South Georgia’s visit permit rises to £250 from 1 July 2026
The Commissioner of South Georgia has published a gazette notice setting new visitor permit tariffs and a tighter submission deadline. Permits now cost £250 per person and must be requested and paid up to eight days before arrival.
As cruise clients had warned us, the visit permit for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands now costs £250 €291.1 per person from 1 July 2026, up from the previous £200 €232.88.
What the Commissioner’s notice sets out
The notice is made under the Entry Control Ordinance 2022, which governs entry to the territory. It introduces a three-season tariff grid, published in one go:
From | Tariff per person |
|---|---|
1 July 2026 | £250 €291.1 |
1 July 2027 | £275 €320.21 |
1 July 2028 | £300 €349.32 |
Permits are purchased via eta.entry.gov.gs, either singly or in bulk. Operators and travel agencies may continue to buy permits on behalf of their passengers—the normal route, since the vast majority of visitors arrive aboard expedition ships or private yachts.
The filing calendar has tightened
This is the change most often overlooked. The request and the payment must now be submitted and settled no later than eight days before the expected arrival date. After that point, the government charges an extra £50 €58.22 per permit before it will even begin processing the application.
There is no waiver: a request received three days or less in advance is automatically rejected. Once issued, a permit is valid for 40 days from the start date, with a possible 30-day extension if properly justified.
When the electronic portal opened in April 2025, the tariff was £200 and applications were accepted up to 14 days before arrival. The rise therefore comes with a shorter window, not a longer one.
A stopover that must be arranged with your operator, not on arrival
South Georgia has no health-care facilities for visitors and no search-and-rescue service. The government states plainly: visiting vessels must be fully self-sufficient, including medical cover. There is also no independent transport to the Falkland Islands or South America, at least three to five days’ sail away.
In practice, the permit cannot be obtained or regularised on the ground. Travellers sailing with an expedition company should confirm with the operator that permits are ordered in the group block and submitted before the deadline—ship operators handle the lot, but passengers bear the loss if the request is submitted too late.
A specialist in regulatory monitoring and a content destination expert, she analyzes daily changes in entry formalities to turn complex administrative processes into practical guides. Her role blends ground-level expertise with technical precision to ensure the reliability of the information provided to travelers.
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