Frustrated kiwis are having to travel across the country to secure visas for their South African holidays since new regulations were introduced.

As of next week New Zealanders will need a visa for their holidays in South Africa.

Many of those waiting at the South African High Commission in Wellington this afternoon say they were unable to make appointments let alone talk to a representative.

Dan Joines was one of them and said it's been a difficult process.

He said he had to fly up from Christchurch to go to the Embassy in Wellington to get a visa.

“No one at the Embassy answered the telephone between 9 am and 12 Tuesday and Thursday, there was no way to actually check on any of the documents I required."

Tayla Smith travelled from Tauranga to join the many waiting at the commission this afternoon.

She said she and her partner learnt of the policy change just before Christmas and they'll lose thousands if they can't secure visas by Monday.

We looked into changing our flights. We were going to be down two grand each if we were to change anything. It's really concerning. Even if we don't get this confirmed,  we're going to have to lose that two grand and change our plans."

Ms Smith said she learnt of the policy change just before Christmas but had to wait for the commission to reopen after the holiday season to secure a visa. 

"We're really struggling so we're hoping that we can walk out today with it. We've travelled from Tauranga yesterday, it's a long way to come and not be guaranteed into the country when we've already paid for our flights and everything."