VisaMedia crews filming with drones in South Georgia need separate flight permission
A current-rule guide to environmental approval, aviation paperwork and entry permission for professional crews planning aerial filming in South Georgia.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Identify the proposed filming activity before booking
Professional crews planning aerial filming in South Georgia should prepare an environmental application and a separate aviation application before committing to a flight programme. The government’s general drone guidance limits consideration to research or media and outreach purposes; recreational flying is prohibited. This guide concerns a crew seeking permission for its project, rather than a tourist hoping to launch a camera drone during an ordinary landing. The published guidance describes an existing system, not a new permission announced today.
The government’s Regulated Activity Permit page is the starting point for choosing the environmental application. It explains that potentially harmful activities are controlled through permits and links the current application forms. Professional media visits also have their own government contact: [email protected]. Describe the actual production and its equipment when approaching that office; being a professional filmmaker does not itself establish which environmental category the project needs.
Choose the environmental category and allow enough time
The government’s category flowchart reserves Category 1 for projects whose only activity is drone flight, using standard mitigation at recognised visitor sites during permitted landings. Its landscape-flight criteria include separation of at least 200 metres horizontally from wildlife aggregations and a minimum height of 80 metres above ground. It advises allowing up to 60 days for assessment and processing.
The same chart directs drone operations combined with other science or media and film activities into Category 2, for which it advises allowing up to 90 days. A production proposing additional filming activities should therefore describe the whole project rather than select the shorter form solely because it carries a drone. These are environmental planning allowances, not promises of approval by a particular departure. Send classification questions to [email protected] before relying on the simpler category.
Prepare the environmental file and close previous obligations
The government-linked 2026 Drone RAP form asks for the applicant’s organisation, project title, named pilots, operating dates and vessels, and an uploaded letter confirming the cruise operator’s support. It also asks whether activities involve going ashore or flights over water within 12 nautical miles. Have the vessel operator involved while preparing these answers, since a proposed filming location must match the actual visit arrangements.
Previous participants must list relevant permit numbers from the last five years. The form says earlier permit conditions, including feedback, must be completed before a new permit is issued. It also states that flights over wildlife colonies or use of active sensors such as LiDAR will ordinarily be authorised only for valid scientific research. A commercial production should not assume that applying under Category 2 creates access to those operations.
Check the aircraft and crew against the standing conditions
The December 2025 standing conditions expressly provide no exemption for aircraft weighing under 250 grams. They require electric aircraft, GPS return capability, telemetry and battery warning and recovery features. Each flight needs a pilot and an experienced observer familiar with local wildlife and drone operations. Include those responsibilities in staffing rather than treating the camera operator as the entire flight team.
The conditions prohibit starting flights above the manufacturer’s wind limit or 25 knots and require landing with more than 30 per cent battery remaining. Pilots need comparable-environment experience; where that is insufficient, a proposed training and test-flight plan needs government approval. Read the complete conditions before promising particular footage: a lightweight aircraft and a qualified pilot do not remove operational restrictions.
Submit the aviation application and establish entry requirements
Air Safety Support International identifies itself as the application authority for this territory. Its linked OPS 006 form requires the complete application and supporting documents to arrive at least 28 days before operations begin, separately from environmental assessment. It asks for aircraft details, locations, dates, pilot qualifications or experience and the manufacturer’s guide. Commercial aerial-work applications additionally require third-party liability insurance and a company operations manual. Submit through the form’s [email protected] address; an environmental submission is not that application.
The Drone RAP form separately warns that participants may need work entry permits and must apply where required. Resolve that category for every crew member through the linked entry-control system. No verified environmental or aviation fee schedule was established in the resources examined here: ask the respective authorities what charges apply before finalising the production budget. No direct official clarification was obtained about this particular crew’s category, charges or proposed flights.
