Visas & Travel in SA
This year has certainly been an interesting one. With some days, it’s probably easier to just stay in bed and binge all the new Netflix series that keeps popping up. While other days. It’s awake at four A.M To Carpe Diem.
And the Superyachting industry is no different. But we aren’t giving up. This year may not have been what we expected but there have been some great stories to come out out it. And if anything, it has taught us the most valuable lesson, to not take things for granted.
On the 11th of November, President Rhamphosa announced a new set of regulations for the Lockdown Level 1. Now as Superyachting Crew, the thing that jumped out at us was the International Tavel news. As we know the past season hasn’t been easy because all our job opportunities were capped by being able to travel to jobs and being able to get home when on leave.
New Regulations on International Travel: What we know
1. All international flights, whether coming or going, will only be allowed through O.R Tambo International, King Shaka International or Cape Town International
2. The previous “high-risk” no-flight-list, announced in October, has been abolished. Which means that people who are travelling from those countries or to those countries are now allowed to return to South Africa.
3. Any Person travelling internationally has to provide a valid certificate of a negative test which will have to be done 72 hours before.
Failure to provide a Certificate will mean a period of quarantine at their own expense.
Visas, Consulates, And European COVID Statistics
According to news reports, Europe is currently experiencing a second wave of infections and many countries are once again heading into lockdown This could not only pause your application process but also could lead European Consulates to not accept applications.
Also with each country creating their own lockdown regulations, you may not be able to enter into countries that are on lockdown or not allowing seafarers in. We highly recommend that you get in touch with SA yachties about which Consulates are currently taking Schengen visa applications and are open.
United States Visa Update
According to Travel.state.gov site. The American Government has created a phased resumption of routine visa services in July 2020. This means that the American Embassy will open on a post-by-post basis, consistent with the guidance for safely returning U.S Citizens to the facilities. Simply, the American Government are only going to open their embassies slowly once they feel that the embassy keeps its citizens safe.
Unfortunately, The U.S Embassy has not announced which Facilities are open yet. So we recommended you contact the American Embassy in South Africa to find out.
Helpful contacts to know.
In this industry. It’s all about networking. If you are in the yachting industry and you are looking for flights, need help with Visas, looking for jobs, or want to sign up for a Trilogy Luxury Training Superyacht Steward Course. It can sometimes be more of who you know rather than what you know.
So here is a list of contact information, that you can use to make some headway into this industry
Trilogy Luxury Training Superyacht Stewards Course – info@trilogyluxtraining.co.za
Lara Travel for All advice and booking of flights lara@laratravel.co.za
Visas – SA Yachties – jackie@southafricanyacthies.co.za
Yachtie World to build your brand and learn to digitally dock-walk – alex@yachtiepages.com
The Crew Coach for the ultimate CV toolkit – karine@thecrewcoach.com
Next Steps.
We hope that you have found this information helpful and are full steam ahead.
To keep up with all the latest information on all things Trilogy Luxury Training, yachting industry or encouragement. You can follow us on Facebook. Or to sign-up for the next available course, feel free to contact us and one of our amazing trainers will get back to you.
We are also running a BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL. So keep an Eye Out for SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING DEALS.
Trilogy provides interior training for individuals wishing to enter the Super Yacht industry and experienced individuals wishing to up-skill. Boasting the only internationally accredited and recognised training course in South Africa. We aim to provide the most up to date and industry-relevant course content, with our hands-on theory and practical based courses, this is the go-to course for anyone wishing to become a successful Superyacht Steward or Stewardess. Our Offices and Training Facility is Based in Umhlanga (Durban), South Africa, but also are willing to travel to train on-site as per our client’s needs. We also offer the Level 2 Food Hygiene course and its refreshers.
