I am waiting on a response from the South African Embassy, Washington DC. We live in Maryland.

I need advice on the number of days they are looking for on our Proof of Tentative Accommodation.

We have an appointment in July to submit our Retirement Visa application.

It seems impossible to arrange a lease without a Visa, let alone needing a SA funds bank account. Which requires other things we obviously don't have yet.

Even if possible we do not want to lease site unseen regardless.

VRBO etc options are too high risk with up front payments and high penalty fees if our approval takes too long. Kind of crazy we need a tentative accommodation with set dates.

So, real experience please. Is 20 days good? I think anything longer is difficult to book in our situation.

We do plan the first 3 to 4 days at Sandton Sun. Then hoping 20 days at a hotel near Fourways gives us enough time to arrange something long term in the area. Houss seems to be reasonable, but as I noted we can't apply without a Visa and bank account.

Thanks in advance.