In case anyone needs reminding, you must have two blank pages ( side by side) in your passport.

I know of folks last week that were denied boarding at Dulles and sent back home.

Here you go: http://www.shakariconnection.c...uth-africa-visa.html

you might also like to have your travel agent confirm it in writing just in case you find a jobsworth at the airport!

At least they were stopped in Dulles. 4 years ago we flew from Dulles to JNB and they wouldn't let my buddy in SA. He had about 9 half pages in his passport but not two completely clean pages. They turned him around and put him back out on the 4pm flight.

Does anyone know the reason for this requirement?

Only because "they" said so.

no known reason but it does apply in a lot more country's than you would think. Kenya Uganda and Rwanda all have similar rules. I had to send my passport in last year to get extra pages attached to it. you can get them added at the embassy's but they change three time more than if you do it at home

I've heard of some requiring more than two, not sure the name of the countries.

Don't forget that some won't let you in if your passport is X number of days from expiring!

Slightly off topic, but last week we flew from windhoek through joberg, the guy at the counter stamped about the first six peoples passports and loudly exclaimed that he was sick of us people and told everyone to go through. "go, just go on. go. everyone, go." So he didn't even look at most of the passports. He just waved us through.

And just a heads up for nationalities that are required SA visa. SA is reinstating the transit visa - therefore even if you are just in transit you must have one. Here is what I got from Sa Embassy in Vienna:

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

The Department of Home Affairs in South Africa has decided to reinstate the transit visa requirement for all visa restricted passport holders. As from 15 October 2010 all visa restricted passport holder who will be in transit in any South African port of entry en route to any other country will be required to be in possession of a transit visa. Kindly ensure that all travellers in transit apply for transit visa to avoid unnecessary inconvenience.

Please do not hesitate to contact this Embassy should you require further information.

Yours faithfully

Consular Section
South African Embassy
Sandgasse 33
1190 Vienna, Austria
Tel: + 43 1 320 64 93
Fax: + 43 1 320 0814
Email: vienna.consular@dirco.gov.za


Anyway - just another reason for me to avoid SA altogether in my future traveling to Zim .

Steve's website; as usual, a wealth of knowledge.

Accordingly the 2 blank page rule (plus the 3 amendments pages) - yes, totals 5! Is because that is the number of BLANK pages it would take if these countries chose to stamp the passports correctly.

Net, last year at the Lufthansa counter here in FKT I was politely informed that I had exactly 2 unstamped Visa pages in my passport remaining. The Lufthansa agent explained that if I had less he would not even have allowed me on the flight. He also said the Airlines themselves are fined if they allow unqulified passengers through; and are responsible for transporting the "violaters" back to their originating flight's location.

I therefore had to have new pages inserted in my US passport. I was pleasantly surprised at the prompt service and an hour later - fixed.

The lady at the US Consulate here in FKT asked if I was a "Frequent Traveler", to which I responsed in the affirmative. She then further explained that as my passport expires in 3 years, when renewing I could request a 56 page passport. This feature doesn't cost extra for a new passport but they don't issue them with more than the standard page count unless requested.

I believe the "two blank pages" are required in many countries... outside of Africa I know it is a requirement for Japan.
Andy

Bureaucrats rule the world!

They may require two blank pages, but I've often found that they usually stamp the page they open, regardless if it is full or not. I have one page that has been stamped at least a half a dozen times!