South Africa ETA: The R500 Electronic Travel Authorisation for Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and Mexican Passports

The Electronic Travel Authorisation is South Africa's new online entry system for nationals who need a visa. It was piloted during the country's G20 presidency, made mandatory in late 2025 for the four G20 members whose citizens need visas, and formally launched by President Ramaphosa at OR Tambo International Airport on 12 August 2026 with Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber. It combines biometric verification and document checks with the upgraded electronic movement control system.

Who must use it: Ordinary passport holders from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico travelling for tourism or business and arriving at OR Tambo, Cape Town or Lanseria international airports. SAnews, the government news agency, reports that following the four-country rollout it will "shortly be expanded to all visa-required countries and additional visa categories". Until a nationality is added, its visitors use the e-Visa portal or the visitor's visa through VFS Global.

Fees: A processing fee of R500 per application under the amendment to the fee regulations gazetted on 17 August 2026, plus the R425 visa fee for nationalities the exemption list marks as fee-paying. Chinese and Indonesian applicants therefore pay R925 in total; Indian and Mexican applicants pay R500, because the exemption list exempts both countries from the visa fee. Visa-exempt travellers such as Britons or Americans do not need an ETA but may apply voluntarily at R500 for faster processing at the border.

How it works: Apply online before travel with passport details, a photograph, travel and accommodation details and the fee. The authorisation is linked to the passport and checked at the airport's automated systems; Home Affairs has not published a decision standard, and applicants should treat it as days rather than hours. The ETA covers the visitor categories the visa would cover, for stays of up to 90 days.

The e-Visa: The older online system at ehome.dha.gov.za remains live. Nationals of the four ETA countries may still use it, and for the visa-required nationalities not yet on the ETA it is the only online route; the alternative is the paper visitor's visa through VFS Global or the mission.

The Trusted Tour Operator Scheme: For Indian and Chinese tourists travelling in organised groups, vetted operators lodge applications on a digital platform and, per the Home Affairs statement of 8 August 2025, receive outcomes on average within 24 hours. The scheme brought 25,024 additional tourists in its first six months and expanded to 110 operators in phase two.

What the ETA is not: It is not a visa waiver, it does not admit nationalities that are on the exemption list anyway, and it does not replace the SARS traveller declaration, which every traveller files separately.