SA 'respects New Zealand's visa rule'
The SA Home Affairs Department says it will continue to engage with the government of New Zealand to find common understanding after that country dropped a visa bombshell this week.
South Africans, intending to travel to the southwestern Pacific Ocean country from November 21, will now have to apply and pay for the necessary travel documents - prior to departure.
It's a decision that Home Affairs says is unfortunate.
In a statement, the department says a lot of effort has gone into tightening its systems over the past couple of years.
On our part, we will continue to engage with the New Zealand government to arrive at a common understanding on the matter.
— HomeAffairsSA (@HomeAffairsSA) October 6, 2016
#DHA respects the decision taken by New Zealand, as a sovereign state, in the interest of their security obligations
— HomeAffairsSA (@HomeAffairsSA) October 6, 2016
Up until now, South Africans were issued with visas upon entry in New Zealand.
But the government there says there’s been an increase in the number of South African citizens who have produced fake passports at the border and subsequently turned back.
According to New Zealand’s online visa application website, the fee for a visitor’s visa is R1 520.
Because the service has been outsourced to VFS Global, there is a service fee of R528 as well as a bank administration fee of R200 – bringing the total cost for a single visitor’s visa application for New Zealand to R2 248.