South African travel requirement

[rgsaero]

A friend of mine who is widely travelled - including many visits to SA – was an intending traveller on Saturday.

On arrival at Virgin’s Upper Class check in he was informed that he could not travel as his passport did not have two completely clean visa pages in it. He pointed out a number of pages each with only one small stamp, but no, he was refused boarding! They said that he would be refused admittance and they would have to fly him back again!

This is a new one to me – as it was to him! Major disruption to business journey ensued….. Glad it’s not on my upcoming travel list anytime soon…..


Does BA operate the same constraint?

[Jarvy]

Thats the advice from the Foreign Office, two clear pages

[Tableview]

Not a new requirement at all, but one often not enforced. Nothing to do with the airline, it's a requirement imposed on the carrier by the SA authorities and published in TIMATIC, although it states ONE page. I recall that for a long time it was 2 pages but the majority of sources now say one.

As TIMATIC, which says one free page, is the authoritative source, I would say your friend has a sound case to pursue against the airline for refusing to allow him to travel.

PASSPORTS AND PASSPORT REPLACING DOCUMENTS OF ALL NON-SOUTH
AFRICAN NATIONALS MUST CONTAIN AT LEAST 1 UNUSED VISA PAGE
FOR ENTRY/DEPARTURE ENDORSEMENTS BY SOUTH AFRICAN
IMMIGRATION SERVICE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE

and the SA info site says :
What are the requirements for entering South Africa?


A valid acceptable passport or travel document good for a sufficient period to cover your intended stay.



A valid visa, if required.
Sufficient funds.
A return or onward ticket.
At least two blank pages in your passport.
Yellow fever certificates are required if the journey starts or entails passing through the yellow fever belt of Africa or South America.


THE PAGE RESERVED FOR "OBSERVATIONS" OR "AMENDMENTS AND
ENDORSEMENTS".

FCO says :

Entry Requirements - Passport validity
You must hold a valid passport to enter South Africa. Your passport must be valid for a minimum period of 30 days from the date of exit from South Africa. South African authorities state officially that only one blank passport page is required for entry. However, visitors have been refused entry and sent back to the UK as some officials are insisting on two blank pages. We advise that you have two blank pages in your passport on arrival.


The SA HC page says :
The maximum period that United Kingdom passport holders may be admitted by the immigration officer is 90 days. The basic requirements that may be requested by the immigration officer at the place/port of entry are the following:


Passport valid for no less than 30 days after the expiry of intended visit
Your passport must have a blank visa page

P.S. : Just rang my 'contact' who deals with this type of thing and she hesitated and then said : "Officially it's one but a lot of check in agents insist on two."

[rgsaero]

Thanks All, particularly Tableview.

Seems, then that even the "official" South African advice is somewhat confused, depending where one gets it from!

All this passed on the the unfortunate traveller, who had to schlepp up to Darlington (?) to get a new passport over the weekend and then back to London again....

[PAXboy]

rgsaero even the "official" South African advice is somewhat confused,
In most walks of life, in most countries 'official' advice is somewhat confused ... :hmm:

[edi_local]

It is meant to be 2 pages as far as I am aware. The airline is well within its rights to deny travel if a passenger does not have the correct documentation that they have been told to accept.

TIMATC, while a great little tool, is, unfortunately out of date some times as the relevant authorities don't always update it. For example it states I can just get a North Korean visa and proof of onward travel and I'll be allowed in...not quite. ;)

VS have perhaps had a lot of passengers denied entry recently for not having a blank page so they are right to be cautious. A denied entry is not cheap for the airline/handling agent and not exactly pleasant for the passenger.

For what it's worth, before my trip to SA in 2011 I was advised to have 2 blank pages. I had several blank pages, so was fine. I was under the impression this was for visa stamps or possibly even a visa sticker I have seen on many passports which have been to SA. Upon arrival my entry stamp from JNB was placed on page 2, below several other entry stamps from various places (border guards seem to love page 2 of my passport) and my exit stamp 2 weeks later was placed on page 26, again, right in between two USA stamps. Why I needed 2 blank pages is beyond me as no sticker was even put in my passport and clearly the two stamps are not together.

[PAXboy]

edi_local My experience exactly. I've been landing at JNB for 45+ years and (under all regimes!) the official just flips to the first bit of free space they can see that's big enough - and whacks the stamp or the sticker on. :hmm: