CLIHM Educator Handbook: Preparing for Service

Visa

  1. Your physical passport which must be valid for at least 180 days from date of arrival in South Sudan.
  2. Application form must be completed and signed by the applicant. Please note that applications printed on both sides of the paper will not be accepted, and visa will not be processed until it is replaced.
  3. Two (2) passport-sized photos (2 inches by 2 inches).
  4. Invitation letter addressed to the Embassy of South Sudan from the ELCSS/S (see the Invitation Letter section below) explaining the purpose of your travel.
  5. American Nationals and holders of U.S. Green Cards who are traveling to South Sudan with American Passports, and U.S. Travel Documents, must fulfill all visa requirements and will be CHARGED a visa fee of $160.00 (USD). Money order payable to “The Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan” are also accepted.
  6. A self-addressed return envelope (UPS, USPS, FedEx) with sufficient prepaid postage for those using mail services.
  1. If all requirements are fulfilled, the visa will be issued within five business days.
  2. The Embassy is only authorized to grant single-entry visas for regular passports at this time. Multiple entry visas are only granted to diplomatic and official passports.
  3. Any request for extension of stay in South Sudan must be addressed to, and handled with, the South Sudan Ministry of Interior, Directorate of Nationality, Passports, and Immigration BEFORE the expiration of your visa.
  4. Visa applicants without all the requirements will not be processed.

For detailed information on South Sudanese entry visas, please also visit the embassy’s website or email them.

Invitation Letter

  1. Email Bishop Peter Anibati Abia and ask for an invitation letter (his contact information can be found here). You will have a copy as an email attachment in a few days.
  2. You need to carry this invitation letter from the bishop with your passport, as you will need this letter to enter South Sudan in Juba and to continue your trip to Yambio in a smaller aircraft.

Health and Immunization

  1. Your health must permit long hours of air travel (17-21 hours), two weeks of long teaching hours in a very warm tropical climate with average temperatures of 80°F and relative humidity of 64.88%.
  2. Prior to travel, you will need to visit your family medical doctor or a community health nurse for required shots/pills/immunizations for healthy living in South Sudan. Malaria and typhoid are common in South Sudan.
  3. You will need to purchase the travel insurance for your trip (click here). There are different options you can consider but generally the Trip Armor basic coverage for around $30 should suffice for providing the medical evacuation coverage and other benefits.
  4. You will need a pre-malaria pill. This treatment will often start a week prior to take-off and continues for a week or two after you return to the USA.
  5. In view of the rapidly changing and unpredictable COVID-19 and other health related regulations, you may want to check out COVID-19 test requirements once you arrive in Juba from Yambio for both countries of transit and destination, in this case Ethiopia and the U.S./Canada, respectively.

Travel Reservations

You may directly make your bookings on your chosen airline’s website or through a travel agent or one of the online booking tools (Google Flight, Priceline, Bookings, Hotwire, etc.). We had been using Key Travel, but their service has not been the best. LHF has an account that will be charged.

Key Travel
Serve Team 3
Joann Schmidt | Pam Turner | Susan Wilcocks | Daniel Altman
T: (844) 882-3234 (to reach first available Serve Team 3 team member)
T: (716) 754-9232 (Main Line)
Email: serveteam3.us@keytravel.com
Website: http://keytravel.com

You can also use the travel agent the synod uses for international flight reservations:

TravelPlex Travel and Cruises: a division of Tzell Travel
Contact person: Rachel Arnold
rarnold01@charter.net
rachel@travelplex.com
Fax: 36-391-2896
Cell: (314) 578-1655

Visiting professors are responsible for raising funds toward their return air tickets which seasonally vary in cost, ranging from $1,000 to $2,400. If you are unable to generate the total cost for your ticket, there may be some assistance from LHF.

When you book your tickets through Addis Ababa (with the Ethiopian Airlines or other carriers), you will check your luggage all the way to Juba, South Sudan, and the same applies for your return trip from Juba to your destination in the US/Canada. You also can find out how many bags you are allowed on the international leg of the trip. Some airlines allow two free 50 lb bags, others allow a third bag.