10th February, 2009

BBC News has reported that nationals from South Africa, along with Bolivia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Venezuela, will need a visa to visit the UK from March 2009.

Under the new rules issued by the homes office, nationals from these countries will now need to provide fingerprints and pay a fee to obtain a visa before travelling to the UK.

Last year, the UK carried out a Visa Waiver Test against all non-European countries and reviewed them according to the levels of risk they pose to the UK in terms of illegal immigration, crime, security, etc. Eleven countries, including South Africa, were given until the end of the year to improve their passport security systems and prove they didn't pose a risk to the UK.

Botswana, Brazil, Malaysia, Mauritius, Namibia, and Trinidad and Tobago have all managed to make satisfactory improvements to their systems and escape the new rules.