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The British High Commission announces that, with effect from 1 July 2009, all South African passport holders wishing to visit the UK will be required to obtain a visit visa before travelling.  This announcement effectively removes the visa exemption that was in place for those South African passport holders who had previously visited the UK using their current passport.

Also with effect from 1 July 2009, all UK visa applications in South Africa will need to be submitted online and an appointment booked to visit one of our VFS application centres.  This is a straightforward procedure that will allow customers to complete their visa form online, choose a convenient appointment time/date and to pay online. The customer will then take a printout of their online form to the VFS office. This revised process will help customers receive a faster and more efficient service when applying for their UK visa. Applications must be completed and appointments booked online using the www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk website.

Applicants will also have the option of paying online (with a credit or debit card) when completing their online application form.  Existing payment options of paying in advance at any branch of Nedbank or at an application centre by bank guaranteed cheque will remain in place however customers who do pay at Nedbank must bring proof of their payment to the VFS application centre when they attend their appointment.

The VFS application centres in South Africa have recently relocated to newer and larger premises and have revised their opening times for the submission of applications to 08:00 to 15:00 hrs Monday to Friday. Full details of these changes can be found on the VFS website www.vfs-uk-za.com or by calling 082 234 4450.

With the Bird Flu going around and the likes, are we going to see an increase in completing health forms on arrival at the various countries that we visit? This week saw Angola introducing a health form which is to be completed on arrival in the country. Question is if it is left to the individual to complete how honest will the form be completed. I mean if you are sick are you really gonna stick you hand up to be counted and say hey look at me I am sick deport me back where I cam from. Personally I believe that the forms should be completed with integrity as it affects all of us. Naturally more so the people that were confined in the aircraft with that person, as was the case with the scare of the 12 year old boy that flew in from the USA.

I have taken the liberty in attaching the form below so you can see the form for yourself and make your own conclusion.

Angolan Health Form

ASATA has sent out a call to all agents to help curb GDS wastage. What does it mean? Simply put it means stop going to 5 travel agents creating 5 bookings for the same flight. The airline makes payment for each and every segment booked. So your shopping around is costing the airlines. This WILL put up the fees for making bookings in the future albeit you pay the agent or the airline direct. To keep the industry afloat and alive everyone needs to do their fair share. As clients only make a booking when you have the correct dates times at the right price. If you are a travel agent curb on making bookings for people who are shopping around and might come back to you. This is a change in the industry and the mindset of clients and agents alike and everyone needs to work together in making this change in South Africa as a whole as we currently have the worst GDS wastage in the world!

Here is a document  sent out by ASATA making the plee

Well the Confed (I see it as aTravel event) cup is in full swing and I can proudly admit that I was part of the crowd at the opening at Ellis park yesterday. Wow it was fantastic, the kids paint and the smooth and which everything happened was awesome. I must admit that I am a rugby and a cricket fan by nature however to be live with such a crown at Ellis park was mind blowing and awe inspiring to be a part of. The event really is well organised and generally did have it’s hiccups. to name a few:

• We could not find an food! I heard reports today that the food was shocking? Wow guys you were lucky to find it in the first place, either or guys this is not on.
• We went on the park and ride at Bezuidenhout Park. Parking was easy and we got on buses well within time, arrived at the stadium and got in without a hitch. The problem we did encounter was on the return. We went looking for the bus to take us back, I mean there were over a dozen buses binging us to the stadium with dozens of taxis however when we finally found the place to stand, there was no transport there. Guys communicate with the crown and use your head, tell the guys what is going on, we ended up adding to the chaos and finding our own taxi back, it was a shambles guys and hope it was an intense learning curve.

Ok so that was my two cents on what needs to be worked on now there are things that must not change.

• The stadium is spotless, please lets keep it that way
• The flow of fans in and out was brilliant
• The crown and the vuvuzelas wow I think they are going to me mass exported by the ton, the stadium is alive with noise, fun, excitement and passion for the game.
• R30 for secure parking and a bus trip, R70 for a match ticket, this really is value for money guys and money well spent will definitely do it again in a heart beat!
• It is refreshing to see the construction is completed and that you are walking around a finished product!
• CHANGE: This is the rolly polly motion of your arms which happened around the 60th minute of the game where fans wanted the coach to change players, really unique and done with electrifying passion, nice guys well done!
• Shoza Loza: Done in a deep tone and the swaying movement of the crowd it is brilliant!

It is clear I enjoyed my time yesterday and will definitely be back, well done all. I am proud to be a South African Soccer supporter. I do however have one parting request. Please Bafana Bafana can we win a game, score even when the goal is open and stop tripping over your own feet.

Well yesterday I had the experience of going through what it takes to apply for the UK visa. Personally I travel on a British passport however my wife has a South African one. During the two and a half hours that I spent at the VFS office in Sandton city I came up with a  few points that I would like to share on what I learnt and noticed.

There is no application center in Bloemfontein which means that anyone wanting to apply must drive 400 kilometers to JHB to apply and then drive back again only to come back 10 days later to collect the passport. This equates to 2 round trips and over 1600 kilometers, in rand terms that is over R1200 excluding the mileage on your Vehicle and associated costs.

You cannot go to Europe/’ the UK on a  temporary South African passport. OK this I knew this as do all the travel agents however you have to feel for the guy coming from Bloem, as it does not advise this anywhere on the UK VFS website at all.

After queuing for an hour outside in the hall we finally made it inside, to sit and watch the wombles on TV, with no kids in the waiting room wow guys you really looking out for your clients and their needs in the waiting room well one!

There are 2 security people manning the door and letting people in and controlling the flow of people and the various ques that are there. All I can say on this is be aware when you Que and keep making sure you are in the right ques as I noticed and advise some ladies that were ushered into the wrong ques and ended up loosing half a dozen places in the ques. Not sharp!

There is no pre checking when you arrive no one you can ask a quick question from you need to que and make sure everything is spot on before applying. This is great in an ideal world however it would be more professional and facilitate the process a lot more if there was some sort of a welcome desk or person that is on hand to answer questions. There were numerous amounts of people that got to the front to learn that they could not pay there for their visa and they must pay in advance into a Nedbank. This is on the website sure however it highlights the need for a welcome person.

Ok so the que moved and we chair hopped until we got to the front and sat with someone who checked the application form, they shoved it in a folder bag with the supporting documents, supporting documents are not checked what so ever they are just shoved in the folder.

Then we were off to que again for the Biometric part of the application. Just a note that with over 100 people in the que there that day there were 2 staff accepting applications and 1 person doing the Bio metric side of things. For 100 people wow it just really is not efficient at all.

Another misconception that I have seen happening is that you need an appointment. No this is not true for during the week this is just if you would like to apply on Saturday, another note on this the first appointment date is 01 August!

These are the facts, do your homework as help and efficiency is in very short supply when applying for the UK visa.