Visa Free Countries for South Africa

So you have booked your flights and accommodation but then you remember that the country you want to visit requires a visa. And you are going to have to budget a bit more. One of these additional costs to incorporate when planning your travels is a visa/ visas. These costs can range from a few hundred rands to much much more depending on the destination. country. Therefore you would prefer to visit a visa-free country to save you some rands. So why not skip that process entirely and visit a visa-free country instead. These are some of the visa-free countries for South Africa to visit.

According to the passport index, the South African Passport has a mobility score of 94 and a global rank of 46. And this, therefore, means that a South African passport holder can enter 51 countries visa-free, 39 countries on a visa-on-arrival/e-visa, and 4 eta. There are also about 104 countries that require South Africans to have a visa for entry.

Planes — Zambia – Botswana Border Crossing

Accordingly, the visa-free countries can be broken down into their respective Continents as follows:

Africa

Angola
Benin
Botswana
Eswatini
Gambia
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Tanzania
Tunisia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Asia

Israel
Palestinian Territories
Qatar
Thailand

Caribbean & Oceania

Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Fiji
Grenada
Haiti
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago

Europe

Georgia
Ireland
Kosovo
Russian Federation

South America

Argentina
Belize
Brazil
Chile
Costa Rica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela

As the visa-free countries for South Africa constantly change and coupled with the pandemic and travel-bans, it’s advisable that you regularly check which countries are allowing entry. And the Passport Index https://www.passportindex.org/?country=za is a great place to get all this information as it is constantly updated.

What does it mean to travel to a visa-free country?

Basically, if you decide to travel to a visa-free country you do not have to go through the process of applying for a visa. In other words, South Africa and that country have relations that allow South African citizens to enter that country visa-free. This is great because it saves you money since some visas can be expensive especially for a single-entry. And secondly, if it is a last-minute trip you will have no issues visiting as the visa process usually takes around a week or more, depending on the destination. In addition, you are able to visit the country multiple times and do not require a visa on each visit.

Therefore visiting visa-free countries is definitely something which I love to do. As a result, I have visited six visa-free countries all surrounding South Africa because of the close proximity as well as the fact that I did not require a visa. And these were mainly last-minute trips so there was no time for applying for visas. I simply booked accommodation and drove to the country therefore these countries are easier to visit. You can read about what these countries have to offer and consequently their itineraries under the different country tabs.

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So which visa-free country will you travel to? Also what visa-free country have you visited already?

If you enjoyed this post, check out the post on the South African Passport Application process which can help you make that application process for a passport simpler.