Dubai News
Dubai will not be issuing visas on the 5th, 6th and 7th of May 2016 due to public holidays
European Union
EU expansion: Which countries are waiting to JOIN?
As Brexit campaigners battle for Britain to leave the EU, here is a look at the countries that are waiting to join.
Who will join the EU next? Vote Leave research shows Britain has to pay £1.8bn to help expand the EU
Which countries are waiting to join the EU?
Turkey and the Balkan states of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania are now waiting in line to join the EU.
The EU has now promised to “re-energise” Turkey’s bid to join in return for helping to deal with the ongoing migrant crisis.
Turkey, which has 75 million citizens, first applied to join what was then the European Economic Community back in 1987.
Migrant crisis: EU Commission ‘to back’ Turkey visa deal
The European Commission will back visa-free travel for Turkish citizens inside Europe’s passport-free Schengen area, sources have told the BBC.
Visa liberalisation was offered in return for Turkey taking back migrants who crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece.
But Turkey must still meet EU criteria, and the visa deal needs approval by the European Parliament and member states.
The EU fears that without this deal, Turkey will not control migration.
The waiver would scrap the requirement for Turks to get a three-month, short-stay Schengen visa, for tourism or business trips. But it will not grant Turks the right to get a job in Europe.
The UK, Ireland and Cyprus are not in Schengen, so they will keep the visa requirement for Turkey.
Turkey has threatened to stop taking back migrants from Greece if the EU fails to deliver on visa liberalisation.
A long-running dispute with Cyprus is a major stumbling block in Turkey’s bid to join the EU, not least because Ankara does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member.
Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus does not have international recognition.
But a Turkish official, quoted by Reuters news agency, said a visa deal with the EU would also mean Turkey scrapping its visa requirement for Greek Cypriots.
The large influx of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe from Turkey, and from North Africa, has caused a political crisis among EU states.
Kenya & Rwanda Yellow Fever Certificates
With immediate effect, the Government of Kenya and Rwanda through the Ministers of Health is requesting of yellow fever vaccination certificate from all passengers travelling to Rwanda as well as Kenya.
Morocco news update
Please note that only 1 set of documents need to be submitted as to the previous 2 sets for your tourist & business visas.
Belarus news update
The Belarus Embassy has moved to
164 Orion Avenue
Sterrewag
Pretoria, 0181
Telephone and fax numbers remain the same
Email address has changed to : consul.rsa@mfa.gov.by
RSA Consular office in Ghana
Please be informed that Togolese residents and other nationals residing in Togo can no longer apply for a South African Visa in Ghana.
Published on 15 April 2016
Ghana & Mauritius waive visa requirements
Ghana and Mauritius have agreed to waive visa requirements for holders of each other’s national passports. It follows the signing of an agreement on mutual visa waiver exemption in Port Louis yesterday as part of the 3-day state visit of President John Mahama.
The agreement allows all Ghanaians, including holders of ordinary Ghanaian passports to enter into Mauritius without any visa restrictions. The same courtesies will be extended to Mauritius nationals coming to Ghana.
Speaking at a ceremony at the Prime Minister’s office after the signing of the agreement and bilateral talks with Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President Mahama said his visit to Mauritius “begins a process that will crown our years of collaboration and discussions at the highest level towards strengthening bilateral, trade and political cooperation between our two countries.”
The two leaders discussed a number of issues including the collaboration of the two countries on international issues and developments including climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals and terrorism.
The meetings with the Prime Minister and earlier with the President of Mauritius, President Mahama noted, allowed the two countries to explore further a number of mutually beneficial opportunities for the people and businesses from Ghana and Mauritius.
“We should out of these visits and the successful signing of this afternoon’s agreements see investments and partnerships in the agricultural sector, especially in sugarcane and sugar production, textiles, the financial sector and ICT in Ghana.”
President Mahama welcomed the decision of the Mauritius government to invest US$250 million in an ICT Enclave in Tema, through the Mauritius Board for Investment, in partnership with the Government of Ghana.
The project will create in excess of 5000 direct jobs for young graduates, provide many more thousands of indirect job opportunities, and serve as an ICT hub in the West African Sub- Region.
Other agreements signed on the first day of the President’s visit were the Mauritius Standards Bureau (MSB) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Higher Education, Science and Technology.
Source: Flagstaff House Communications Bureau
Namibia business and work visas
For those clients looking to travel to Namibia, please simply forward us the requested documents via email and we will take care of the rest.
More Home Affairs heartache as Easter weekend draws near
Cape Town – Less than three months after the dozens of family dramas that played off during the December festive season, more travellers are facing a family travel dilemma because of the South African unabridged birth certificates law.
Although the Departments of Home Affairs and Tourism on 5 February this year announced their long term plan to eventually move away from travellers carrying unabridged birth certificate papers – by means of new passports which will contain all the necessary documents for minors – travellers still have to abide by the current law.
And that law requires of every child under 18 to carry unabridged birth certificates that can only be issued by the highly congested Department of Home Affairs (DHA) offices.
Even though travellers anticipate a long wait for the unabridged birth certificates and do all in their power to obtain the necessary documents needed for legal travel well ahead of the prescribed 6 – 8 week period, the DHA’s backlog is threatening to ruin more family holidays this upcoming Easter.
Rochelle Joubert, a South African mother and distressed holiday-planner is one of the people who fear her family holiday may be ruined by inefficiency from the DHA.
“I have reached an end regarding the service and effectiveness of Department of Home Affairs issuing unabridged birth certificates,” she tells Traveller24.
Joubert applied for the unabridged birth certificates of her two children in October last year already, five months ahead of their intended family Easter holiday to Zanzibar.
“Knowing it takes long, we started the process on 29 October 2015. Went to home affairs in Lydenburg, stood, sat and waited for our turn, filled in the forms, made the payment,” she says.
After completing all the necessary documents and doing everything to a T, the Jouberts proceeded to booked their 2016 Easter holiday in good faith that the DHA will come through.
Rochelle Joubert says she followed up with phone calls to the DHA head office from 4 January 2016, on a weekly basis. “The only reply [I got was] ‘sorry not processed’.
Joubert says she phoned the DHA customer care line numerous times too, but received no answer.
Traveller24 too phoned the customer care line, following up on the Jouberts’ unabridged birth certificate query. An operator for the DHA told us that the Jouberts’ application was only processed in November, and has “not been finalized yet”.
The Jouberts fear that their holiday might be in jeopardy since they have not received any documentation one and half week before they are due to depart the country.
The DHA, however, told Traveller24 that because their query was not processed within the 6 – 8 week period, the Jouberts qualify to receive an official letter from the DHA allowing their children to travel with them, even without the unabridged birth certificates.
Such an official letter will say that the Jouberts did everything from their side to obtain the documents, and the the DHA acknowledge that they correct documentation has been received from the parents.
NOTE: If your query has not been processed 6 -8 weeks after application, you may qualify for this letter from the DHA.
To receive this letter of approval, you must:
– Revisit the office where the initial application was made
– Take along proof of travel
– Take along proof of both parents’ identification (SA IDs)
What is more concerning is that the Joubert’s dilemma can be seen as one of the more ‘straight forward’ unabridged birth certificate applications. In their case, both parents details are available, and the entire family hold South African citizenship.
Other travellers with more complicated family structures – like divorced or deceased parents, adopted children and families from various nationalities – are feeling almost completely helpless, being left over to the grace of the DHA.
Carol Ceruti emailed to Traveller24 saying, “I have been waiting for 8 months for an unabridged certificate for a child who has lost both her patents. Her aunt in Australia has offered to take her in, but she can’t leave the country without the unabridged certificate or even apply for custody of the child without it.”
Traveller24 attempted to contact the Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete on several platforms regarding the backlog at the DHA, but is yet to receive a response.
