything on this site.
Common questions
Do I need a visa for South Africa?
Probably not, if you hold a passport from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil or most EU countries: around seventy-five nationalities may enter visa-free for tourism, generally for up to 90 days. Check your own nationality against the Department of Home Affairs list, because it changes.
How long must my passport be valid?
At least 30 days beyond the date you plan to leave South Africa. Count from your departure date, not your arrival date.
How many blank passport pages do I need?
Two completely blank pages, next to each other, for each entry. Endorsement pages at the back of the passport do not count towards this — only visa pages do.
What do I need to travel to South Africa with my child?
The child’s own passport, and proof of parentage — usually an unabridged birth certificate showing both parents. If one parent is not travelling, you also need that parent’s consent affidavit or a court order, a copy of their ID and their contact details. If neither parent is travelling, you need consent from both.
Will I be asked for a return ticket?
You can be. Immigration officers may ask visa-exempt visitors for proof of onward or return travel showing you will not overstay, and for an address in South Africa. Have the itinerary on paper or on your phone.