South Africans can now only visit 100 visa-free destinations

The SA passport has lost access to a visa-free destination, according to the latest Henley & Partners Passport Index for 2026.

Feb 23, 2026 - 19:00
18213
South Africans can now only visit 100 visa-free destinations

The South African passport has climbed the ranks but has also lost access to a visa-free destination in February 2026, according to the latest Henley Passport Index, which reveals the newest rankings of all of the world’s passports and visa-free destinations.

The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their passport-holders can travel to visa-free.

“With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.” Henley & Partners says.

South African passport moves up one spot on the passport index, but it’s not all good news

And now, according to these rankings, the SA passport has moved up from its previous position at 48 in January 2026, now ranking at number 47 on the list of 199 passports.

The updated index also revealed that South Africans with a passport can now only travel to 100 destinations without requiring a visa. This is down from 101 in January, having now lost visa-free access to the Falkland Islands.

Here is the updated list of all the visa-free, visa-on-arrival, and eTA-required destinations South Africans can travel to, as per the Henley Passport Index:

RegionCountryEntry Type
AfricaAngolaVisa-free
AfricaBeninVisa-free
AfricaBotswanaVisa-free
AfricaBurundiVisa-free
AfricaCape Verde IslandsVisa-free
AfricaComoro IslandsVisa-free
AfricaDjiboutiVisa-free
AfricaEgyptVisa on arrival
AfricaEthiopiaVisa on arrival
AfricaeSwatiniVisa-free
AfricaGabonVisa-free
AfricaGhanaVisa-free
AfricaGuinea-BissauVisa on arrival
AfricaKenyaVisa-free
AfricaLesothoVisa-free
AfricaMadagascarVisa on arrival
AfricaMalawiVisa-free
AfricaMauritiusVisa-free
AfricaMozambiqueVisa-free
AfricaNamibiaVisa-free
AfricaRéunionVisa-free
AfricaRwandaVisa-free
AfricaSenegalVisa-free
AfricaSeychellesETA required
AfricaSierra LeoneVisa on arrival
AfricaTanzaniaVisa-free
AfricaThe GambiaVisa-free
AfricaTunisiaVisa-free
AfricaZambiaVisa-free
AfricaZimbabweVisa-free
AmericasArgentinaVisa-free
AmericasBelizeVisa-free
AmericasBoliviaVisa on arrival
AmericasBrazilVisa-free
AmericasChileVisa-free
AmericasCosta RicaVisa-free
AmericasEcuadorVisa-free
AmericasEl SalvadorVisa-free
AmericasGuatemalaVisa-free
AmericasGuyanaVisa-free
AmericasHondurasVisa-free
AmericasNicaraguaVisa-free
AmericasPanamaVisa-free
AmericasParaguayVisa-free
AmericasPeruVisa-free
AmericasUruguayVisa-free
AmericasVenezuelaVisa-free
AsiaCambodiaVisa on arrival
AsiaHong Kong (SAR China)Visa-free
AsiaIndonesiaVisa on arrival
AsiaKyrgyzstanVisa on arrival
AsiaLaosVisa on arrival
AsiaMalaysiaVisa-free
AsiaMaldivesVisa on arrival
AsiaMacao (SAR China)Visa-free
AsiaNepalVisa on arrival
AsiaPalestinian TerritoryETA required
AsiaPhilippinesVisa-free
AsiaSingaporeVisa-free
AsiaSri LankaETA required
AsiaTajikistanVisa on arrival
AsiaThailandVisa-free
AsiaTimor-LesteVisa on arrival
AsiaSouth KoreaETA required
CaribbeanAntigua and BarbudaVisa-free
CaribbeanBahamasVisa-free
CaribbeanBarbadosVisa-free
CaribbeanBritish Virgin IslandsVisa-free
CaribbeanCayman IslandsVisa-free
CaribbeanDominicaVisa-free
CaribbeanDominican RepublicVisa-free
CaribbeanGrenadaVisa-free
CaribbeanHaitiVisa-free
CaribbeanJamaicaVisa-free
CaribbeanMontserratVisa-free
CaribbeanSt. HelenaVisa-free
CaribbeanSt. Kitts and NevisETA required
CaribbeanSt. LuciaVisa-free
CaribbeanSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesVisa-free
CaribbeanTrinidad and TobagoVisa-free
CaribbeanTurks and CaicosVisa-free
EuropeGeorgiaVisa-free
EuropeRussian FederationETA required
Middle EastArmeniaVisa on arrival
Middle EastIranVisa on arrival
Middle EastIsraeleta required
Middle EastJordanVisa on arrival
Middle EastOmanVisa-free
Middle EastQatarVisa on arrival
Middle EastSaudi ArabiaVisa on arrival
OceaniaCook IslandsVisa-free
OceaniaFijiVisa-free
OceaniaKiribatiVisa-free
OceaniaMarshall IslandsVisa on arrival
OceaniaMicronesiaVisa-free
OceaniaNiueVisa on arrival
OceaniaPalau IslandsVisa on arrival
OceaniaSamoaVisa on arrival
OceaniaTuvaluVisa on arrival
OceaniaVanuatuVisa-free

This article has been sourced from various publicly available news platforms around the world. All intellectual property rights remain with the original publishers and authors. Unshared News does not claim ownership of the content and provides it solely for informational and educational purposes voluntarily. If you are the rightful owner and believe this content has been used improperly, please contact us for prompt removal or correction.