Avoid South Africa Visa Delay and Get Your South African Visitor Visa Approved in a Few Days? Then, This Post is for You

Hello dear, have you applied for a visa to travel to South Africa and experienced the now very common South Africa Visa delay and even got denied after the long waiting period?

Have you wondered why it is becoming almost impossible to get a visa to South Africa from Nigeria? Why are Nigerians experiencing South Africa Visa delay and even worse, a very low approval rate?

And what can you do to avoid the South Africa Visa delay and ensure that you get your visa approved in record time – within a few days?

In this blog post, my goal is to shed light on all the ways you can apply for a South African Visitor Visa, what documents are required for each application method, the application fees for South African Visitor Visa, the processing times, submission centers and finally, what your best option for landing a South African Visitor Visa is so that you can avoid the South Africa Visa delay.

What is a South African Visitor Visa?

A South African Visitor Visa is simply a document indicating that you have the authority of the South African Authorities, usually the Department of Home Office or Immigration, to travel into South Africa from wherever you are or may want to travel from.

It is issued to those who are traveling for the purpose of leisurely tourism, medical tourism, visiting a family or friend, attending a short course, a quick meeting with a firm, entering into the country to sit for an exam and all such other similar reasons.

The South African Visitor Visa, when granted, does not allow for a change of Immigration status while in the country. That means, you cannot enter South Africa with a South African Visitor Visa and then proceed to do anything that a visitor visa holder is not permitted to do.

It is important to know, as with every other country and visa types, while a visa permits you to travel to a country, it does not guarantee that you will be admitted into the country. Admission into any country is solely at the discretion of the immigration officers at the point of entry.

Now that we know what a South African Visitor Visa is, what are the ways we can apply for it so that we can avoid the South African Visa delay?

What Options Do I Have to Apply for a South African Visitor Visa?

Option 1: Do It The Traditional Way Using A Visa Application Center

If you have ever heard the term “visa”, you probably already have heard the term “embassy” also.

And for most people, an embassy is the place that a visa is applied for.

However, for most countries including South Africa, visa application submissions are outsourced to VACs (Visa Application Centers).

And in the case of South Africa Visa Applications, VFS is saddled with the responsibility of receiving the applications from applicants. What this means is that if you want to through the traditional method of applying for a South African Visitor Visa, you will have to visit one of the offices of VFS. They have an office in Port Harcourt, one in Lagos and another in Abuja.

So, What are the Requirements to Apply for a South African Visitor Visa through VFS?

1. Completed South Africa Visa Application Form (BI84).
2. Two identical passport size (35mm width x45mm height) photographs on white background showing the complete face.
3. A valid international passport (validity of at least 30 days after the intended stay)
4. Copy of your international passport data page as well as copies of existing visa and previously issued visas.
5. Self-introduction letter with physical address and phone number.
6. Introduction/Recommendation letter from an Employer – where applicable.
7. Verifiable hotel reservation/bookings.
8. Copy of Yellow Fever Vaccination card – inside and outside.
9. Six months bank statement signed and stamped by the bank (or three months bank statement from your employer with bank reference letter in case your employer will be sponsoring the trip).
10. Verifiable flight booking.
11. Additionally, if you are being invited to South Africa by a friend or a family member, you will need to include the following documents in your South African Visitor Visa application; a letter of invitation from your host with physical address and phone number, utility bill as proof of residence, certified copy of your host’s means of identification (if not a citizen of South Africa, then, certified copies of international passport plus residence permit would suffice) and finally, three months bank statement of your host which must be signed and stamped by the bank’s authorities.

What is the South African Visitor Visa Application Fee If Applying Through VFS?

It is worthy of note that there are two types of fees you must pay when applying for a South African Visitor Visa through VFS and they are;

1. Visa Fee: N10,400
2. VFS Service Fee:  N29,400 if you will be submitting your application in the Lagos or Abuja office of the VFS OR N49,400 if you will be submitting at the Port Harcourt branch of VFS.

Note that these fees are non-negotiable, non-transferable and can be changed at any time without prior notice.

See the screenshot below which was taken from the VFS’ website.

Processing Time for South African Visitor Visa When Applying Through VFS

As stated on the VFS’s official website, it should take a minimum of 6 working days to process the visa. But that includes a clause that brings uncertainty to the processing time of the South African Visitor Visa application submitted through VFS. Hey, that’s not VFS’ fault as it is only a facilitator and not responsible for making visa application decisions.

See the image below.

On the other hand, the South African High Commission’s Abuja website says the processing time for a South African Visitor Visa is more than 90 days.

Now, that’s a very long time and begs the question; after all of this wait time of over 90 days, will you be granted the visa?

Sorry to burst your bubble my friend! There is never a guarantee that you will get your South African Visitor Visa approved after experiencing a 90 whole days of South African Visa delay. And to be fair, the no guarantee thing is not just about the South African Visitor visa but with pretty much every other country’s visa out there except for a few who truly are awesome to Nigerians like the Kenyan Visa/eTA that is almost guaranteed to be approved without delays at all as long as you do your application properly.

Well, now that you know about the South Africa Visa Delay through VFS, shall we look at the second and then, the third and best options we have for applying for a South African Visitor Visa?

Sure!

Option 2: Apply for South African Visitor Visa through the Online Portal for South African e-Visa

The South African Visitor eVisa is simply the same kind of travel authorization document as the vignette or sticker visa (as is popularly called in Nigeria) except that it is issued electronically and linked with your international passport or travel document.

The requirements are about the same as that applied for through VFS and the waiting time can be more than 90 days just like you were applying through VFS! However, it comes with the convenience of not having to travel to any office and not having to submit your passport to anyone since the application process is done entirely on the internet.

That’s some positive side I must confess.

Another positive side of applying for the South African Visitor eVisa online is that you do not have to pay any service fee to VFS. The government approved fee for South African Visitor eVisa is about $25 which is pretty affordable for many.

But that comes with a long wait time of over 90 days plus zero guarantee of an approval with no possibility of getting a  refund if denied the visa.

I would not want to spend an entire 3 months or even longer waiting for my visa to be approved and still be denied the visa.

So, what can I do to expedite the decision making for my visa application to as quick as less than 14 days, improve my approval chances to 99.9999% and even get a refund in the 0.00001% unlikely event that my South African Visitor Visa application is denied?

Work with Ehis Travels’ team of Experts to avoid South Africa Visa delay today.

That brings us to option 3.

Option 3: Hand Your South African Visitor Visa Application Over to Ehis Travels

Ehis Travels has a team of experts who are specialized in making successful visa applications for its clients and the South African Visitor Visa is no exception.

Let’s cut the chase.

If your goal is to get your South African Visitor Visa approved in record time and not be plagued by the avoidable South Africa Visa delay, then your best bet is to hand your South African Visitor visa application process to the team of experts at Ehis Travels.

We have successfully helped our clients get their South African Visitor visas in as little as 24 hours and in as much as 8 days. That’s the lengthiest it has taken our team at Ehis Travels to deliver the South African Visitor Visa to our clients.

So, today, if you do not want to experience the South Africa Visa delay but want to enjoy the leverage of our experts’ team’s support and reliability, then work with us. But this comes at a steep price which is well worth it if you really want to get to South Africa as soon as possible.

All you need to do is fill out the form here to register your interest and one of our team members will give you a call or send you a message on WhatsApp within 6 working hours.

The fee is N1,300,000 (1.3m) and it is refundable in the unlikely event that your visa is denied or delayed beyond 20 days. Interestingly, none of this has ever happened and will not happen in your case! Note that this payment is made in full before your application commences.

Requirements: Passport Photograph in white background, a Copy of Your International Passport Data Page and a Copy of your Yellow Fever Vaccination Card (inside and outside).

So, if you are ready to apply for your South Africa Visitor Visa now and begin packing your bags to get in the skies, fill out this form right now to begin your application process.