Passport Information-IUP South Africa Study Abroad 2017
You will need a valid US passport to visit South Africa, Swaziland or the UK in May-June, 2017. None of these countries will require a special visa but your passport must be valid for at least 6-8 weeks past your planned return date.
Pasted below is some information that I found on a South African tourism site. I had heard this before as a rumor but had never seen it written down until now. The key sentence is the one I have pasted in large font bold type. Please read it carefully.
“More Information
“Visitors on holiday from most Commonwealth countries (including Australia and the UK), most Western European countries, Japan and the USA don’t require visas. Instead, you’ll be issued with a free entry permit on arrival, which are valid for a stay of up to 90 days. But if the date of your flight out is sooner than this, the immigration officer may use that as the date of your permit expiry, unless you request otherwise.
From June 2015, new immigration regulations require that all children aged under 18 show an unabridged birth certificate, with additional paperwork needed in some cases. Your airline will likely alert you to these new immigration regulations when you buy your flight. For further information and updates, check ( ( or with your government's travel advisory or your airline.
If you aren’t entitled to an entry permit, you’ll need to get a visa (also free) before you arrive. These aren’t issued at the borders, and must be obtained from a South African embassy or consulate in your own country. Allow several weeks for processing.
For any entry – whether you require a visa or not – you need to have at least two completely blank pages in your passport, excluding the last two pages.
Read more:
This means you will need lots of blank pages in your passport book in order to enter/leave South Africa. Don’t forget that you’ll also need pages for Swaziland and Great Britain as well.
Look at your passport carefully and if you need a new one you should order it right away.As of this year it does not appear to be possible to order extra pages for a valid US passport. You have to renew. You can renew by mail as described at this url:
You can also use on line passport expeditors such as:
You may be able to find a travel agent who can help with the renewal. Some US Post Offices (including Indiana, Blairsville and Ford City) will also help with your renewalby appointment. Cost of a renewal is $110 plus the cost of new photos.