I hope someone can share their experience and so help me with this question..
I will be travelling to South Africa on a 90 day tourist visa from the UK on a British Passport with the intention of extending this to a further 90 days (6 months in all). I intend to book my flights 6 months apart (return flight will be 6 months after outbound journey). My question is -
Is this an issue at immigration when they see that my tourist visa is only for 90 days and my flights are booked 6 months apart?
Hope someone can help.
jch0773
1
missalaska
i don't think so as you can tell them you are intending to do an overland trip through namibia botswana wherever etc - i mean you are allowed to extend your permit so i can't see why it would be a problem.
you will probably get questioned by the airline you are flying on they'll probably tell you that you are only allowed 90 days rah rah rah - tell them the same story. i got hauled out of queue once for virgin because my flight was 1 week over the 90 days and marched off to a 'supervisor' i just showed them loads of little green stickers (temp. res. permits from SA) in my passport and said - i am aware of their immigration rules. no probs the other side was just given the 90 days.
one thing to consider that jo'burg is a bit more relaxed than cape town
you could also arm yourself with fat bank statements for extra ammo
2
jch0773
Hey, thanks for your help. On my previous 90 day visa it is actually written if you intend to extend then please apply 30 days before so I can only presume they realise that if you do extend then you will need to book your flights for the extended period.
Any other considerations you are aware of that I should take on board regarding this? I basically want to stay for 6 months and I think the easiest way is to get an extension.
Jeff
3
john_in_brum_uk
Do you mean a proper stamped visa ?
As a UK citizen I've never had a visa to vist SA ! They have always stuck a little paper 'Temporary Residence' permit in the passport and I've never been asked how long I'm staying.
4
jch0773
Hi John, Yeah i simply mean the temp. residence permit for 90 days and the fact that it can be extended for another 90 days at the Home affairs office
5
asher
If you have the time and easy access to an embassy in your home town I would suggest applying for a 6 month visa through them. Any dealings with the department of home affairs over here should be minimsed. The offices are dirty and crowded, the staff are rude and there is a huge backlog of applications for most things at the moment so you might need to wait awhile. It took me 5 months to get a work visa processed while I was here, compared with only 2 weeks for a temporary residence permit applied for from the australian embassy.
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