Destination guide · South Africa
Who can visit South Africa visa-free?
Johannesburg, Cape Town, safari destinations.
86 passports get visa-free entry, 0 can get a visa on arrival, and 32 can apply for an e-visa online. The remaining 80 nationalities need a full embassy visa.
86visa-free
0visa on arrival
32e-visa
80visa required
Visa-free to South Africa
Passport holders who can enter South Africa without any prior visa application.
- Andorra 90d
- Angola 30d
- Antigua and Barbuda 30d
- Argentina 90d
- Australia 90d
- Austria 90d
- Bahamas 30d
- Barbados 30d
- Belgium 90d
- Belize 30d
- Benin 30d
- Bolivia 30d
- Botswana 90d
- Brazil 90d
- Canada 90d
- Cape Verde 30d
- Chile 90d
- Costa Rica 30d
- Cyprus 30d
- Czech Republic 90d
- Denmark 90d
- Ecuador 90d
- Finland 90d
- France 90d
- Gabon 30d
- Germany 90d
- Ghana 90d
- Greece 90d
- Guyana 30d
- Hong Kong 30d
- Hungary 30d
- Iceland 90d
- Ireland 90d
- Israel 90d
- Italy 90d
- Jamaica 90d
- Japan 90d
- Jordan 30d
- Kenya 90d
- Lesotho 30d
- Liechtenstein 90d
- Luxembourg 90d
- Macao 30d
- Madagascar 90d
- Malawi 30d
- Malaysia 90d
- Maldives 30d
- Malta 90d
- Mauritius 30d
- Monaco 90d
- Mozambique 30d
- Namibia 90d
- Netherlands 90d
- New Zealand 90d
- Norway 90d
- Palestine 90d
- Panama 90d
- Paraguay 90d
- Peru 30d
- Poland 30d
- Portugal 90d
- Qatar 90d
- Russia 90d
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 90d
- San Marino 90d
- Sao Tome and Principe 90d
- Saudi Arabia 90d
- Seychelles 30d
- Singapore 90d
- South Korea 30d
- Spain 90d
- Swaziland 30d
- Sweden 90d
- Switzerland 90d
- Tanzania 90d
- Thailand 30d
- Trinidad and Tobago 90d
- Tunisia 90d
- Turkey 30d
- United Arab Emirates 90d
- United Kingdom 90d
- United States 90d
- Uruguay 90d
- Venezuela 90d
- Zambia 90d
- Zimbabwe 90d
e-Visa for South Africa
Apply online before travel. Usually fast and cheaper than embassy visas.
Full visa required for South Africa
Passport holders who need to apply for a visa at a South Africa embassy before travel.
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brunei
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Colombia
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Iraq
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Myanmar
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Samoa
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vatican
- Vietnam
- Yemen
Frequently asked questions
Which passport holders can visit South Africa visa-free?
86 passports get visa-free access to South Africa, plus 0 more can enter with visa on arrival. See the full grouped lists above. Another 32 nationalities can apply for an e-visa online before travel.
Do I need a visa for South Africa?
It depends on your passport. Use the lists above to find yours, or try our interactive multi-passport checker if you also hold a residence permit (UAE, US Green Card, Schengen, UK, Canada) — those can unlock additional access.
What's the difference between visa-free, visa on arrival, and e-visa?
Visa-free = you walk through immigration with just your passport. Visa on arrival = you get the visa stamped at the airport / land border, usually for a small fee. e-Visa = you apply online before you travel, and receive an electronic authorization (usually within a few days). ETA = similar to e-visa but lighter-weight — a pre-registration that takes minutes.
How long can I stay in South Africa visa-free?
Day-limits vary by passport — common defaults are 30, 60, or 90 days. Where our data includes a specific day count, it's shown alongside the passport entry. Always double-check with the destination embassy, because day limits change more frequently than the visa-free status itself.
Can a residence permit help me enter South Africa?
Sometimes. Holders of UAE residence, US Green Card, Schengen residence, UK BRP, or Canadian PR can sometimes access additional countries regardless of their home passport. See our Green Card guide, Indian+UAE guide, and Schengen permit guide for details.
How accurate is this list?
Entries come from the community-maintained open-source Passport Index Dataset. It's a reasonable starting point but not individually verified — rules change frequently. Always confirm with the embassy before booking travel. For high-traffic passport-destination pairs, we re-verify against official gov sources (marked with a ✓ on individual passport pages).