Just wanted to give a heads up to fellow AR members who may be traveling to South Africa. Make sure you have AT least 2 COMPLETELY blank pages in your passport. I arrived in Joberg last sunday with 2 friends for a 7 day hunt. My buddy and I cleared customs and we waiting for luggage and could not find our friend. After about 20 minutes of searching we had him paged.

He emerged from the customs office with 2 customs officials and told us that they would not allow him into South Africa since he did not have two complete blank pages (he had a few half pages). He and I both talked with customs people back and forth to no avail. He was then taken back to international departures and given a ticket on the return 5:20 flight to Dulles.

I picked up our gear, made it out, met the outfitter and began making calls. Our hope was that he would not make the 5:20 flight, spend the night at the airport, this giving us a day to figure out what to do.

Since it was sunday, I could not get in touch with anyone at the American embassy. I then called a college friend who works for the State Department (now in Cairo) but was at the SA embassy for 4 years. I was told the US embassy will add the pages but it could not be done till monday.

On Monday monring (hoping my buddy was still here) I spent 3 hours calling SAA to see if he was still here. After banging my head (talking with customer service people like precious and perfurm), I called back to the embassy and got a cell phone for someone at SAA who had a clue. She informed me that customs had indeed sent my buddy home on the return flight. Disappointed was an understatement.

Upon a follow up convsersation with my friend in the state department it seems this issue has come up quite a bit in the last 2 months. According to the Embassy, this has happened to some 60 people in the last 2 months. Many were sent back to the US, while some booked a flight to Botswana (which apparently is a bit more lax), had pages added there, and flown back to SA. My buddy who got sent back said there were two other people from our flight who were also being sent back.

Lesson: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF PAGES IN YOUR PASSPORT

That stinks! Great way to promote tourism in teir country. What is surprising about this is that it is usually part of a "shakedown" to get a bribe. I've had African immigration officials go through my documents in great detail, trying to find something out of line; something that can be fixed for a few bucks. For example, in Arusha a few years ago, one of my immunizations was given a few days too late. This caused quite some difficulty. The outfitter's representative accompanied the official into his office and came out a few minutes later, problem solved. I didn't ask how much. The moral is to have every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed.

Howdy,
One time they tried to deport me out of RSA. I will go ahead and tell you the U.S. embassy doesn't give a flying flip over what happens to you while you are there. I have not heard one single story where the embassy in RSA stepped up or even attempted to assist a U.S. citizen.

I thought this requirement has been in place for some time now? I seem to recall being warned about by my Travel Agent a couple of years back??

There is information available all over the internet, and here in AR about the blank page requirements for entry. Proper preparation by your friend could have avoided this problem. It's too bad he was sent home, but to go to Africa or anywhere else uninformed and unprepared is no excuse to be angry at the African Customs officials. In Tanzania they require 8 blank pages. Who the hell knows why, but they do. Hopefully if he ever gets to book another hunt somewhere, he will be prepared before he leaves home. As has been said here, don't count on the US Embassy anywhere for help. They might as well not even exist in most countries.

I don't know, but it sounds like he was a fairly seasoned traveler, how could you not not know that you should have at least 2 blank pages in your passport before departure?

My wife just sent hers off for more pages, took all of about 4 days and it was back.

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
I thought this requirement has been in place for some time now? I seem to recall being warned about by my Travel Agent a couple of years back??

It has been. Any international travel agent with his or her salt will advise you of this. I know mine did on both trips to Namibia.

This has been a requirement as long as I've been traveling to SA for at least 7 years.

I don't get how this was a surprise to you guys?

And your passport should be good for no less than six months past the day of your departure. GH, David

I wasn't angry at anyone in South Africa. They were doing there job, and my buddy should have known that he needed to have some blank pages in his passport.

Just wanted to pass the info along to make sure no one else runs into the problem. The head customs official I talked with in SA was annoyed at SAA for even letting him get on the plane without enough pages.

Good point Hutty. Sometimes in the haste and excitement we all forget things. Doesn't hurt to keep a check list of everything to do. Won't hurt to go over it every time. Maybe this will save a fellow member from a diaster. I trust your hunt went well? GH, David

Remember the 6 month rule too...

Many countires will not allow entrance if you have less than 6 months left on your passport validity i.e. it will expire within 6 months of the date you enter their country.

This seems to be a very common requirement...(partly because many countries have a technical limit for tourists of up to 6 months, but even those with a stadrad of 90 days seems to have this)

Hutty,

Your Outfitter should have told you this. They are supposed to tell you things like this since you are booking through them. This is part of their job. I thought. Or if you booked direct you should question your PH's knowledge.

No problems here when my clients go abroad!

Shame to hear that nothing could be worked out. Even worse that the US embassy (our tax dollars at ork) couldn't/wouldn't help out, especially since someone was able to answer the phone long enough to state that nothing could be done until Monday morning. Follow question to all the seasoned travelers is what is the proper standard of blank pages, ie, both side of a single page, or both sides of 2 pages, and do the blank pages have to be consecutive in relation to each other. I presume any place in in the passport itself would meet the 2 page requirement?

I posted about this same requirement in my April hunt report this year. While the requirement sounds simple, as someone who travels internationally several times a month, it can be a big deal. I did not have two completely blank pages when I tried to board at Dulles. Only because I was continuing on to Zim was I allowed to board. Otherwise SAA would not even let me board the plane.

While I had checked for sufficient blank pages previously, the week before my hunt I was on another business trip where my passport was stamped on the blank pages. Bye Bye blank pages.
Most countries don't care as long as there is room in the passport. RSA will not even count the "back" few pages in your passport that don't have "visa" inscribed in the watermark. As a very frequent international traveler, I know how little control you have over passport officials. Check your passport right before your flight.
Bill

Do they have to consecutive blank pages or just two blank pages in the passport?

Just another good reason to hunt any other African country than South Africa.

They want to play silly games to keep me and my money out of their country. No problem, I'll oblige.

Another example of black empowerment. Pure Why don't we give them a few more billion to fight AIDS? What is needed is a brain implant.

Here is what the world travel guide says about this.

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/255/passport_vi...ca/South-Africa.html

Book your air through Gracey travel and things like this will not happen.

quote:

Originally posted by Hutty:
Lesson: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF PAGES IN YOUR PASSPORT

Any seasoned international travellor should be aware of this.

I am not a seasoned international traveler. Where do you send your passport to have additional pages added? If your passport is under the 6 mo. rule, should you send it in and get a new one?

Mad Dog

I had to get pages added prior to a trip I took about three years ago. Then it was quite simple. Not sure about now with the passport backlog.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds4085/ds4085_2662.html

Had mine checked by the ticket agent both times since thatn and was told that I would be denied boarding if I hadn't had the pages. Surprised that the agent didn't do that to your buddy.

-Steve

I wonder if having a meet-n-greet service might have helped.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad Dog:
I am not a seasoned international traveler. Where do you send your passport to have additional pages added? If your passport is under the 6 mo. rule, should you send it in and get a new one?

Mad Dog

Don't know about the US, in OZ apply for a new replacement passport.

I'm sure the OZ passports are sent out with a small booklet which warns about eg having enough free pages, and maybe last for at least six months etc.

In any case virtually ALL travel book guides will mention stuff like this.

The passport delay problems seem to be easing up quite a bit .My daughter got her passport this week after applying last week with the option to have it expedited.

If pages are lacking or it expires in six months or less go to the nearest post office that has passport services and get that thing replaced.

I flew internationally professionally for many, many years. I always ordered my new passport with extra pages. I forget how many more there are than the regular copy,there are several, but if you travel a lot internationally it's something to think about.