SOUTH AFRICA: New Visa Services Provider for UK Residents

August 21, 2015


As of Friday 7th August 2015, VFS Global are now the providers for visa services to UK residents who require visas for South Africa. Whilst all submissions were previously done via the South African High Commission in London, they have now stopped accepting applications directly. Instead, applicants will be able to send directly to the VFS Global Facilitation Centre in London, Manchester or Edinburgh.  The South African High Commission website have stated that this change is due to “an effort to improve our service to British citizens and other nationals residing in UK who wish to travel to South Africa”

UK applicants will now have to book an appointment with one of the three VFS centres before they can submit their applications. The location whereby an application is submitted is not pertinent. 

The introduction of VFS Global as providers for South African visa services for the UK will also have the following effects:

  • Application fees will be subject to an additional VFS service charge of £35 per application.

  • Whereas before passports were returned to the applicant upon submission, passports will now be retained during processing.

  • Processing times for work visa applications have increased to up to 32-34 working days.

  • Applicants can be requested for additional documentation at any stage during the application process.

For further information on obtaining South African visas or any other immigration enquiries, please contact Newland Chase for further information.