We had heard about the possibility of this last year but now it sounds official according to reports in The Times. South Africans visiting the UK are now going to need visas in a bid to curb smugglers and terror suspects entering the UK. The British High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Boateng, said the move will come into effect on March 3. But South Africans who have previously visited the UK on their current passports will be exempt until the middle of this year. It is understood that a UK visitor’s visa will cost £65 (R928). So now on top of your expensive air ticket, you are going to need to add another R928 in your travel budget, making it even more expensive to visit the UK.

It is no secret that there are many fake South African passports in circulation and these are being used by the ’smugglers and terror suspects’ to gain access in the UK. You can not really blame the UK for making this move in my opinion as they have to try find a way to curb the influx of unworthy visitors.

The requirements for obtaining a UK visa are not know yet but I am sure we will have that information very soon. South Africa now joins a long list of countries that requires visas to enter the UK so I guess it was only a matter of time until we were required to obtain visas to visit the UK. Some may see this move by the UK as being a bad one with thoughts that relationships between the UK and South Africa have gone sour, but the UK is saying that is not the case. They are just trying to beef up their security.

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