[Mark Fletcher]

I'm going to be traveling to South Africa in the fall, as a part of a five week volunteer program. I'll be working on a wildlife sanctuary. As an American citizen, I wouldn't need a visa for tourism under 90 days; however, apparently I would need one for any kind of volunteering/internship activities. This poses a problem, since the only way to get this visa in in person at the embassy in DC, about 1,000 miles from where I live. I'm in school full time so there's really no way that I can see going to DC in the near future.

So, for any Americans who've been to South Africa, or any guys from South Africa, what would you say are the chances that I could slip through without a visa, claiming to be there for tourism? I studied abroad in the past and claimed tourism to avoid extra paperwork that would have came with studying abroad, and everything went smoothly. That was in the UK though, and I don't know how different it would be in South Africa. From what I gather, if I went and claimed to just be a tourist, all I would need to do is present my return ticket and give the address where I'll be staying, and that should be enough. I don't know how much they actually look into everything.

What are your thoughts on this? If absolutely necessary I can get a visa, but it would be a huge inconvenience.

[CamelToe]

You'll be fine. Tell them you are there to see some pretty stuff and they will pass you through.

[natas305]

I just went thru customs at Johannesburg a few weeks ago and it was a piece of cake as an American (other than being sick and worrying that the body temperature scanner was going to flag me). You should be totally fine. Just say tourism as long as you're there for less than the 90 days.

I've traveled to something like 25 countries in the last 2 years and the only things that ever cause issues are the return flights and sometimes countries like the UK or the UAE grilling you about how you have enough money to stay there. Some airline agents and border agents like to see that you have a return ticket, so have a printout or your email or an app with your itinerary ready. And don't ever say that you're there for work or anything like that. Stick to the tourism story 100% and you'll be fine.

[Mark Fletcher]

(01-14-2016 03:36 PM)natas305 Wrote:  

I just went thru customs at Johannesburg a few weeks ago and it was a piece of cake as an American (other than being sick and worrying that the body temperature scanner was going to flag me). You should be totally fine. Just say tourism as long as you're there for less than the 90 days.

I've traveled to something like 25 countries in the last 2 years and the only things that ever cause issues are the return flights and sometimes countries like the UK or the UAE grilling you about how you have enough money to stay there. Some airline agents and border agents like to see that you have a return ticket, so have a printout or your email or an app with your itinerary ready. And don't ever say that you're there for work or anything like that. Stick to the tourism story 100% and you'll be fine.

That's reassuring. It's kind of what I suspected but pretty much all travel sites hype up South Africa as this hard place to get into without a problem.
If I have a problem returning I don't even care, I'd rather stay there than return to the US