Do you need a visa for Tanzania? -

It’s been 8 years since I was last in Tanzania. And what a trip that was! Oh the hours I spent pouring over guide books, scrutinising web forums, googling routes and asking friends how to get from one part of Africa to another (our route started in Zanzibar, crossed Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and finished in South Africa!) If only blogs had been as prolific back then as they are now, my job would have been a lot easier! As it was our honeymoon, I organised the entire trip in advance, alongside a ton of wedmin (it was slightly stressful!) and would have welcomed being able to organise things like visas in advance online. Now that it’s very possible, and very popular, I thought I’d share the information for obtaining a Tanzania visa online for future travellers to the country.

*Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by e-visa.co.uk

NB: The Tanzania immigration service is maintaining strict measures due to the coronavirus. Most flights have been cancelled. Each traveller must go into quarantine for 14 days after arrival. It is not advised to apply for a visa for Tanzania at this time. Visit the government website for the latest foreign travel advice.

Do you need a Tanzania visa?

If you’re visiting Tanzania on holiday for more than 30 days you’ll probably need to apply for a Tanzania visa before you travel. If you have British or Irish nationality, or are from any other country in Europe, you will need a visa to make it past the passport check-in in Tanzania after arrival. Children also each need their own visa. To make things easier when you arrive, you can submit the application online for a Tanzania e-visa for yourself and your fellow travellers in advance – one less thing on your plate to deal with when you get there!

What is a Tanzania e-visa?

The Tanzania e-visa is an electronic document in PDF format that has been available since 2018 (unfortunately it wasn’t available for our trip back in 2012 otherwise I definitely would have gone down this route instead of having to travel to the Tanzania embassy in London!) and has since become the most popular visa type for Tanzania and Zanzibar. You can upload your passport photo, passport scan and flight ticket to the online visa application form, which can be completed in a matter of minutes, and pay online using Visa, MasterCard, American Express or PayPal.

Because the Tanzania e-visa (£79.95 per person) is sent to you digitally after approval via email for you to print yourself, tourists no longer need to take their passports to the embassy or consulate – a huge timesaver, especially if you don’t live in London. Click to find out more about making a visa application.

What else do I need for a Tanzania visa?

If you’re not sure what requirements are needed for a trip to Tanzania, here’s a website that simplifies the process and tells you exactly what you need to know. You will also need a passport that is valid for at least 6 more months, a passport with at least one empty page, a ticket for the return or transit flight to another country and at least one overnight address in Tanzania.

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

Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) – at Dar es Salaam
Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) – at the Kilimanjaro
Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA) – at Zanzibar city
Border crossing Namanga – at Kenia
Border crossing Tunduma – at Zambia

Do you need to print your Tanzania visa?

Yes you will need to print it off and take it with you. To be honest, I tend to do this with most travel documents, just in case you can’t access them on your phone for whatever reason.

Anything else you need to know?

If, like me, you’re a blogger, in publishing or some kind of content creator then I’d recommend keeping that under wraps when you’re going through immigration. You don’t need to fib and create a whole new career for yourself, but in the past I’ve found you can either have a visa delayed or get some complicated questions when going through immigration. It’s not always clear to Immigration staff whether you’re working or if you’re on holiday and they don’t know if you should be classed as a journalist.