63 visa-free countries for South African citizens
South African citizens can enter 63 of the 210 countries we hold entry rules for without applying for a visa in advance. A further 26 issue a visa on arrival at the border. 44 can be applied for online before you travel. Every country below links to the full rule for a South Africa passport: the stay it allows, the passport validity required and any arrival registration to complete separately.
Rules last checked . Entry rules change without notice — confirm with the official government source before you book.
Now pick where you are going.
Visa-free
63Admitted on arrival with nothing applied for in advance. Passport validity and any arrival registration still apply.
- Angola30 days
- Antigua & Barbuda180 days
- Argentina90 days
- Bahamas90 days
- Barbados180 days
- BelizeVisa-free
- Benin90 days
- Bolivia90 days
- Botswana90 days
- Brazil90 days
- British Virgin Islands180 days
- Cayman Islands180 days
- Chile90 days
- Costa Rica180 days
- Dominica180 days
- Dominican Republic90 days
- Ecuador90 days
- El Salvador180 days
- Eswatini30 days
- Fiji120 days
- GabonVisa-free
- Gambia90 days
- Georgia360 days
- Grenada90 days
- Guatemala90 days
- Guyana30 days
- Haiti90 days
- Honduras90 days
- Hong Kong30 days
- JamaicaVisa-free
- Kenya90 days
- Kiribati90 days
- Lesotho90 days
- Macau30 days
- Malawi90 days
- Malaysia90 days
- Mauritius90 days
- Micronesia30 days
- Montserrat180 days
- Mozambique90 days
- Namibia90 days
- Nicaragua90 days
- PalestineVisa-free
- Panama90 days
- Paraguay90 days
- Peru90 days
- Philippines30 days
- Russia90 days
- Rwanda90 days
- Saint Lucia42 days
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines90 days
- Singapore30 days
- South Korea30 days
- Tanzania90 days
- Thailand30 days
- Togo30 days
- Trinidad and Tobago90 days
- Tunisia90 days
- Uruguay90 days
- Vanuatu120 days
- Venezuela90 days
- Zambia90 days
- Zimbabwe90 days
Visa on arrival
26Issued at the border, usually for a fee. The documents it requires are checked at the counter rather than corrected there.
- Armenia120 days
- Burundi30 days
- Cambodia30 days
- Cape Verde30 days
- Comoros45 days
- Djibouti30 days
- Egypt30 days
- Ethiopia90 days
- Guinea-Bissau90 days
- Indonesia30 days
- Jordan30 days
- Kyrgyzstan30 days
- Madagascar90 days
- Maldives30 days
- Marshall Islands90 days
- Nepal150 days
- Oman14 days
- Palau30 days
- Qatar90 days
- Samoa90 days
- Saudi Arabia90 days
- Senegal30 days
- Sierra Leone30 days
- Tajikistan45 days
- Timor-Leste30 days
- Tuvalu30 days
e-Visa
36Applied for and approved online before you travel, with no embassy appointment.
- Afghanistan30 days
- Albania90 days
- Anguilla90 days
- Azerbaijan30 days
- Bahrain30 days
- Bhutan90 days
- Burkina Faso90 days
- Chad90 days
- Colombia30 days
- Cote d'Ivoire90 days
- Cuba90 days
- DR Congo7 days
- Equatorial Guineae-Visa
- Guinea90 days
- India30 days
- Iran30 days
- Iraq30 days
- Japan90 days
- Laos30 days
- Libyae-Visa
- Mauritania90 days
- Moldova90 days
- Mongolia30 days
- Myanmar28 days
- Nigeria30 days
- Pakistan30 days
- Sao Tome and Principe30 days
- Somalia30 days
- South Sudan30 days
- Suriname90 days
- Syria30 days
- Turkey90 days
- Turkmenistane-Visa
- Uganda90 days
- Ukraine30 days
- Vietnam90 days
Visa required in advance
79Apply before you travel. Some of these start online and still involve biometrics, an appointment and several weeks, so open the country for the detail.
- AlgeriaVisa required
- AndorraVisa required
- ArubaVisa required
- AustraliaVisa (apply online)
- AustriaVisa required
- BangladeshVisa required
- BelarusVisa required
- BelgiumVisa required
- BermudaVisa required
- Bosnia & HerzegovinaVisa required
- BruneiVisa required
- BulgariaVisa required
- Cameroon180 days
- CanadaVisa required
- Central African RepublicVisa required
- ChinaVisa required
- CroatiaVisa required
- CuracaoVisa required
- CyprusVisa required
- Czech RepublicVisa required
- DenmarkVisa required
- EritreaVisa required
- EstoniaVisa required
- FinlandVisa required
- FranceVisa required
- GermanyVisa required
- GreeceVisa required
- GuadeloupeVisa required
- HungaryVisa required
- IcelandVisa required
- IrelandVisa (apply online)
- ItalyVisa required
- Kazakhstan90 days
- KosovoVisa required
- KuwaitVisa required
- LatviaVisa required
- LebanonVisa required
- LiberiaVisa required
- LiechtensteinVisa required
- LithuaniaVisa required
- LuxembourgVisa required
- MaliVisa required
- MaltaVisa required
- MartiniqueVisa required
- MexicoVisa required
- MonacoVisa required
- MontenegroVisa required
- MoroccoVisa required
- NauruVisa required
- NetherlandsVisa required
- New Zealand180 days
- NigerVisa required
- North KoreaVisa required
- North MacedoniaVisa required
- NorwayVisa required
- PolandVisa required
- PortugalVisa required
- Republic of the CongoVisa required
- RomaniaVisa required
- Saint MartinVisa required
- San MarinoVisa required
- Serbia90 days
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part)Visa required
- SlovakiaVisa required
- SloveniaVisa required
- Solomon IslandsVisa required
- SpainVisa required
- SudanVisa required
- SwedenVisa required
- SwitzerlandVisa required
- TaiwanVisa required
- TongaVisa required
- Turks and Caicos IslandsVisa required
- UAEVisa (apply online)
- United Kingdom180 days
- United StatesVisa required
- UzbekistanVisa required
- Vatican CityVisa required
- YemenVisa required
Common questions
Travelling on a South Africa passport, answered from the same rules listed above.
63, out of the 210 countries covered here. That counts destinations admitting a South Africa passport with nothing applied for in advance. It does not count the 26 that issue a visa at the border or the 36 with an e-visa, which are listed separately below.
Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin and Bolivia and 55 more, grouped in the list above by what each one asks for. Every country links to the exact rule, because the stay a visa-free entry allows ranges widely between them.
26 of the 210 listed, including Armenia, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt and Ethiopia. A visa on arrival is issued at the border, and the fee and documents it requires are checked at the counter rather than corrected there.
36 of the 210 listed, including Afghanistan, Albania, Anguilla, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Burkina Faso and Chad. An e-visa is applied for and approved online before you travel, with no embassy appointment.
Yes, for Ghana, Israel, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. A travel authorisation is not a visa — it is an online pre-screening of travellers who already need no visa — but it must be approved before you board, and an airline will refuse check-in without it.
Yes. Every Schengen country in this list requires a visa for a South Africa passport. One short-stay Schengen visa covers all 29 members, so you apply once — to the country you will spend the most time in — rather than per destination.
Other passports
The same question on a different nationality. Rules differ sharply between passports, so check the one you will actually travel on.
- Lithuania
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- United States
- France
- Poland
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Italy
- Brazil
- India
- China
- Turkey
- Nigeria
- Philippines
- Pakistan
- Bangladesh
- Indonesia
- Egypt
- Vietnam
Check any passport against any destination