South Africa has launched an Electronic Travel Authorisation that captures a live image of the applicant online, part of a migration process President Cyril Ramaphosa said would become less dependent on passports and more reliant on biometric information.
Ramaphosa launched the system at OR Tambo International Airport on 12 August alongside Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, with Border Management Authority Commissioner Michael Masiapato leading a walkthrough. The Presidency describes the ETA as combining biometric verification, machine learning and an upgraded Electronic Movement Control System, eMCS 2.0, and calls it the flagship reform of the Department of Home Affairs’ digital transformation programme. Ramaphosa said the system would strengthen biometric verification, improve risk assessment and let authorities know more about travellers before they arrived rather than only afterwards. “A modern immigration system is not a weaker immigration system,” he said. “It is a smarter immigration system.”
The application runs through five steps: photograph the passport, answer questions about the applicant and the trip, take a live picture of the applicant, pay the fee, and submit for what the department describes as an instant outcome. Applications are handled online rather than at a consulate, removing the in-person appointment that a traditional visitor’s visa requires.
An ETA is tied to the traveller’s passport and is typically valid for six months from issue, permitting multiple entries with each stay capped at 90 days. It is not designed to support repeated extended stays. It is available to travellers arriving at OR Tambo International, Cape Town International and Lanseria International. Work is not permitted on an ETA, and approval does not guarantee entry, with the final decision resting with the immigration officer at the port of entry.
The ETA replaces a traditional visitor’s visa for eligible travellers from visa-required countries, while visa-exempt travellers can also apply to speed up processing at the border. The system followed a pilot run during South Africa’s G20 Presidency. It also lands on infrastructure the department has been assembling for some time, having tendered for 600 handheld biometric devices for immigration checks and linked its migration enforcement plan to a biometric digital ID.
Funding has followed the same direction, with the department tabling an R11 billion budget covering digital identity and border security.
Sources: The Presidency, Hypertext, IOL
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
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