Do South Africans need a visa for Qatar?

Visa on arrivalfor South African passports

South Africans get a free visa on arrival in Qatar, usually for 30 days.

Stay30 days

Visa on arrivalFree

Difficulty 1 of 5

Last checkedChecked17 Oct 2026

What you need

Tick these off as you go. Your ticks are saved on this device.

Passport valid at least 6 months (Qatar’s minimum is 3)
Return or onward ticket
Hotel booking

How to do it

Just fly in. The visa is issued at Hamad International Airport.
Want to stay longer? You can extend once, for a fee.

Official site:

Visit Qatar: visas

Airlines decide whether you can board using a database called Timatic. Before you fly, check your route on the IATA Travel Centre.

What it costs in rand

Item	Cost
Visa on arrival	Free

Rand amounts use the exchange rate on 9 October 2026 (R16.53 to the US dollar, R18.50 to the euro, R21.87 to the pound) and are rounded. Work out your whole trip in the budget calculator.

Common problems and fixes

Asked for an onward ticket at check-in

Carry a printed return or onward booking.

Plan your trip

Best timeNovember to March

MoneyQatari riyal (QAR)

Three trip ideas

Doha

Souq Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art.

The desert

Dunes and the Inland Sea.

A stopover

Break a long flight on Qatar Airways with a night or two in Doha.

Good to know

Very hot from May to September.

Book

Flights Places to stay Tours and activities

Sources and checks

Checked17 Oct 2026

Checked on 17 Oct 2026. The official page was silent on some details or couldn’t be opened from our checker, so those details are confirmed by at least two independent sources.

officialQatar visas · Visit Qatar · no date shown
secondaryQatar visa guide 2026 · Elyforma · published 18 Apr 2026
dataPassport Index Data (visa matrix for 199 passports, updated 17 Feb 2026) · imorte, continuing the dataset by Ilya Ilyankou (MIT licence) · published 17 Feb 2026

How we check: our method and every source we use.

Spotted a change?

Rules change often. If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll check it.

Hear it first

Visa rules change every few months. Get the changes by email: one a week at most, plus urgent ones. Unsubscribe with one click.