🇿🇦 South Africa visa requirements by nationality
As of 2026, 85 of the world’s 198 passports can enter South Africa without applying for a visa in advance: 85 visa-free, 1 with a visa on arrival and 0 with an electronic travel authorisation. A further 32 can apply online before travelling, and 80 must obtain a visa from an embassy or consulate.
Visa-free access to South Africa by continent
All passports and their South Africa status
- AfghanistanVisa required
- Albaniae-Visa
- Algeriae-Visa
- AndorraVisa-free · 90d
- AngolaVisa-free · 30d
- Antigua & BarbudaVisa-free · 30d
- ArgentinaVisa-free · 90d
- ArmeniaVisa required
- AustraliaVisa-free · 90d
- AustriaVisa-free · 90d
- AzerbaijanVisa required
- BahamasVisa-free · 30d
- BahrainVisa required
- BangladeshVisa required
- BarbadosVisa-free · 30d
- Belaruse-Visa
- BelgiumVisa-free · 90d
- BelizeVisa-free · 30d
- BeninVisa-free · 30d
- BhutanVisa required
- BoliviaVisa-free · 30d
- Bosnia & HerzegovinaVisa required
- BotswanaVisa-free · 90d
- BrazilVisa-free · 90d
- BruneiVisa required
- Bulgariae-Visa
- Burkina FasoVisa required
- BurundiVisa required
- CambodiaVisa required
- Cameroone-Visa
- CanadaVisa-free · 90d
- Cape VerdeVisa-free · 30d
- Central African RepublicVisa required
- ChadVisa required
- ChileVisa-free · 90d
- Chinae-Visa
- ColombiaVisa required
- Comorose-Visa
- Congo - Brazzavillee-Visa
- Congo - Kinshasae-Visa
- Costa RicaVisa-free · 30d
- Côte d’Ivoiree-Visa
- Croatiae-Visa
- Cubae-Visa
- CyprusVisa-free · 30d
- CzechiaVisa-free · 90d
- DenmarkVisa-free · 90d
- DjiboutiVisa required
- DominicaVisa required
- Dominican RepublicVisa required
- EcuadorVisa-free · 90d
- Egypte-Visa
- El SalvadorVisa required
- Equatorial GuineaVisa required
- EritreaVisa required
- EstoniaVisa required
- EswatiniVisa-free · 30d
- Ethiopiae-Visa
- FijiVisa required
- FinlandVisa-free · 90d
- FranceVisa-free · 90d
- GabonVisa-free · 30d
- GambiaVisa required
- GeorgiaVisa required
- GermanyVisa-free · 90d
- GhanaVisa-free · 90d
- GreeceVisa-free · 90d
- GrenadaVisa required
- GuatemalaVisa required
- Guineae-Visa
- Guinea-BissauVisa required
- GuyanaVisa-free · 30d
- HaitiVisa required
- HondurasVisa required
- Hong Kong SAR ChinaVisa-free · 30d
- HungaryVisa-free · 30d
- IcelandVisa-free · 90d
- Indiae-Visa
- Indonesiae-Visa
- Irane-Visa
- IraqVisa required
- IrelandVisa-free · 90d
- IsraelVisa-free · 90d
- ItalyVisa-free · 90d
- JamaicaVisa-free · 90d
- JapanVisa-free · 90d
- JordanVisa-free · 30d
- KazakhstanVisa required
- KenyaVisa-free · 90d
- KiribatiVisa required
- KosovoVisa required
- KuwaitVisa required
- KyrgyzstanVisa required
- LaosVisa required
- LatviaVisa required
- LebanonVisa required
- LesothoVisa-free · 30d
- Liberiae-Visa
- LibyaVisa required
- LiechtensteinVisa-free · 90d
- Lithuaniae-Visa
- LuxembourgVisa-free · 90d
- Macao SAR ChinaVisa-free · 30d
- MadagascarVisa-free · 90d
- MalawiVisa-free · 30d
- MalaysiaVisa-free · 90d
- MaldivesVisa-free · 30d
- Malie-Visa
- MaltaVisa-free · 90d
- Marshall IslandsVisa required
- MauritaniaVisa required
- MauritiusVisa-free · 30d
- Mexicoe-Visa
- MicronesiaVisa required
- MoldovaVisa required
- MonacoVisa-free · 90d
- MongoliaVisa required
- MontenegroVisa required
- Moroccoe-Visa
- MozambiqueVisa-free · 30d
- Myanmar (Burma)Visa required
- NamibiaVisa-free · 90d
- NauruVisa required
- NepalVisa required
- NetherlandsVisa-free · 90d
- New ZealandVisa-free · 90d
- NicaraguaVisa required
- Nigere-Visa
- Nigeriae-Visa
- North KoreaVisa required
- North MacedoniaVisa required
- NorwayVisa-free · 90d
- Omane-Visa
- Pakistane-Visa
- PalauVisa required
- Palestinian TerritoriesVisa-free · 90d
- PanamaVisa-free · 90d
- Papua New GuineaVisa required
- ParaguayVisa-free · 90d
- PeruVisa-free · 30d
- Philippinese-Visa
- PolandVisa-free · 30d
- PortugalVisa-free · 90d
- QatarVisa-free · 90d
- Romaniae-Visa
- RussiaVisa-free · 90d
- RwandaVisa required
- SamoaVisa required
- San MarinoVisa-free · 90d
- São Tomé & PríncipeVisa-free · 90d
- Saudi ArabiaVisa-free · 90d
- Senegale-Visa
- SerbiaVisa required
- SeychellesVisa-free · 30d
- Sierra LeoneVisa required
- SingaporeVisa-free · 90d
- Slovakiae-Visa
- SloveniaVisa required
- Solomon IslandsVisa required
- SomaliaVisa required
- South KoreaVisa-free · 30d
- South SudanVisa required
- SpainVisa-free · 90d
- Sri LankaVisa required
- St. Kitts & NevisVisa required
- St. LuciaVisa required
- St. Vincent & GrenadinesVisa-free · 90d
- SudanVisa required
- SurinameVisa required
- SwedenVisa-free · 90d
- SwitzerlandVisa-free · 90d
- SyriaVisa required
- TaiwanVisa required
- TajikistanVisa required
- TanzaniaVisa-free · 90d
- ThailandVisa-free · 30d
- Timor-LesteVisa required
- TogoVisa required
- TongaVisa required
- Trinidad & TobagoVisa-free · 90d
- TunisiaVisa-free · 90d
- TürkiyeVisa on arrival · 30d
- TurkmenistanVisa required
- TuvaluVisa required
- Ugandae-Visa
- UkraineVisa required
- United Arab EmiratesVisa-free · 90d
- United KingdomVisa-free · 90d
- United StatesVisa-free · 90d
- UruguayVisa-free · 90d
- UzbekistanVisa required
- VanuatuVisa required
- Vatican CityVisa required
- VenezuelaVisa-free · 90d
- VietnamVisa required
- YemenVisa required
- ZambiaVisa-free · 90d
- ZimbabweVisa-free · 90d
Our route guides that pass through South Africa
Frequently Asked Questions
How many countries can enter South Africa without a visa?
85 passports enter South Africa visa-free, 1 receive a visa on arrival and 0 use an electronic travel authorisation — 198 passports in total are covered here. 32 more can apply for an e-visa online.
Does this page tell me whether I need a visa for South Africa?
Yes, if you tell us your passport. Pick your passport once and every page on this site answers for it. We never assume your nationality silently: when a passport is guessed from your device it is labelled as a guess.
Is this information official?
Partly. Where we have an official government source for a passport we use it and say so on the page. Everything else comes from an open, community-maintained dataset and is guidance for planning, not legal advice. Visa rules change without notice; confirm with the destination’s own authority before booking.
Data last rebuilt 2026-08-26. Official government data is used for these passports: TR; all others come from the open passport-index dataset and are guidance only — confirm with an official source before you travel.
Important: this content is general information
Visa rules can change without notice. Always confirm your situation with an official source before you travel: Also check with the embassy or consulate of your destination country in your own country. The information on this page is guidance, not legal advice.