Coat of arms of South Africa

South Africa passport

Rank #64 · Strength 89 destinations (visa-free + on arrival + eTA) · score 36.2

South Africa passport

Citizens of South Africa can reach 89 of 248 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance — 64 visa-free, 19 visa on arrival and 6 eTA. Ranked #64 for passport strength worldwide.

Compare passports

64Visa-free
19Visa on arrival
6eTA
46e-⁠Visa
112Visa required

South Africa passport: where it stands

This passport is stronger than 48% of the 198 passports in the Passport Index. Within Africa it ranks 3 of 54; the strongest in the region is Seychelles, with 167 destinations. Across 6 major destinations: the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada require a consular visa; Australia and Japan issue an e-⁠Visa online. Beyond those 89 destinations, 46 issue an e-⁠Visa online and 112 require a consular visa; e-⁠Visas do not count towards passport strength.

Visa-free (64)

Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Benin Bolivia Botswana Brazil Cape Verde Chile Cook Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Eswatini Fiji Gabon Georgia Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Jamaica Kenya Kiribati Lesotho Macao Malawi Malaysia Mauritius Micronesia Mozambique Namibia Nicaragua Oman Palestine Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Qatar Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Singapore Tanzania Thailand Togo Tunisia Tuvalu Uruguay Vanuatu Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe

Visa on arrival (19)

Armenia Bahrain Burundi Cambodia Comoros Ethiopia Guinea-Bissau Indonesia Jordan Laos Madagascar Maldives Marshall Islands Nepal Palau Pitcairn Islands Saudi Arabia Tajikistan Timor-Leste

eTA — electronic travel authorisation (6)

Ghana Israel Seychelles South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Sri Lanka

e-⁠Visa — applied for online in advance (46)

Albania Australia Azerbaijan Bhutan Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cuba Côte d’Ivoire DR Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Guinea Heard Island and McDonald Islands India Iran Iraq Japan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Libya Mauritania Moldova Mongolia Myanmar New Zealand Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Pakistan Papua New Guinea Sao Tome and Principe Sierra Leone Solomon Islands Somalia South Sudan Suriname Syria Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Uganda Ukraine Vietnam

Visa required (112)

Afghanistan Algeria American Samoa Andorra Anguilla Aruba Austria Bangladesh Belarus Belgium Bermuda Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Bouvet Island British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Canada Cayman Islands Central African Republic China Colombia Congo Croatia Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Denmark Eritrea Estonia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gambia Germany Gibraltar Greece Greenland Guadeloupe Guam Guernsey Hungary Iceland Ireland Isle of Man Italy Jersey Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Mali Malta Martinique Mayotte Mexico Monaco Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Nauru Netherlands New Caledonia Niger North Korea North Macedonia Northern Mariana Islands Norway Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Romania Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon San Marino Senegal Serbia Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sudan Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tokelau Tonga Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands United States Virgin Islands Uzbekistan Vatican City Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Åland Islands

What the index measures

  • 248 destinations, countries and territories
  • Strength = visa-free + visa on arrival + eTA; e-⁠Visa is not taken into account.
  • Passports with the same score share a rank

Data sources

  • Government portals of each destination.
  • Immigration authorities, foreign ministries, and official e-⁠Visa and eTA portals.
See the data sources

Method

  • How each entry condition is classified
  • The limits of the data and how to check official sources
See the methodology

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