GottaGo Posted September 25, 2010 Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 Hi,We want to travel to the UK in Feb to visit family. My SA passport expires in July. How much time do I have to have remaining on my passport when o travel to the UK.Anyone know?Thanks,Sally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted September 25, 2010 Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 As far as I know, you have to have at least 6 months left on your passport... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaGo Posted September 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 Thanks Jill. Thought as much. Will have to renew mine from Perth. What fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted September 25, 2010 Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 Hi there, Unfortunately, Jill's right - 6 months is about the limit. The UK is very suspicous of SA Passports/Visas these days, because of all the passport/student visa scams that people with SA passports have been pulling. Not sure if you know, but as a South African you now need a tourist visa for the UK where before you just turned up and got one on the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaGo Posted September 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 Hi,Thanks. Yes, I knew about the visa. I posted about renewing one's SA passport in OZ under the general forum section, but if anyone has done it in OZ, I'd be glad to hear of your experience and how quickly you got it back. Their website says 3 months. Wonder if this is accurate.Thanks,Sally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veronique Posted September 25, 2010 Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 Thanks. Yes, I knew about the visa. I posted about renewing one's SA passport in OZ under the general forum section, but if anyone has done it in OZ, I'd be glad to hear of your experience and how quickly you got it back. Their website says 3 months. Wonder if this is accurate.Sally there is another thread regarding the renewal of passports on this forum which lists many experiences forumites have had. You may want to look for it.Personally ours took 6 weeks. The most difficult part of the process was the fingerprinting. According to one of the policeman who did ours he said that they no longer use the old fashioned system of fingerprinting which is required by SA. It took them a while to find the ink and I could see that they were irritated by the whole process as it is quite time consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaGo Posted September 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 Thanks Veronique. I'm trying to get the Search Engine on this site on my side! But getting there...I had a look on the SA High Commission website (http://www.sahc.org.au) and they say to send one's old ID number via email to them and they will post the finger prints to you. So, that will be my starting point. But quite encouraging that yours only took 6 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordy Posted September 25, 2010 Report Share Posted September 25, 2010 On our recent visit to South Africa, we took the opportunity to renew our child's passport. I must say we were very impressed by Home Affairs. A complete turn around from when we went 3 years ago to get our immigration documents. Our child's passport took 12 days and it was ready. I realise that doesnt help you but it would seem that if the system is working better on that side, perhaps it might not take as long anymore. What does the visa for the UK cost per person? we also thinking of going next year for a holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaGo Posted January 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Gave up waiting for my new SA passport and sent my old one which expires in July and received my UK visa back within 2 weeks. So it seems you don't have to have 6 months remaining on your passport to travel to UK. Visa cost $123. You submit form online and go in to the Consulate in St George's Terrace, Perth to have your "biometric data" taken (IE Fingerprints scanned and photo taken.) Just follow all instructions on the website and you'll be fine.Canberra received my passport application on October 18th for my new SA passport. The Dept of Home Affairs tracking page on their website says it is still being printed. The person I spoke to when I phoned Pretoria at first made it sound like my passport was about to be sent off when I called but when I double checked I was told it was still sitting at the printers.So WHO KNOWS when I'll see it!! But it doesn't matter, I can travel for now so panic over!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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