Permit Price
From £100 depending on application route
Getting Your Firearms Permit for South Africa
South Africa is one of the world's premier hunting destinations, offering an unmatched variety of plains game and big game species across diverse habitats, from the thornveld of the Limpopo to the Karoo and the Eastern Cape. The country's professional hunting industry is well regulated and the infrastructure for visiting hunters is excellent. However, the firearms permit process requires careful planning and early submission. It is strongly recommended that UK hunters use a PHASA-registered agent to manage the process.
Last Updated:
March 5, 2026
Processing Time
10 to 15 working days officially; allow 3 to 4 weeks in practice
Authority
SAPS via PHASA-registered agent
Difficulty
Complex
Best Hunting Months
April–October (plains game), June–September (big game)
Tristan Dummer
Founder
South Africa is one of the world’s premier hunting destinations, offering an unmatched variety of plains game and big game species. The country’s professional hunting industry is well regulated and the infrastructure for visiting hunters is excellent. However, the firearms permit process requires careful planning and early submission. No UK export paperwork is required for temporarily travelling with your own firearms — the process is handled through South African authorities.
Step 1: Confirm Your Hunt and Engage a PHASA-Registered Outfitter
Confirm your hunt with a PHASA (Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa) registered outfitter. They will provide the required letter of invitation confirming dates, species, and hunting location — this is central to your permit application.
Step 2: Apply for the SAPS Form 520 Temporary Import Permit
A South African temporary import permit issued by the South African Police Service (SAPS) is required. The relevant form is SAPS Form 520. The application requires: a copy of your UK Firearm Certificate, a letter from your outfitter confirming the hunt details, a completed Form 520, and a copy of your passport. It is strongly recommended you use a PHASA-registered agent to manage this process — they have established relationships with the relevant authorities and understand current processing requirements. Allow 3 to 4 weeks from submission.
Step 3: What to Carry
Your SAPS Form 520 permit must be physically present at check-in alongside your UK Firearm Certificate and passport. The firearm must be in a hard-sided locked case, unloaded. Ammunition must be declared separately.
Step 4: Trophies and CITES
Your trophies and any game meat are subject to CITES regulations and South African export permits. Your outfitter or professional hunter will manage trophy export documentation — confirm this is included in your booking before departure.
We can manage your application for you
We handle the forms in collaboration with the authorities to make sure everything is in your hands or on your phone before you fly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some hunting and sporting competition shoots ask outfitters and hosts to organise their guests temporary firearms permits. Your outfitter will be able to do this on your behalf through the Ambulo platform or you can do it yourself.
For outfitters and hosts organising permits for their guests, please contact tristan@ambulo.co to streamline this process.
To amend your application and your permit, before you travel, you need to contact us at least 14 days before your departure date. If you need to make amends to your permit, please email tristan@ambulo.co
Generally, you do not need to buy an additional permit for your stopover. However, some countries may require you to buy an additional permit. This is generally on a country by country basis. For example, if you are travelling to Poland, but flying to Germany and driving across, you may have to buy a permit for Germany, depending on the location.
Permit costs vary depending on the country you are travelling to. Once our permits go live you will be able to see a full pricing break down. We have priced this to be roughly the same price as hiring a rifle or shotgun at your final destination. Nothing beats taking your own equipment across!
At the moment, extending the length of your permit duration is not possible. We advise that you ask your host to either add a buffer time frame to the end of your trip in case you would like to stay longer. You can of course come back earlier if needs be but the duration and date of validity for your permit is linked to your arrival and departure dates you set out in your application.
For business and partnerships, please contact tristan@ambulo.co
At the moment, Ambulo only provides permits for the destination you are hunting within. If you are driving to your destination and crossing countries, you will have to follow each countries firearm rules and restrictions. This generally means you will need a permit for each country, if you are driving through Europe, for example.
We do not offer refunds at the moment, but is something we are working on. The reason we do not offer refunds is based on the agreements set by consulates, embassies and police forces of the destination countries.
You can either scan your Firearms License, Passport and letter of invitation through a traditional printer scanner, or use an application like Turbo Scan.
If you are using an app that converts photos into a scanned file, ensure all areas of the pages you scan are clear and legible and are saved as a PDF. For people with a UK firearms license, where your certificate contains multiple pages, ensure all pages are photographed and collated into one PDF.