The hunt for the South Sudanese e-visa
It is usually a great thing when a country decides to introduce an e-visa. It saves you either the hassle of going to an embassy or sending in the documents, which in my case has already led to the loss of a passport. Therefore, the fact that South Sudan, the youngest country in the world, has been offering an e-visa for a few months now got me excited.
After booking the flights to the country’s capital city Juba I started my application for the South Sudanese e-visa. If I had known how much effort this would take, I probably would have preferred to submit my documents the old school way by mail…
30.03.2021 – applying for the South Sudanese e-visa
You can submit your e-visa application on https://evisa.gov.ss/. On this website, you have to fill out a ten-page form and upload some documents. So far so good.
The form is actually straightforward. Problems arise when yo want to upload the documents. According to the form you have to upload the following:
- A passport photo with the dimensions 2×2 inch (5x5cm)
- The copy of your passport photo page
- A negative Covid test
- A copy of your yellow fever certificate
Just the fact that you have to send a Covid test is weird. Supposedly, you can just upload a screenshot with the entry requirements or a text saying that you will have a negative PCR test result with you when you enter the country. Since I got my test result, which I needed for my Uzbekistan trip, on the same day of the visa application I just uploaded that.
I did not have a passport photo with the sizes 2×2 inch. That’s why, I took another passport photo and used an image editor to enlarge the margins so that it was in a square format. I also scanned the passport page with the photo and the yellow fever certificate.
When I tried to upload the documents, I received an error message. All documents must be no larger than 293KB. I mean… seriously? 293KB for a PDF is still easily doable. With a JPG, which is 2MB, it becomes more challenging. However, with the help of my girlfriend, who is a graphic designer, I got it done and sent the application. My credit card then was charged $120.
31.03.2021 – a request for correction.
The next day I logged back into the South Sudanese e-visa Portal and noticed a message for me, “please kindly add a letter of invitation (LOI) to your application.”
A LOI was mentioned on the first page of the form I filled out the day before. However, among the documents to upload, there was no field labeled letter of invitation. There was one named other documents. However, it was not marked with a (*), so I interpreted it as optional. Besides, I read on another website that a LOI is only required of business travelers. Anyway, they asked me to send a LOI, otherwise I would not get my South Sudanese e-visa.
First I asked my hotel if they issue LOI, which they denied. Then I wrote to my guide that I needed a LOI. He said: sure, no problem, costs $100. Okay, then just add another $100 on top. I sent him a passport photo and my passport number as a result. It would take a few days, he said.
By the way, I found out later that sometimes the South Sudanese e-visa is issued without LOI. Sometimes the authorities ask for it, sometimes they don’t. Seems to be a matter of luck.
02.04.2021 – the six blank pages
Two days later I discovered a post online where someone asks if anyone has ever had problems entering a country because they had too few blank pages in their passport. What this has to do with the South Sudanese e-visa? A lot. Because one answer to that question was that someone almost couldn’t enter South Sudan two months before because he only had four blank pages in their passport and South Sudan requires six blank pages. Yes, you read that right: six!!!
I got nervous when I looked into my passport. Unfortunately, I only had three blank pages left. And another three about half empty pages. At first I asked myself if I should risk it. However, South Sudan is a highly corrupt country and I didn’t want to be turned away at customs because of such a trifle. So I decided to get my second passport from the passport office back home (I have two Swiss passports, but I can only carry one at a time and must deposit the other one).
The problem was that I was just in Uzbekistan when I realized that I have not enough blank pages in my passport. I could not pick up the other one in the next three days. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the number of this passport and I neither had a scan. In fact, I had never seen the passport before as it was replaced only a few months ago.
The second problem was that I wondered how long the South Sudanese authorities would keep my visa application pending before rejecting it. They clearly state incomplete application will be rejected. To be on the safe side, I sent an email to the email address I found in the portal saying that I need to get a passport with enough blank pages, which will delay the whole process a bit. I never received an answer of course.
Besides, I also told my guide to stop the LOI process, as I would have to send him a new passport scan.
06.04.2021: the new passport
I picked up my second passport on the day I returned from Uzbekistan and immediately sent a photo to my guide.
07.04.2021: a new idea
One day later, my guide had a glorious idea. He told me I could contact the River Camp Hotel in Juba, as they would issue LOIs free of charge. A bit skeptical I asked if he is sure about that. It did not sound very credible that the hotel would send people a LOI unless they have a reservation with them. My guide, however, insisted that they would do it even if I don’t have a reservation.
Therefore, I contacted the River Camp Hotel and asked if they can help me out. They answered within 30 minutes: “sure, we can help. Do you need a reservation?” I answered that I would not need a reservation, but of course I would come by to have dinner and a few drinks there.
I never heard back.
09.04.2021: no one in the office
Since the plan with the River Camp didn’t work out, the new plan was the old one again: a LOI for $100. My guide had actually promised me to get my LOI by 04/09, a Friday. On this day, however, he wrote me in the late morning that he wanted to get the letter just now, but nobody was in the office. His colleague, who should have written the LOI, was already in the weekend. TiA! This is Africa!
That was the point at which I expressed concern for the first time. My e-visa had been pending for 10 days and I feared that it could be rejected at any time. “Don’t worry about it. The authorities are also off for the weekend and they won’t reject the visa on Saturday or Sunday,” my guide said. Good point.
12.04.2021: the LOI is here!
Good news followed on Monday. My guide sent me the letter of invitation. Finally I had everything I needed for the South Sudanese e-visa. Well, almost. Because when I looked at the LOI, I realized that the dates were not correct. According to the LOI I would arrive one day later than I actually planned.
When I saw that, I had to pull myself together so I wouldn’t freak out. Three pieces of information about me had to go on the LOI: my name, my passport number, my travel dates. For me, it was just unbelievable that they apparently still couldn’t get everything right on this important piece of paper. And that at a price of 100 dollars.
After I protested against this incorrect document, my guide went back to the office again to ask for a correction. This was done and I had the correct document on Monday evening so that I could update the e-visa application.
12.04.2021: the South Sudanese e-visa has been approved
A few hours after I submitted the update of my application, it was actually approved. Thank God. What looked like a pretty simple visa, turned into a very tedious affair in the end. It was not my most difficult visa, that was probably still the one from Pakistan. By the way, as irony would have it, Pakistan introduced an e-visa only a few weeks after my visit.
Barely two weeks after I received my South Sudanese e-visa, I then entered my 115th country. It was a totally crazy trip in which this e-visa played another role, both entering and leaving the country…
Wanna read my trip report about South Sudan? Link follows soon.
