Explanation about the visa for Tanzania

Is applying for a visa necessary for a holiday in Tanzania or Zanzibar? If you have British or Irish nationality, or the nationality of any other country in the EU, you will need a visa to make it past customs in Tanzania. Children need their own visa as well. If your purpose of travel is tourism and you are planning to stay no longer than 90 days in the country, you can easily submit the application online.

What is a Tanzania e-visa? The Tanzania e-visa is an electronic document in PDF format. It has been available since 2018 and has since become the most popular visa type for Tanzania and Zanzibar. This is due to the relatively low cost and the simple online application procedure. Because the Tanzania e-visa is sent to you digitally, tourists will no longer need to hand over their passports at the embassy or the consulate. When this website mentions the Tanzania visa, it always refers to the e-visa.

Visa rules: Tanzania and Zanzibar

Verify well before your trip whether your travel plans meet the requirements for the Tanzania tourist visa. You can only apply for the visa after you have booked a return or transit flight. However, it is still recommended to read the visa requirements in detail below before booking your flights.

What is the validity term of the Tanzania visa?
The tourist e-visa is valid for a single arrival in Tanzania and is therefore also known as a single-entry visa. Your stay in Tanzania and/or Zanzibar can last a maximum of 90 consecutive days. Within those 90 days, you can travel from the mainland to Zanzibar and vice versa as often as you like.

Other requirements for applying for a Tanzania tourist visa:

• On arrival, your passport must be valid for at least 6 more months
• Your passport contains at least one empty page
• You already possess a ticket for the return or transit flight to another country
• You have proof of accommodation for at least one overnight stay
• You are arriving in Tanzania at one of the arrival locations specified below

The Tanzania e-visa is only valid if you arrive through one of the four popular airports of the country, or through one of the two largest border crossings:

• Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) - in Dar es Salaam
• Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) - in the Kilimanjaro region
• Mwanza International Airport (MWZ/HTMW) - Lake Victoria
• Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (NZN/AAKIA) - Zanzibar city
• Border crossing Namanga - with Kenia
• Border crossing Tunduma - with Zambia

After your arrival in Tanzania at one of the above locations, you can make unlimited use of domestic flights. Within the maximum stay of 90 days, you can also travel from mainland Tanzania to the island of Zanzibar and back by boat or plane as often as you like. If you are travelling to Kenya before or after your visit to Tanzania, it is recommended applying for the Kenya visa on time.

Applying for the Tanzania visa

How do I do apply for a Tanzania visa? First, you open the digital application form, where you fill in your travel plans, contact information and passport details. You can also submit a group application by adding multiple travellers to the same form. After payment, you have to upload a number of documents for each traveller. These include: a passport scan, a recent passport photo (max 6 months old, no teeth visible) and a plane ticket for the return or transit flight. You can upload these documents easily through this website.

What happens to my application after it has been submitted? After the form has been completed, the payment has been made and the necessary documents have been uploaded, your application will be manually checked by one of our visa specialists. If any input errors are suspected, or if it appears that the uploaded documents do not meet the requirements, you will be contacted immediately. You will then be given the opportunity to submit the correct information and documents. When everything is in order, your application will be sent to the Tanzania immigration service.

Delivery time and cost of the Tanzania visa

How long does it take for my visa to be granted? The immigration service of Tanzania does not offer any guarantees regarding delivery times. All delivery times are based on averages. On average, the application for a Tanzania visa is approved in 21 days. You can also submit an urgent application. Urgent applications have an average delivery time of 14 days, but even then, the average delivery time cannot be guaranteed. There are visa agencies that promise delivery times under 14 days, but each visa agency is dependent on the Tanzanian government, and they have been known to take weeks to approve an application.

What costs should I take into account? The Tanzania visa costs £84.95 per person. This is a total price and includes all consular fees, service costs and taxes. A surcharge applies if you choose an urgent delivery (£17.50 per visa). Payment can be made easily, safely and quickly through Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Trustly, Google Pay, Apple Pay or PayPal.

Where can I go with my questions? If your question is not answered on this page, you can consult the frequently asked questions and answers page about applying for the Tanzania visa. If your question is not answered there either, please contact one of our visa specialists.