Spain visa requirements for South African citizens

BLS offices in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria (Consulate General in Cape Town and Embassy in Pretoria)

South Africans need a Schengen visa even for less than 90 days; only diplomatic passport holders are exempt, and service passport holders pay no fee. Applications are lodged by appointment at a BLS office, and which one depends on the province of residence: Cape Town (10th Floor, The Tower Building, 2 Hertzog Boulevard, Foreshore) or Durban (Silver Oaks Building, 36 Silverton Road, Musgrave) for the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and Pretoria for Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State and also Lesotho. The two official pages give different addresses for the Pretoria office (Menlo Park according to the Embassy, Centurion according to the Consulate), so confirm it on the BLS website when booking. The visa fee is 1,689 rand for adults and 845 for ages 6 to 12, and BLS charges a further 317 rand service fee. Applicants whose fingerprints are already on file can apply through a representative or agency. The Embassy asks for bank statements covering the last six months, stamped by the bank and issued within the last week, and six months of payslips; documents may be in English, except private documents that are not easy to interpret, which must be translated into Spanish. For the Camino de Santiago, original credentials from the Confraternity of St James are accepted. The legal deadline for a decision is 15 calendar days, extendable to 45.

Official application site →

What the visa centre can and can't do →

Fee

€90

The €90 is the short-stay Schengen visa fee, set by Article 16 of the Visa Code (Regulation (EC) 810/2009) as amended by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1415, in force since 11 June 2024. It is not a fee set by Spain: the same amount is paid at any Schengen consulate. Children from the age of 6 and under 12 pay €45, and children under 6 are exempt. Travellers entering without a visa pay no fee at all.

Processing time

Where the trip requires a Schengen visa, the consulate must decide within 15 calendar days of an admissible application being lodged. That period may be extended to a maximum of 45 calendar days in individual cases, particularly where the application needs closer examination; in justified urgent individual cases the decision is taken immediately (Regulation (EC) 810/2009, Art. 23). An application may not be lodged more than six months before the intended trip and, as a rule, no later than 15 calendar days before it; where the consulate requires an appointment, it is normally given within two weeks of being requested (Art. 9).

Required documents

• A valid passport or travel document, issued within the previous ten years and valid for at least three months beyond the date you plan to leave the Schengen area (Regulation (EU) 2016/399, Art. 6(1)(a))
• Evidence of the purpose and conditions of your stay: a booking for your accommodation or, if you are staying at a private address, a letter of invitation that your host files with the Spanish National Police (Regulation (EU) 2016/399, Art. 6(1)(c))
• A return or round-trip ticket, issued in your name, non-transferable and with a fixed date (Order PRE/1282/2007, Art. 2)

How much money you need to show

€122.10 per person per day, with a minimum of €1,098.90 per person even on a shorter trip

They are 10% and 90% of Spain's 2026 minimum wage (€1,221 a month, Royal Decree 126/2026), under Order PRE/1282/2007, so they change when the minimum wage goes up. The daily figure is multiplied by the days of your stay and by the people travelling as your dependants. You show it with cash, certified or traveller's cheques, or a credit card together with a bank statement or an up-to-date passbook. Statements printed from online banking are not accepted.

What each Schengen country asks for →

Source: European Commission, Annex 25 to the Practical Handbook for Border Guards (reference amounts notified by each State), version of 8 June 2026, and Spain's Official State Gazette (Order PRE/1282/2007 and Royal Decree 126/2026). Checked on 1 November 2026.

Health insurance

Mandatory to apply for the Schengen visa: minimum coverage of €30,000, valid across the whole Schengen area and for the entire length of the stay (Regulation (EC) 810/2009, Art. 15).

Which policies meet the €30,000 requirement →

Staying with a host instead of a hotel? Spain's letter of invitation →

When travel insurance is mandatory → Travel insurance policies ↓

How long you can stay

Schengen rule: a maximum stay of 90 days within any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area.

Calculate your available Schengen days →

Why isn't your passport being stamped? The EES system →