Good news for foreign tourists – the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) tasked with reviewing South Africa’s immigration regulations has recommended that biometric visa applications be made on arrival in South Africa. Accredited international travel agents will be able to make visa applications on their clients’ behalf, negating the need for in-person applications.
Also, foreign minors will no longer be required to produce an unabridged birth certificate when travelling to and from SA.
Meanwhile, South African children under the age of 18 will still be required to travel with an unabridged birth certificate, but the term “unabridged birth certificate” will be changed to “birth certificate containing parental details”. The wording will be changed to "address confusion", the committee said.
The recommendations have been approved by Cabinet.
Speaking to the media this morning, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said he supported the recommendations and believed they would deal with the issues that the regulations had raised.
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