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The general rule is that the entry requirements for a country are determined by your passport.

When you have a multi-entry Schengen Visa, a German Aufenthaltstitel (Temporary Residence permit) without any restrictions, or Schengen permanent residence, you may travel freely within the Schengen area.

You can find a list of Schengen Area countries here 
Note that some EU countries are not part of the Schengen agreement. Here special entry requirements apply, for example, a visa.

Travel in the Schengen Area

Travel within the Schengen Area “The Schengen Area is a zone comprised of 29 European states which have officially abolished passports and other types of border control at their mutual borders. For visitors to the EU, it effectively means that the Schengen Area acts as a singular country, i.e. once you enter one Schengen country you have entered them all.”  See ETIAS Visa for more information.You can find a list of the Schengen area countries here.

Travel between South Africa and Germany

To travel between Germany and South Africa, with re-entry to Germany,  you will need a valid passport, as well as one of the following:

  • a valid multiple-entry Schengen Visa
  • a valid German Aufenthaltstitel (Temporary Residence permit). Make sure there are no restrictions, for example, single entry. If any of these restrictions apply to you, you might not be able to re-enter Germany. If you are unsure, contact the Ausländerbehörde. 
  • a valid German permanent residence 
  • a valid EU residence permit – make sure there are no restrictions, for example only valid for a specific Schengen country.

United Kingdom

You need a visa to travel to the UK
Northern Ireland is part of the UK and not part of the EU or the Schengen Area.

Traveling to the UK

If you only have a South African passport, you need a visa to visit the UK, it does not matter if you have Permanent residence in Germany. Your German Residence allows you to travel inside the Schengen area. There are no special rules if you are married to a German or other EU citizen. You still travel on your own passport. The UK is not part of the EU, and is also not part of

Egypt

South African as well as German citizens need a visa for Egypt and can apply for E-Visas. 

“The process of applying for an Egyptian visa is quite simple. Travellers who have to get their visas must apply and submit their applications at least a week before arrival. Any late submissions will result in complications in their visa delivery process. The applicant should go through all the three steps mentioned below:

  • Fill out the application form correctly.
  • Paying the costs for an electronic visa.
  • Receiving the approved version of the visa through the mentioned email address.

While applying, please make sure that you mention the correct email address. Ensure you have access to the email so you can get your visa easily.”

The Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is part of the EU but not part of the Schengen Area. South African passport holders do not need to apply for a visa to travel to Ireland. However, other immigration procedures apply. You must present your passport and other relevant documents to the Irish Immigration officer.
They will want to know where you are staying, how long and what your travel purpose is.
More information for non-EU nationals can be found here.

Turkey

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey’s website

“Ordinary passport holders are required to have a visa to enter Turkey. They can obtain three-month period multiple entry visas from Turkish representations abroad or one-month period single entry visas via the website www.evisa.gov.tr. Official passport holders are exempted from visa for their travels up to 30 days.”

– a comment from one of our FB members “You apply online and get the visa within a few hours. There is no fee. Just print it out and bring it with you.”

United States of America

No special rules for Schengen residence permit holders. You need a visa to travel to the United States of America.  There is an embassy in Berlin, a consulate in Frankfurt and in Munich.

Travel with a Schengen Visa/Residence permit

Outside the Schengen area, your South African passport determines the entry requirements for the country you want to visit.
There are some exceptions where you can use your Schengen residence and in some cases a Schengen visa to travel to specific countries.
We try to cover them in the list below, but please refer to the Schengen Visa Info website, they have a list of countries you can travel to with a Schengen visa, but as always confirm that it is still valid with the relevant authorities.

Albania

You don’t need a visa in the following case:

Foreign citizens who have a valid, multiple-entry Schengen visa, which has been previously used in one of the Schengen states, or foreign citizens who have a valid permit of stay in one of the Schengen states
The maximum allowed period of stay of this category of foreigners is 90 DAYS  in any 180 DAY period
– Find updated information here 

Antigua and Barbuda

Visa on arrival is granted to persons who hold a valid Schengen Visa or Resident Card

Cyprus

Holders of valid double or multiple-entry Schengen visas or Bulgarian, Croatian and Romanian national visas, as well as residence permits issued by the Schengen Member States or by Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, are not required to hold a short-stay visa to enter the Republic of Cyprus for a time period that does not exceed 90 days in any 180 day period.
This provision doesn’t apply to citizens of Turkey and Azerbaijan who have to follow the regular visa issuance procedure.
– Find updated information from the official website

Gibraltar (British territory)

Gibraltar is not part of the UK, but unlike all other British Overseas Territories, it was a part of the European Union. It participated in the Brexit referendum and it ceased, by default, to be a part of the EU upon the UK’s withdrawal.
On 31 December 2020, Spain and the United Kingdom reached an agreement in principle under which Gibraltar would join the European Union’s Schengen Area. This cleared the way for the European Union and the UK to start formal negotiations on the matter. Elements of the proposed agreement are:

  • Gibraltar (air)ports become entry points of the Schengen area, under the responsibility of Spain
  • Visa for visiting Gibraltar will be Schengen visas and the visa waiver ETIAS.
According to the Schengen Info Website, if you have a Schengen Residence permit or multiple entry Schengen visa, you do not need a visa for Gibraltar. 
According to the  Gibraltar Borders Agency:

You will need a visa to come to Gibraltar unless you are in any of these exempt groups:

  • Persons holding EU-issued family permits, UK Residence Permits issued for a period of 12 months or more, UK Biometric Residence permits or a UK multiple entry visa issued for 6 months or more.

Wikipedia and Schengen Info

Visa info –  Gibraltar Borders Agency 

Mexico

According to the Mexican consulate’s website

If you are a Permanent Resident of the following countries: Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and any of the countries of the Schengen Area, you do not need a visa to enter Mexico for tourism, business or transit purposes. All individuals in this category are required to present their valid and unexpired Resident cards along with their passports. Both documents must be valid during your entire stay in Mexico.

If you have a valid and unexpired visa of the following countries: Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and any of the countries of the Schengen Area, you do not need a visa to enter Mexico for tourism, business or transit purposes. All individuals in this category are required to present their valid and unexpired visas along with their passports. Both documents must be valid during your entire stay in Mexico.

Montenegro

Holders of valid foreign passports who hold a residence permit in the Schengen area may enter, transit and stay in Montenegro for up to 30 days, but no longer than the expiration of the residence permit if their validity is less than 30 days.

Switzerland

Switzerland is part of the Schengen area, see the Travel in the Schengen Area page

Info on the web

  • Passport index website. A convenient tool to see for which countries you need a visa.
  • Wikipedia has a page with information, it also lists the countries you can travel to with a Schengen Visa. 

Always refer to the official visa requirement website of the country you want to visit. 

Travel Agents

I can recommend using one of the travel agents listed on our website. They are South Africans living in Germany and will have the latest information
Schengen Visa Info has a list of where you can travel with a Schengen visa, but as always confirm that it is still valid with the relevant authorities

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Disclaimer:

The information was correct at the time of publication, but rules and regulations change on a regular basis so please always check the official pages of the country you want to visit.
Please note this is not to be construed as legal or visa advice. You are responsible for your own legal clarifications. No liability accepted.

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Travel in the Schengen Area

Travel within the Schengen Area “The Schengen Area is a zone comprised of 29 European states which have officially abolished passports and other types of border

Applying for a new Adult Tourist passport in South Africa can be done online via the Department of Home Affairs E-Services.

  • This service allows you to fill in the application form online and make an appointment for your biometrics. 
  • Biometrics can be done at participating banks. You do not need to be a client of the selected bank. 
  • You can collect your passport at the selected bank.
  • The current turnaround time for an adult Tourist passport is around one work week

Keep in mind

You can fill out the application while still in Germany, but you have to do the Biometrics in person in South Africa. If you want to apply for your passport in Germany, please refer to the links below. 

As a rule, you have to surrender your old passport when collecting the new one. You can ask them if it is possible to still keep your old one if you need it to travel back to Germany. Your Residence card is linked to your old passport. 

During the appointment, they will take your fingerprints and there should be a photo booth for digital photos.  To be on the safe side, take passport photos with you.

Application Form Tips

  • You need a South African mobile number to register on the Department of Home Affairs E-Service site. The OTP is sent to your mobile number.
  • You must type in the dates and not use the drop-down calendar to get appointments. Until I did that I couldn’t get available dates.”
  • They asked me why I want a new passport, as my current passport was still valid and had open pages. During your online application, you have to specify your reason for applying and I choose “passport full” as it was the only option that made sense. It told the lady that I live in Germany and that I do not often travel to South Africa, so I would like to apply while I am here. This was sufficient for her and her supervisor approved the application. I did not have to hand in my current passport.

Collection of Passports

Announcement by the department on 12 August 2022:

“Today, we are announcing the first of three steps to be taken by the Department to secure the integrity of our passport and make it foolproof against fraudulent acquisition.

The following measures will have to be followed:

  • A passport can only be collected strictly from the office where it was applied for.
  • Only the person who applied for that passport can come and collect it by activating it through a fingerprint. By the way, this is nothing new. This is a method that is being used to collect Smart ID Cards. 
  • For minor children, their parents or guardians who helped them to apply for that passport will be the only ones allowed to come and collect it and activate it using their own fingerprints.

We also wish to advise passport holders to check passports for expiry at least once a month or for frequent travellers, every fortnight. 
I wish to take this opportunity to dispel the myth of an emergency passport.
There is nothing called an emergency passport for any South African travelling to another country. The so-called emergency passport is actually a handwritten document available only to a South African who is stranded in another country. This document allows them to return home and when they arrive, its usefulness comes to an abrupt end. “

German residence permit linked to your old passport

Regarding travelling with a new passport, but still having your residence permit or visa linked to your old passport, I found this on the Berlin Welcome Centre website:
“Re-entry to Germany is easy if your residence permit is still valid and you still have the old passport.
Take your old and new passports and your residence permit with you on your trip.
However, we recommend that you enquire about the entry and exit conditions of the country you are visiting before you travel abroad (for example at the embassy of the country you are visiting)
Legal basis –  Gesetze §3, §4 and §13 AufenthG Art 5

Fiktionsbescheinigung – Probationary permit, a temporary proof of your German residence permit

If you applied for a new German residence card and have not received it yet, you can request a Fiktionsbescheinigung, or Temporary proof of German Residence.
With this you can travel from and to Germany.
Roughtly translated “With a fiction certificate (from the Latin fictio ‘acceptance’, ‘fiction’), foreigners in Germany prove the existence of a provisional right of residence, which often arises with the application for the issue or extension of a residence permit submitted to the immigration office.
The fiction certificate is regularly issued for the period in which the immigration office is examining the application for a residence permit.
The term “Fiktionsbescheinigung” refers to the legal fiction of the continuation of the previous right of residence as long as the application for a residence permit is examined and has not yet been approved.
In this phase, the stay is still legal after the expiry of the previous residence permit or the previously permit-free stay;
From now on, however, the right of residence is only a provisional one and therefore no longer guaranteed.“

Temporary proof of German Residence

To stay in Germany longer than 90 days in a 180 period, you will need a residence permit. Qualifying for a residence permit will depend, among other things, on the type of visa you applied for. Your long-stay visa allows you to travel to Germany. Within two weeks after arrival in Germany, you need to register at your local town office and  Immigration authority. See Registering at the local town office. You will receive a Meldebestätigung

Info on the web

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