No visa needed

Do citizens of Sweden need a visa for South Africa?

Citizens of Sweden don’t need a visa for South Africa and can stay up to 90 days. You need a valid passport; border officers may ask for a return ticket and accommodation. For a longer stay you need a visa or an extension.

For citizens of Sweden: the passport opens 122 countries visa-free; Stockholm — Pretoria: ≈ 9,510 km, about 12.5 hours of flying.

Checked by visa analyst Albert Brown, 13 years of experience · September 26, 2026

At a glance

No visa needed

Stay: 90 days

Can I travel to South Africa without a visa on a Sweden passport?

Yes, citizens of Sweden don’t need a visa for South Africa for up to 90 days. A valid passport is enough.

South Africa visa rules at a glance

With a Sweden passport you can visit 122 countries visa-free, 27 with a visa on arrival and 35 with an e-visa; 14 more require an embassy visa.
By the number of visa-free destinations, the Sweden passport ranks 6th of 199.
Sweden passport: visa-free access to 122 countries; South Africa passport: 60.
Citizens of Sweden and South Africa can travel together visa-free to 51 countries, for example: Tunisia, Georgia, Palestine, Gambia, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Seychelles, Bahamas, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Macau, and Haiti.
Citizens of South Africa, in turn, need an embassy visa to travel to Sweden. Sweden visa for citizens of South Africa

Travelling to South Africa: good to know

Stockholm — Pretoria: about 9,510 km in a straight line; a direct flight takes roughly 12.5 hours.
No time difference with your country’s capital.
Local currency: South African Rand.
Languages: Afrikaans, English, South Ndebele, and Northern Sotho.
Exchange rate: $1.00 ≈ ZAR 16.
South Africa is the 160th closest of 197 destinations open to citizens of Sweden.