At 10:21 in the morning, I pressed pay.
At 10:29, my phone showed a South Africa visa.
No agency. No embassy. Just my passport, my phone and a live selfie.
For Bangladeshis, that sounded too good to be true. So I want to show you exactly what happened, and exactly where it can still go wrong.
Yes, I got it online on a Bangladeshi passport. Getting in is another matter.
In September 2026 I applied for South Africa's new ETA on a Bangladeshi passport. I used the official portal, a passport scan and a live selfie. It was approved eight minutes after I paid. But approval doesn't guarantee entry; immigration at the airport decides. The fee and validity have changed since, so check the official portal for today's rules.
- What it is
- South Africa's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
- When I applied
- September 2026, from Mozambique
- My approval time
- 8 minutes after payment (10:21 → 10:29)
- How I applied
- Myself, on the official portal, eta.dha.gov.za
- Fee and validity
- They change. Check the official portal
- The catch
- ETA approval is not approval to enter
01 — September 202610:21 to 10:29
For a couple of days, this was the talk of the town in Bangladesh.
The travel and tourism industry, people on Facebook, everyone was saying the same thing: South Africa visas are now being handed out online. Even on a fresh passport with no travel history. Same day.
I live in Mozambique, right next door to South Africa. I wanted to know if it was real, so I applied myself.
I submitted the application and paid at 10:21 in the morning, local time. At 10:29, the approval was in my hands. Eight minutes.
And I wasn't the only one. Countless Bangladeshis were getting it the same way.
02 — The processHow I applied for the South Africa ETA
The first thing I learned: an agency couldn't simply do this for me.
The application needed my physical passport and my own face, live. Here is how mine went:
- I opened the official portal on my phone and created an account with my passport number.
- I logged in and scanned my physical passport with the phone. The application started from that scan.
- I filled in basic details, such as my father's and mother's names.
- I took a live selfie when it asked.
- I paid the fee.
That selfie matters. With most visas you upload a passport photo. Here, the live selfie I took during the application is the photo on my ETA.
So nobody could do it for me from a distance. It had to be my passport and my face in front of the phone.
03 — A phone callThe officer who said Bangladeshis wouldn't get it
While my application was still pending, my phone rang.
I had the number of an officer at South Africa's High Commission in Mozambique. I had recently got a visa through them. She told me straight: you won't get this as a Bangladeshi. If you were Indian, maybe.
I told her I had already submitted it, and that Bangladesh was on the list. “Okay,” she said. “Let's see what happens.” And she hung up.
Two minutes later, my approval arrived.
I sent her a message: I received it eight minutes after payment, I can't imagine it, is this real? Her reply was one word.
“Wow.”— The officer's reply
04 — The real riskGetting the visa is not getting in
Anyone who travels has heard this line: approval of your visa is not approval of your entry.
An e-visa or an ETA lets you travel. The officer at the port of entry still decides whether you walk in. They hold all the rights.
When I made the video, South African immigration had been very hard on Bangladeshi travellers for several years. Not just strict. Harsh.
There's a reason. A large number of Bangladeshis live in South Africa, and many of them are there illegally or as asylum seekers. So immigration watches Bangladeshis closely.
I see it from Mozambique. Here, we Bangladeshis have legal residence permits, work permits, business licences and established businesses. Even so, when we applied at South Africa's High Commission, it gave us short visas, sometimes just three days. That's how tightly they manage it.
And then, approval in eight minutes, online. Honestly, it felt like something falling out of the sky.
So if you fly on it, prepare as if you had applied at an embassy:
- A return ticket. This is a must.
- The same papers you would have given an embassy for a visa.
- Everything ready before you board, not after you land.
When I made the video, I hadn't flown in on this ETA. My guess was that many people would be offloaded at Dhaka airport, and many others deported after landing in South Africa. Only Allah knows, and you know, how you will get through Dhaka airport.
05 — The big questionIs the South Africa ETA a scam?
I checked. It's the government's own authorised web portal.
So I don't think it's a scam. When I applied, though, the portal had only just gone live, so it was too early to judge.
Bangladeshis have been burned before. With a visa for Tajikistan or Kazakhstan, I'm not sure which, a portal took payments and stayed open for about four or five days. Lakhs of applications came in. Then it shut down, Bangladesh was removed from the list, and everyone lost the fee they had paid. Nobody got a visa.
This time, people were actually getting what they paid for. Whether it holds up at the border was the question nobody could answer yet.
The portal I used is eta.dha.gov.za. Look-alike websites will charge you and give you nothing. The fee, validity and rules change, so check the official site before you apply.
06 — AfterwardsThen I took the risk
When I made the video, I had no plan to go.
Later, I set off for South Africa on this ETA anyway.
As a Bangladeshi passport holder, I gave myself about a one percent chance of getting in. I took the risk.
How that journey went is a story of its own. I filmed all of it: watch the vlog, “বাই রোডে সাউথ আফ্রিকা!” (in Bangla).
If you've applied, tell me in the comments on the video how long yours took.
WatchSee the approval for yourself
FAQQuestions people ask about the South Africa ETA
Can Bangladeshis get the South Africa ETA?
In September 2026, I applied on a Bangladeshi passport and was approved eight minutes after paying, and many other Bangladeshis were approved the same way. Eligibility can change, so check the official portal, eta.dha.gov.za, before applying. Approval does not guarantee entry; immigration at the airport makes the final decision.
How long did your South Africa ETA take?
Eight minutes. I paid at 10:21 in the morning and the approval arrived at 10:29.
How much does the South Africa ETA cost, and how long is it valid?
The fee and validity have changed since I applied in September 2026, so I've left them out. Check the official portal, eta.dha.gov.za, for the current fee and validity.
Can a travel agency apply for the South Africa ETA for me?
When I applied, the application needed the physical passport scanned on a phone and a live selfie of the applicant, so an agency could not do it from a distance. You apply yourself, or go in person to whoever is helping you.
Does an approved ETA guarantee entry to South Africa?
No. An ETA, like any e-visa, lets you travel; the immigration officer at the port of entry decides whether you can enter.
Is the South Africa ETA website a scam?
The portal I used, eta.dha.gov.za, is the South African government's authorised website, so I don't believe it is a scam. Avoid look-alike websites, and check the official site for the latest rules before applying.