Requirements

Requirements for Foreign Students Studying in South Africa

If you are a for­eign nation­al plan­ning to study Eng­lish at GTKEC in South Africa, there are legal, edu­ca­tion­al, and finan­cial require­ments you must meet before enrolling and enter­ing the coun­try. Below are the main require­ments, espe­cial­ly those relat­ed to Home Affairs (immi­gra­tion), plus use­ful tips to help you pre­pare

1. Study Visa / Permit

  • All inter­na­tion­al stu­dents (non-South African cit­i­zens or non-per­ma­nent res­i­dents) must obtain a study visa (tem­po­rary res­i­dence per­mit for study) pri­or to arriv­ing in South Africa
  • You must apply from your home coun­try (at a South African Embassy, High Com­mis­sion, Con­sulate, or some­times through a Visa Facil­i­ta­tion Ser­vice (VFS) office) once you have a let­ter of admis­sion from the insti­tu­tion
  • The study visa is issued for the dura­tion of your course at one insti­tu­tion. If you change insti­tu­tions, you need to apply for a change of sta­tus

2. Passport & Identity Documents

  • Valid pass­port: Your pass­port should be valid for at least 30 days after the end of your intend­ed stay/study peri­od
  • Ensure you have extra blank pages for visa stamps or trav­el endorse­ments

3. Letter of Admission

  • Before apply­ing for a study visa, you must have an offi­cial acceptance/admission let­ter from GTKEC. Refer to Reg­is­tra­tion Process

4. Proof of Financial Means

  • You will be required show you have enough funds to cov­er:
    • Tuition fees
    • Liv­ing expens­es (hous­ing, food, trans­port, etc.) for the dura­tion of the study per­mit

5. Medical Requirements and Health Cover

  • Med­ical aid / health insur­ance: You need med­ical cov­er valid for the dura­tion of your stud­ies, from a scheme reg­is­tered with South Africa’s Med­ical Schemes Act
  • Med­ical report and radi­o­log­i­cal (X‑ray) report (often less than 6 months old)

6. Police Clearance / Character Documents

  • A police cer­tifi­cate or clear­ance from your coun­try of ori­gin. If you are old­er than 18 years, this is usu­al­ly required

7. Accommodation Details

  • Proof of where you’ll stay in South Africa (home­s­tay, dorm, pri­vate hous­ing, etc.) dur­ing your stud­ies

8. Other Documents / Health Declarations

  • Yel­low fever vac­ci­na­tion cer­tifi­cate if required (depend­ing on your coun­try)

9. Application Timing

  • Apply for your study visa as ear­ly as pos­si­ble — pro­cess­ing can take 6–8 weeks or more
  • You should not plan to arrive in South Africa before your visa is grant­ed

10. Renewals / Extensions and Conditions

  • If the dura­tion of your stud­ies runs longer than the ini­tial visa, you must renew or extend the per­mit before it expires
  • Main­tain required atten­dance and aca­d­e­m­ic progress. Insti­tu­tions may report to the Depart­ment of Home Affairs if these are not met

⚠️ Important Notes

  • Study visas gen­er­al­ly do not allow full-time work. Part-time work (e.g. ≤20 hours/week) may be per­mit­ted under cer­tain con­di­tions.

🔗 Useful Official Resources

  • Depart­ment of Home Affairs (South Africa) — Apply­ing for visas & tem­po­rary res­i­dence per­mits
    Web­site: https://www.dha.gov.za (dha.gov.za)
  • VFS Glob­al — visa appli­ca­tion facil­i­ta­tion for many South Africa study visa appli­cants (onlinecourses.uct.ac.za)

Quick Visa Check­list

Scroll to Top