South Africans face new UK visa rules

July 01 2009 by Mark Johnstone

South Africans face new UK visa rules

Visitors to the UK from South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland will now need to get a UK visa before travelling to the country. Visitors will now be fingerprinted and checked against watch-lists before arriving at UK immigration.

The new rules have been introduced to counter passport and identity fraud, and follow Britain’s first global review of who needs a UK visa for a short-term visit.

As well as South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, visitors from Bolivia and Venezuela will now also need a visa to travel to the UK.

Nationals from more than 100 countries now require the correct UK immigration credentials and paperwork, and the UK Border Agency has already collected more than four million fingerprints from people applying for visas worldwide.

See the latest Immigration News