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As of April 1, India’s e-visa has been subdivided into three categories: e-tourist, e-business and e-medical visas. Previously an e-visa was only available for tourists but now travellers can select the appropriate e-visa.

The duration of stay for the e-visa has also been increased from 30 to 60 days, with double entry on e-tourist and e-business visas and triple entry on e-medical visas.

The window for an e-visa application has been upped from 30 days to 120 days and travellers may apply online for the e-visa a minimum four days in advance of the date of arrival.

Travellers must carry a copy of the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) during the time of travel and must confirm that the ETA status is shown as ‘granted’ on the website prior to travel.

Biometric details of the applicant will be mandatorily captured by immigration on arrival in India and agents are advised to warn their clients accordingly.

The e-visa is valid for entry through 24 designated airports: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum and Varanasi as well as three designated seaports: Cochin, Goa, Mangalore.

While direct US flights operated by SAA and Delta Air Lines are not affected by the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) ban on carrying certain electronic devices in the cabin, many SA passengers travelling via Mid-East hubs are nevertheless affected. On March 21, the DHS announced a ban on all electronic devices larger than a cellphone/ smart phone on board the aircraft in carryon luggage or other accessible property on flights from certain airports to the US.

Six airlines operating indirect services to the US out of SA use hubs included in the ban. The airlines and hubs are Emirates (DXB), Turkish Airlines (IST), Etihad (AUH), Qatar (DOH), EgyptAir (CAI) and Saudia (JED). The UK then followed with its own ban on devices larger than 16cm x 9,3cm x 1,5cm on flights from Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries that do not have services to SA. At this stage, the UK has not included flights from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. The DHS made the announcement earlier this week as a result of intelligence they received that terrorist groups were looking at innovative ways to smuggle explosive devices on board commercial flights. It is a trend rather than a specific alert and the measure is seen as an enhanced security measure. At this point it affects 10 of the 250 airports with flights into the US.

No domestic flights in the US are affected. Medical devices are excluded. In South Africa, where theft out of suitcases passing through its airports has been rampant and check-in staff routinely caution travellers to leave nothing of value in their checked-in luggage, this ban poses a particular problem. The DHS said that, as the threat picture changed, other airports and even domestic flights might be affected.

President Trump’s revised travel ban was blocked again just hours before it was due to become effective. US District Judge Derrick Watson cited “questionable evidence” that the ban was a matter of national security as argued by the US Government.

The recent order, revised from Trump’s initial order in January, planned to place a 90-day ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries and a 120-day ban on refugees. Trump said that the ruling to block the ban was an “unprecedented judicial overreach” and called it a “terrible decision”.

Quote from Travel News Weekly publication

The same goes for Russian citizens visiting South Africa.

Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete says: “It means less inconvenience, less administration when you want to travel to Russia.”

The Department of Home Affairs (DOH) has been engaging with Russia on the issue for a number of months.

Tshwete says the department believes South African travellers don’t pose many risks and should be afforded more convenient travel arrangements.

“South Africans don’t travel to countries to stay their indefinitely. We travel for visiting purposes and where we are travelling to stay for work, we travel through regular means. You don’t get many South Africans being deported back to South Africa,” he says.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has issued a statement on the matter, saying: “Under the Protocol’s provisions, citizens of Russia and South Africa travelling without the intention of working, studying or living in the other country’s territory, are free from visa requirements.”

The DOH has extended an invite to the EU and other countries with which it has a no visa requirement to reciprocate those travel arrangements.

Reciprocity is the name of the game when it comes to visa regulations, case in point being SA’s recent New Zealand travel regulations.

And as the EU contemplates ending visa-free travel for Americans, South Africans could see their European travel plans eased considerably.

The European Parliament has voted to end visa-free travel for Americans, after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania.  For now, US citizens can travel to all the aforementioned countries without a visa. But, this might soon change.

If the vote is passed, the European Commission will implement an act to bring the change into effect, after which Americans will have to apply for extra documents to enter the countries.

And while the US passport slips in its power, SA citizens are optimistic about the possibility that a proposal to relax visa requirements for South Africans may soon be a reality.

A formal proposal has been submitted and is now under consideration, according to the DHA – this after Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba announced in September last year that talks were held with the European Union Ambassador Marcus Cornaro regarding the relaxation or elimination of its visa requirements for South African passport holders.

DHA spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete says the department is now awaiting feedback on the proposal.

UK hard-pressed under Brexit

Andrew Shelton, Managing Director of Cheapflights says, “The process for South African passport holders  to obtain a visa to the EU can be costly and a time-consuming exercise. In some cases it even necessitates an internal flight as well as certain countries only have consulates in Johannesburg. So reports that the EU is considering the relaxation of visa access to member states is great news for South Africans looking to travel to these destinations.”

Shelton cautions that with the decision to exit the EU, current visa regulations for travel to the UK are unlikely to change – or at the very least, will have to be renegotiated separately, adding that with the possibility of visa free travel to the EU could see a change to South Africans’ favourite long haul destination – currently the UK according to its data.

“We’d urge South Africans to keep an eye on these developments when searching for their travel, but especially when it becomes time to actually book their flights to ensure they aren’t stung by changes to the law – in their passports or their pockets.”

US Travel ban continues despite knock in tourism 

And as visa-free travel options may decrease for US citizens, so too Trump’s travel ban has put tourism to the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Trump’s original orders temporarily blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming to the United States and put on hold the US refugee program.

The US Travel Association on Thursday, 2 March, said the Trump administration’s immigration policies are hurting tourism. The non-profit industry organisation said in a statement that there are “mounting signs” of “a broad chilling effect on demand for international travel to the United States.”

On Monday, 6 March Trump was preparing to sign a revised executive order temporarily barring the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority countries and halting the nation’s refugee program.

A White House official told AP that plans to roll out the order are on track for Monday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the order ahead of the official announcement.

What can be expected of the new US Travel ban? 

Trump administration officials have said the new order aims to overcome the legal challenges to the first. Its goal will be the same: keep would-be terrorists out of the United States while the government reviews the vetting system for refugees and visa applicants from certain parts of the world.

The revised order is expected to remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary US travel ban for 90 days. That follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider, given Iraq’s key role in fighting the Islamic State group.

The new version is also expected to remove language that would give priority to religious minorities. Critics had accused the administration of adding such language to help Christians get into the United States while excluding Muslims.

Trump signed his original executive order in late January, sparking confusion and anger as travellers were detained at US airports and barred from boarding flights at foreign airports.

The signing is expected to spark a new round of lawsuits and controversy.

South Africans travelling to Cuba via the US can no longer apply for visas at a Cuban embassy in South Africa.

The Cuban embassy in Hatfield told eTNW that the changes had been made two weeks ago for security reasons.

Agents need to advise clients who are travelling to Cuba via the US that they must apply for a visa at the airline desks in the US, regardless of the airline they travel with. Agents cannot apply for the visa on behalf of their clients, either through another Cuban embassy or a visa company.

Clients should plan their flights carefully to allow time to apply for the visas at the airline desk. The Cuban embassy in Hatfield estimates that it could take around two to three hours.

Agents should also remind clients to carry the correct documentation (such as passport and application forms, which can be found on the Embassy of Cuba in South Africa’s website) when applying for the visa.

Travellers to Cuba via other destinations will not be affected and can still apply for visas at a Cuban Embassy in South Africa.
Please contact Visalogix for further assistance.

An executive order by President Donald Trump has provoked waves of protest at US airports, where those travelling from seven majority Muslim countries have been detained or turned back.
Signed on Friday, the order has halted the US refugee programme and banned anyone from the countries – Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Syria and Libya – from travelling to the country, even if they have already been approved for a visa, have an existing visa or a green card.
But it also applies to dual citizens holding a passport for one of the seven and another country, such as Britain.

Travellers applying for visas to Belgium will soon need to lodge and pay for their applications with TLS instead of the Belgian Consulate.

A date for the changeover has not yet been set but applicants are advised to keep checking the Consulate’s website for further details, which are expected to be released in the next few days. A link to TLS’s website will also soon be available on the Consulate’s website.

Until further details are revealed, candidates should continue to apply for visas through the Consulate as normal.

On its website, the Consulate says the outsourcing of visas to TLS is expected to make it easier and faster to apply for a C-visa.

Ninety-two additional staff will be deployed at OR Tambo International Airport from December 9 to January 14. Malusi Gigaba, minister of Home Affairs, announced that the additional staff would ensure that all workstations were at 100% capacity, with all cubicles utilised to process passengers.

Funding for the additional staff came from within the department following a reprioritisation process, says the Minister. Although the DHA budgets for the high volumes of travellers during the festive and Easter seasons, the Minister says the budget is not sufficient. “We would wish, on a sustainable basis throughout the year, to increase our capacity at these ports of entry so that we can provide an enjoyable experience for travellers.”

He says the additional staff will be incorporated into a new structure of two shifts a day, which will overlap the shifts of current staff during peak periods. The first shift runs from 06h00 until 11h00, and the second shift from 16h00 until 20h00.

The Minister stresses that this is a temporary solution. “We will require a sustainable solution that appreciates that efficiency, through optimal staff capacity, needs to extend beyond the festive season.”

The DHA is also in discussions with Acsa about rearranging counters to separate South Africans, who do not need to have fingerprints taken, from foreign nationals.

It was also announced that the Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, is expected to make an announcement today (Thursday, December 8) regarding measures to ensure operational efficiency at immigration counters at OR Tambo International Airport.

While not revealing the details of the Minister’s announcement, Mkuseli Apleni, dg of the DHA, suggested that the changes would allow immigration at the airport to operate at full capacity for a limited period of time. Mkuseli confirmed that the department had written to Treasury and Acsa highlighting the shortage of resources experienced by DHA.

Following public comment received in response to the Draft First Amendment of the Immigration Regulations, 2014, the DHA plans to issue a travel advisory early in 2017, making changes to controversial elements such as the unabridged birth certificate for under-18s.

Richard Stoltz, from Immigration Services at the DHA, said that although the Immigration Advisory Board had endorsed the proposed amendments, it was inappropriate to implement the advisory prior to the peak season of global travel.  The delayed implementation will prevent last-minute interference of travellers over the peak period.

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