Travelers from many non-EU countries require a Schengen visa to enter the Zone. Citizens of China, India, and other countries require a Schengen visa to travel to any country in the Schengen Area (such as France or Italy, for example).
If you hold a passport from the US, UK, or another visa-exempt nation, you won’t need one for short trips.

How is the Schengen visa application process changing?

The European Union is introducing the EU Visa Application Platform (EU VAP), an online platform that will digitize the visa application process. With EU VAP, travelers will be able to:
•    Apply for Schengen visas online.
•    Upload supporting documents digitally.
•    Track application progress through a unified portal.
The majority of the application process will take place online with one exception: biometrics will still need to be submitted in person. While it won’t be up and running in 2025, EU VAP is currently being developed and is expected to be fully operational by 2030.
Additionally, Schengen visas will no longer be stamped into traveler’s passports. They will be digital.
How to apply for a Schengen visa in 2025
The Schengen visa application process hasn’t gone online quite yet, however.

Make a plan
You’ll need to apply for a specific country within the zone. If you’re planning to travel to Paris, for example, you’ll need to apply for a Schengen visa through France.
Find your local visa application center
Most consulates/embassies outsource visa processing to a partner such as TLScontact, VFS Global, and more. Locate the center nearest to you and review their requirements.

Prepare your application
Compile required documents, including:
•    A completed Schengen visa application form.
•    A valid passport (with at least two blank pages and three months’ validity post-trip).
•    Recent passport-sized photographs.
•    Proof of Schengen-compliant travel insurance covering at least €30,000 for medical emergencies.
•    Flight and accommodation bookings.
•    Financial proof.
Other documents may be requested, so always check with your visa center or consulate.

Book an appointment
In 2025, in-person appointments are mandatory for applicants. Appointments fill up quickly, so book them as early as possible, especially during the peak season.

Attend your appointment and submit your application
At your scheduled appointment, you’ll need to bring physical originals/copies. A visa officer will review your file to ensure it’s complete and collect your biometrics (fingerprints, unless you have already submitted them in the past 59 months). You’ll submit your application for processing at this time.

Track its progress and receive an answer
Processing depends on a variety of factors but typically does not exceed 15 business days. Long-stay visa applications can take longer to process (1 month or more).

Visa Checker and On-line Application
Find Visa information for all countries and apply today. Focus on your trip, not paperwork. Let us help you easily get your travel documents.

Visa Requirements for South Africa
The following information is extracted from the latest South African Department of Foreign Affairs visa requirements publication.
The information we provide is a simplified and shortened version of the information available from South African Department of Foreign Affairs and will cover most cases. For more details and more complex requirements you can visit the South African Department of Foreign Affairs website.

General information about South African Visas
Visitors’ visas are for international travellers (citizens of other countries) who have permanent residence outside South Africa and who wish to visit the country on a temporary basis for tourism or business purposes for a period of 90 days or less.
A visa simply indicates that your application has been reviewed at a South African embassy, mission or consulate and that the consular officer has determined you are eligible to enter the country for a specific purpose.

The visa will allow you to travel to a South African port of entry where an immigration official will then determine if you are allowed to enter South Africa and for how long you can stay for that particular visit. Visitors are restricted to the activity or reason for which their visas were issued.

On entry to South Africa, a visa is considered to be a visitor's permit. The permit’s period of validity is calculated from the date of entry into the country and will be set out under the heading "conditions" on the visa label. You must ensure that you apply for the correct visa/permit. Entry in the country may be refused if the purpose of visit was not correctly stated.

Requirements for visitor’s visas differ from country to country (see current list below) and the requirements are subject to change. As each application is treated as an individual case and you should make enquiries with your nearest South African mission or consulate abroad or any office of the Department of Home Affairs to see whether or not you are required to apply for a visa.
Remember that there is a fee charged for issuing a visa, and you should check the cost with the office as well as this is updated annually. The fee is payable in different currencies in different countries.

Visas are not issued at South African ports of entry, and airline officials are obliged to insist on visas before allowing passengers to board. If you arrive without a visa, immigration officials are obliged to put you onto a flight back to your home country.
Foreigners with long term status (work permits/permit residence) in the neighbouring countries who transit the Republic to return to their employment or residence are not subject to the transit visa, provided they are in possession of proof of their status.

Requirements and Documentation
South African visitors’ visas may be granted for the following reasons or purposes:
•    Visits to family or friends and also for tourism purposes.
•    Business purposes.
•    Spouse to join a spouse who is in South Africa on a work or study permit.
•    Children to join parents who are in South Africa on work or study permits.
•    Fiancée/ fiancé to join his or her partner with the intension of marrying within 90 days.
•    Study purposes (max stay 3-months).
•    Charitable or voluntary activities.
•    Research.
•    Conferences.
•    To work in the production of an movie or show (i.e. in the entertainment industry).
•    For medical purposes (max stay 3-months).
•    Sport events.
Documents required to apply for a visa:
•    A passport or travel document valid for no less than 30 days after the expiry of your intended visit. Your passport must have at least one unused page for entry/departure endorsements.
•    A completed Form BI-84 (application for a visa).
•    Payment of the prescribed fee.
•    A yellow-fever vaccination certificate (if required).
•    Statement and/or documentation confirming the purpose and duration of your visit.
•    Two colour passport photographs.
•    A return or onward ticket if you are travelling by air.
•    If you have children (minors) travelling with you or joining in South Africa, you will need to provide the following additional documents.
•    Proof of guardianship or custody or Consent from the guardian in the case of an unaccompanied minor.
•    Proof of financial means to pay for your living expenses while in South Africa in the form of: Bank statements, Salary advances, 

Undertakings by the host(s) in South Africa, Bursary, Medical cover or Cash available (including credit cards and travellers’ cheques).

Entry Visa Exemption Countries
Countries exempt from South African Visas for visits up to 90 days duration:
African Union Laissez Passer, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Malta, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, British Islands Bailiwick of Guernsey and Jersey, Isle of Man. British Oversees Territories, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

“Our commitment to digital transformation and embracing technology is absolute,” Schreiber said at the launch.
The first set of drones will specifically be deployed to five ports of entry throughout the festive period, the minister said, giving the department “eyes in the sky” to track and apprehend illegal immigrants.

December and January are the peak periods in terms of movement into and out of South African ports of entry, the department noted.
“No longer will it be the case that people can move around without us having eyes on them. We want to send a very clear message to people who want to violate South Africa’s emigration laws: for the very first time, you won’t even know that we are seeing you.
“We are above you, we are around you, and we are watching for infringements along the borderline,” he said.

In addition to the drones, the Department is also implementing the use of body cameras and so-called ‘deportation buses’.
The minister said the cameras will help clamp down on corruption and ensure the safety of officials, including border guards and the defence force.

The buses, meanwhile, will be out on the roads, transporting illegal immigrants caught crossing the border back over.
“We welcome any traveller, any investor, any tourist, any skilled person who will follow our laws and help us build South Africa. But that is different from people who violate our law and don’t want to comply with our rules,” the minister said.
“You will find we have a renewed commitment to enforcing the rule of law in South Africa. That is how you create a secure country.”
The minister noted that the buses have already deported the first group of 290 illegal miners back to Mozambique.
Schreiber said this was just the start of the BMA’s use of this technology and that South Africans should expect it to expand “dramatically” in the future

People waiting in long lines outside the VFS Global office in Cape Town on Thursday. On Friday morning, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber extended the validity of the original Zimbabwe Exemption Permit to November 2025. Photo: Matthew Hirsch
•    Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber extended the validity of the original Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) to 28 November 2025.
•    The validity of the original ZEP was meant to end on Friday, 29 November 2024.
•    This caused panic among thousands of people trying to remain legally in the country who, frustrated by long queues and challenges with the appointment booking system, have been struggling to meet the deadline.
•    Schreiber stated that during this extension period holders of ZEPs may not be arrested or deported.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has stepped in at the eleventh hour on Friday morning to extend the validity of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).

This comes as the ZEP was meant to expire on Friday, causing panic among thousands of people trying to remain legally in the country.

In the government gazette on 29 November, Schreiber said that the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit would remain valid until 28 November 2025 “in order for me to fulfill the duty placed on me by the Gauteng High Court to consult the affected ZEP holders and all other stakeholders on the future of the current dispensation”.

He was referring to a court ruling, previously reported by GroundUp.
Schreiber stated that the Immigration Advisory Board would once again be activated to advise the department on ways to comply with the High Court order on the future of the ZEP.

He further stated that “no holder of a ZEP may be arrested, ordered to depart or be detained for deportation or deported in terms of section 34 of the Immigration Act for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate”.
Holders of an exemption certificate will be allowed to travel in and out of the country, “provided that he or she complies with all other requirements for entry into and departure, save for the reason of not having a valid visa endorsed in his or her passport”.

Long queues
As news of the extension broke on Friday, many ZEP holders were still stuck in long queues outside VFS Global offices in Cape Town and Gqeberha in a desperate bid to apply for waivers to remain in South Africa when their ZEPs expire. VFS is the service provider for the Department of Home Affairs.

Outside the office in Cape Town on Thursday, just after 6am the queue was already snaking around the building.
Many people in line told GroundUp they had spent days at VFS offices to collect or query their applications to remain in South Africa. People complained about the functionality of the VFS online booking system.

A sign outside the VFS office said it would be open on Saturday for people to collect their waivers.
At the Gqeberha VFS Global office in Walmer on Friday morning lines remained long with about 80 people still queueing at 10am.
A mother of three, who is a ZEP holder, said she had travelled from Cradock and was told to return on Friday morning.
“I live far away and have no friends here … I am in limbo because I have to ensure I stay legally in this country given the constant arrests by immigration officials,” she said.

A mother and a son from Cleary Park, turned away on Thursday, said they had been trying to book an appointment for the past month without success.

“We did our best to make online appointments. At first, I thought maybe my son did not know the system. Then we went to seek assistance from an internet cafe only to see that it was the same,” she said.

Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network Chris Mapingure said, “We’re not happy with the way Home Affairs has been treating people wanting to extend their permits through VFS. During the month, desperate people approached us for assistance because they had difficulty booking appointments.”
He said they had pleaded with the Home Affairs to extend the grace period to allow for everyone to be assisted.

At around 12.55 on Tuesday afternoon, the lights flickered and then failed across Zimbabwe and Zambia. This synchronised blackout, the second in recent weeks, was triggered by cascading failures in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) — a cooperative framework meant to bolster regional energy resilience.
Towards the end of November, another such blackout occurred which was attributed to “an unexpected development on the Zambia-Zimbabwe interconnector”.

The National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) — a wholly owned subsidiary of Eskom — told Daily Maverick that Tuesday’s incident was not a “power surge”, but rather an “incident, event or fault”.
“The tripping of lines occurs automatically to protect the power system and power equipment, and it is misleading to suggest that Eskom took a decision to disconnect the SAPP region.”

While this measure prevented potential damage within South Africa, it intensified cascading failures that left Zimbabwe and Zambia powerless. The incidents occurred when the lines between Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe tripped.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) said an “imbalance in power on the international connections” caused the blackout.

In a statement, the ZETDC said, “[Zimbabwe Electricity Supply] Holdings would like to advise its valued customers that the national grid experienced a system disturbance which resulted in a national blackout on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at 1255 hours. This incident was caused by an imbalance in power on the international connections which affected the national grid of Zimbabwe and some parts of the region.

“Restoration to most parts of the country has been completed, except for areas under load shedding.”
The incident is being investigated by the SAPP Coordination Centre based in Harare.
The Lusaka Times reported that on Monday, a day before the blackout, Zimbabwe’s power generation plummeted to its lowest level in more than 12 months, with daily electricity production hitting 736MW. For context, just one of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station’s two units can produce 970MW.

Eskom is Africa’s largest electricity producer, supplying nearly 30% of the continent’s power. Accordingly, it plays a critical role in the SAPP.
Complementing this is the NTCSA, which operates under a National Energy Regulator of South Africa-issued licence which allows the NTCSA to manage imports, exports and the trade of electricity within the SAPP, ensuring the interconnected grid functions smoothly and efficiently.