Can I study in South Africa on a visitor's visa?

Usually not. A visitor's visa issued under the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 is for visiting. It does not permit study, except in the limited circumstances the regulations allow. If your purpose in coming to South Africa is to study, the ordinary position is that you need a study visa, and that you must get it before you arrive.

People arrive at this question in two ways. Some are already here on a visitor's visa, have been accepted by a university or college, and hope to enrol and sort the paperwork out later. Others are planning the trip and have been told by a recruiter or an agent that they can "come on a visitor's visa and change it here". Both approaches carry real risk.

The risk is not abstract. Studying outside the terms of your visa is a breach of its conditions. It can lead to you being declared undesirable, which bars you from returning for a period and damages every application you make afterwards, including permanent residence. Institutions also check. Most require proof of a valid study visa at registration and again at each re-registration, so the plan tends to collapse at the registration desk rather than at the border.

The regulations do allow study in some narrow situations, and they have been amended over the years. Short courses, exchange arrangements and certain dependants have at various times been treated differently. Do not read that as a loophole you can rely on. Check the current regulations and the Department of Home Affairs' current practice, in writing where you can, before you commit money to fees or flights.

How it actually works, step by step

1. Get the acceptance letter first. A study visa application rests on an offer or confirmation of registration from a learning institution registered in South Africa. Without it there is nothing to apply on.

2. Apply for the study visa before you travel. In most cases you apply at the South African embassy, high commission or consulate in your country. Whether an application or a change of status can be made from inside South Africa depends on the current regulations, and that has changed, so confirm before you plan around it.

3. Meet the supporting requirements. Medical and radiological reports, police clearances where required, proof of medical cover with a South African scheme where required, proof of sufficient funds, and, for a minor, the consent of both parents and details of the guardian in South Africa.

4. Receive a visa tied to the institution and the course. The study visa names where and what you are studying. Changing institution or changing to an unrelated course is usually a new application, not an administrative update.

5. Register, and keep proof. The institution will want the visa. Keep a copy of everything.

6. Renew before it expires. A study visa is issued for a period linked to the course and must be renewed before expiry, on time and with the institution's confirmation of continued registration. Read how to renew a South African visa.

7. Understand that a study visa is not a work visa. Study visas often carry limited conditions about part-time work, and those conditions have changed. Read what is endorsed on your own visa and check the current position. If you want to work after graduating, that is a different application. Read which visa do I need to work in South Africa.

A worked example

The facts below are illustrative only and are not a real case.

Blessing is 19, from Zimbabwe, and has been accepted by a college in Johannesburg for a two-year diploma starting in February. An agent tells her that study visas take too long and that she should come on a visitor's visa in January and "convert" once she is here. He charges her a fee for this advice.

Her aunt in Johannesburg checks the position instead. She confirms that a visitor's visa does not permit study, and that whether a change to a study visa can be made from inside South Africa depends on the current regulations. She also phones the college, which confirms that registration requires a valid study visa.

Blessing therefore applies at the South African mission in Zimbabwe in October, well before the February start. She gets the acceptance letter from the college, has the medical and radiological reports done, arranges medical cover with a South African scheme, obtains a police clearance, and provides proof of funds and of where she will live. Because she is over eighteen she does not need the parental consent documents a minor would.

The visa is issued in January, tighter than she would have liked, and she registers in February on time. Had she followed the agent's advice, the likely outcome was a wasted flight, a refused registration, and a real risk of being found to have breached her visitor's visa conditions.

What to do this week

1. Get the acceptance or registration letter from the institution, in writing and on its letterhead.
2. Check the current requirements for a study visa on the Department of Home Affairs website and with the South African mission in your country.
3. Book the mission appointment now. Waiting times, not paperwork, are what make most applicants late for the academic year.
4. Arrange medical cover with a South African scheme if the current requirements call for it.
5. Start the medicals, radiological report and any police clearance, because these take the longest.
6. If you are already here on a visitor's visa, do not enrol until you have checked the position. Get advice first.
7. Cost it out. See what immigration costs.

Documents to gather

• Passport, valid well beyond the intended period of study, with blank pages
• Official acceptance or confirmation of registration from a registered learning institution
• Proof of payment or provisional payment of fees, where required
• Proof of medical cover with a South African medical scheme, where required
• Medical report and radiological report
• Police clearance certificates where required, from every country lived in for twelve months or more since age eighteen
• Proof of sufficient funds to support yourself
• Proof of accommodation in South Africa
• For a minor: unabridged birth certificate, consent of both parents, and details and consent of the guardian in South Africa
• Undertaking by the parents or guardian to pay for the studies and for departure, where required
• Completed forms, photographs and proof of the fee

A realistic timeline

Home Affairs and mission processing times vary widely, differ from country to country, and have changed repeatedly. These are broad ranges only, and you should check the current published position.

• Getting the acceptance letter: weeks to months, depending on the institution's admissions cycle.
• Medicals, medical cover and police clearances: weeks to several months.
• Mission appointment availability: often weeks, and worse in the months before the academic year starts.
• Decision after submission: commonly a few months, sometimes longer.
• Appeal after a refusal: several further months. See how to appeal a visa rejection from Home Affairs and the visa rejection appeal letter template.

Work backwards from the registration date and add a comfortable margin. An academic year does not wait.

Common mistakes and what they cost

• Coming on a visitor's visa intending to study. The visitor's visa does not permit study, the institution usually will not register you, and you risk being declared undesirable.
• Believing an agent who promises a conversion here. Whether a change of status can be made from inside South Africa depends on the current regulations, which have changed. Read can I change my visa status from inside South Africa.
• Enrolling on a relative's or dependant's visa without checking. Study is a separate category. Read what is a relative's visa and who qualifies.
• Changing institution or course without a new application. The visa names the institution and the course.
• Working beyond what the visa allows. The permitted hours, if any, are endorsed on your visa and the rules have changed. Working outside them puts your status at risk.
• Letting the study visa lapse between academic years. Read what happens if my visa expires while I am in South Africa.
• For minors, missing the parental consent documents. This is the most common cause of refusal in school applications.

If you cannot afford an attorney

You apply yourself. Study visa applications are normally made at the South African embassy, high commission or consulate in your country, and applications in South Africa go through VFS Global where the category allows it. The requirements are published. Most universities and larger colleges have an international students office that helps with the paperwork at no charge, and that office is the fastest source of accurate, current guidance. The Department of Home Affairs contact centre answers questions on requirements and status. University law clinics advise on immigration matters at no charge. The South African Human Rights Commission takes complaints about official conduct, including where a child is being refused access to schooling. Lawyers for Human Rights and the Scalabrini Centre assist refugees and asylum seekers, including on schooling for asylum seeker children. If you are detained for deportation, Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 helps in detention and deportation matters, and you should read what your rights are if you are detained for deportation. See legal aid.

Frequently asked questions

People ask whether a short course counts as study. The regulations treat some short courses and exchange arrangements differently, and this has changed, so ask the institution and check the current rules rather than assuming. They ask whether a child already here on a dependant's or relative's visa can attend school. Study is a separate category and you should check the position for your child rather than enrolling and hoping. They ask whether they can work part-time on a study visa. Study visas may carry limited work conditions, the rules have changed, and what matters is what is endorsed on your own visa. They ask what happens after graduation. Staying on to work is a fresh application in a work category, and whether you can make it from inside the country depends on the current regulations. Read can my employer sponsor my work visa. They ask whether years on a study visa count towards permanent residence, and in most cases study time does not count towards the five-year work route. Use the permanent residence and citizenship calculator and read how to get permanent residence in South Africa.