Members of the trade in India have expressed their concerns over the delay in processing visa applications at the South African consulate in Mumbai. Many travel agents selling South Africa are disgruntled about the situation and may consider concentrating on other destinations, according to Vikram Samant, MD of Quantum Travels.

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It takes between five and seven working days to process a visa application to travel to South Africa from the VFS centre in India, according to Dinesh Naidoo, Group Operations Director at Serendipity Tours.

Samant said the consulate was not adhering to its commitment to process visa applications in the time stated and that Quantum Travels was now informing its clients that it could take anywhere between seven and 20 days. He added that they “hope and pray that the visas are actually processed in the five working days”.

Samant said he did not know of any travel agent refusing to sell South Africa as a tourism destination as a result of this, as “agents will not refuse the business”. However, he said travel agents were proceeding cautiously as they lost money when the consulates did not process visas on time. “I have invested way too many man hours in developing South Africa. I love the country and will never stop promoting sales to South Africa but I will be very careful.”

Naidoo said he had not experienced any problems and applied for visas two weeks ago and received them in time, with no issues. “I know there was one stage when they were short staffed, but that was a long time ago. As far as I understand, there is no delay in the processing time – the visas are coming out in five to seven working days.”  

The South African Consulate in Mumbai could not be reached for comment at the time of publication. Department of Home Affairs Spokesperson, Mayihlome Tshwete, said he was unaware of the issue.

Have you experienced any delays when applying for a visa to visit South Africa? Share your thoughts in the comments below.