While foreign citizens who want to go to another country generally require a visa, many nations have reciprocal agreements in which one need only apply for electronic authorization that preclears one’s visit prior to going through customs at the airport.
The authorization is typically valid for repeat over several years and comes with a fee. Americans who travel to Australia and New Zealand need to pay a respective $20AUD and $23NZD to get the authorization online, while the United Kingdom recently raised the cost of its authorization from £10 to £16.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, meanwhile, recently reported that by the end of September, it would raise the cost of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) required of citizens from nations such as Japan, Australia, and the countries making up the European Union from $21 to $40.
Going to South Africa soon? This is what you need to know about the new electronic travel authorization
While Americans do not require a visa to visit South Africa for short tourism or business trips, the country has been working to introduce an online electronic authorization system similar to what is used by other countries.
Titled the Electronic Travel Authorisation [local spelling], the ETA is set to roll out before the start of October and will need to be secured online by citizens of countries that do not require a visa to enter South Africa.
These include the United States, Canada, and European Union countries, among others. The price of applying, which ranges between $10 and $50 for the different countries that require it, has not yet been shared.
Related: A country just went visa-free for visitors with any passport
“This will digitalise and automate all short-stay visas, enabling secure and seamless travel for tourists across the globe,” South African Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille explained at a press conference in Johannesburg, while also speaking of the government’s efforts to attract more tourists from India and China.
According to De Lille and numbers provided by the government, the country welcomed over 880,000 foreign visitors in July 2025, while tourism made up 8.5% to South Africa’s GDP in 2024.
Image source: Shutterstock
As U.S.-South Africa relations remain strained, travel to the country continues to rise
While details around how to apply for the ETA will emerge immediately prior to its rollout, it will presumably take a form similar to what is required by other countries.
The traveler enters personal information such as name, birth date, and passport details into the portal, pays the fee, and then gets preclearance, as long as there is no history of visa overstay or criminal activity in their travel record.
The move comes as relations between South Africa and the United States are increasingly strained after a May 2025 White House meeting in which President Donald Trump ambushed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with widely-denied allegations of genocide against the country’s white population.
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- Government issues new travel advisory on popular beach destination
- Another country just issued a new visa requirement for visitors
De Lille had previously criticized the tone of an updated U.S. travel advisory, calling it politically motivated. The advisory was made shortly after the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting and highlighted violent crime and kidnapping risks in South Africa.
“We respect the sovereign right of all nations to provide guidance to their citizens traveling abroad,” De Lille said in June 2025. “We also acknowledge the recent meeting between Presidents Ramaphosa and Trump and the subsequent media coverage that has followed.”
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