Do you want to explore the Serengeti National Park or spend your next vacation on the beaches of Zanzibar? The first thing you should do is get a visa! This is our Tanzania Tourist Visa Application Guide to help you secure your Tanzania visa.
Getting a Tanzania Tourist Visa is easy and hassle-free. Some nationalities are eligible to get a visa on arrival and some need to apply for an e-Visa in advance. This article is a guide for those who want to get an eVisa.
Visa-Exempt Nationals
Citizens of the countries listed below do NOT need to apply for a visa to enter Tanzania.
- Antigua & Barbuda
- Anguilla
- Ashmore & Certie Island
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Belize
- Brunei
- British Virgin Island
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Botswana
- Cyprus
- Cayman Island
- Channel Island
- Cocoas Island
- Cook Island
- Christmas Island
- Dominica
- Falkland Island
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Grenada
- Guernsey
- Guyana
- Heard Island
- Hong Kong
- Isle of man
- Jamaica
- Jersey
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Montserrat
- Malaysia
- Madagascar
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Macao
- Mozambique
- Nauru
- Naue Island
- Norfolk Island
- Namibia
- Papua new Guinea
- Rwanda
- Romania
- Ross Dependency
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Swaziland
- Solomon Island
- St. Kitts&Navis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vicent
- St. Helana
- South African Republic
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Turks & Caicos
- Tokelan
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Types of Visas and Corresponding Visa Fees
Ordinary Visa (Single Entry Visa)
This visa is given to foreign nationals for the purposes of tourism, family visit, medical treatment, conferences and humanitarian and charity activities. This is valid for 90 days and it costs USD50.
Requirements for Tanzania Single Entry Ordinary Visa
- Passport copy (bio-data page)
- Vaccination Certificate (Yellow Fever) – This is needed especially when you are entering the border from Uganda. If you don’t have a vaccination certificate, you will need to undergo vaccination onsite at the border before you can pass through immigration.
- Recent Passport-size Photograph
- Return ticket or onward ticket. In my case, I explained that I am taking a bus to Rwanda so I submitted my ticket from Kigali to Mumbai.
- Hotel booking confirmation
Multiple Entry Visa
The Tanzania multiple entry visa is issued to American citizens who want to visit the country for tourism purposes. It is also issued to people who frequently visit Tanzania in a given year. The visa cost is USD100 and is valid for one year but the visa holder must exit the country at least every 3 months.
Requirements for Tanzania Multiple Entry Visa
- Copy of valid passport (biographic data page)
- Valid passport or national ID of the person to be visited in Tanzania (host) OR
- A covering letter of the host Institution detailing the reasons and frequency of Visits OR
- Attached Certificate of marriage of a spouse and a passport/national ID, if the applicant comes to visit a spouse OR
- Any proof that justifies that a visitor is required to visit the United Republic of Tanzania frequently
- Return ticket of the flight (not mandatory)
Transit Visa
This visa is issued to nationalities requiring visas who intend to go out of the airport while in transit through Tanzania. The transit visa fee is USD30 and is valid for a maximum of seven days
Requirements for Tanzania Transit Visa:
- Passport copy (bio-data page)
- An entry visa or onward ticket to the intended country of destination
How to Obtain a Tanzania Tourist Visa Online?
Below is the step-by-step process of obtaining a Tanzania visa online.
- Visit the Immigration Services Website (www.immigration.go.tz)
- Click “e-services” button;
- Select and click “e-Visa Application Form”;
- Upload and attach relevant documents for the Visa processing;
- After which, the applicant will receive an e-mail message containing User Identification Number that the applicant can use for tracking his/her visa application
- Make a payment online
- Upon successful payment, the applicant will submit his application;
- Lastly, the applicant will receive a message of confirmation of his application being received.
At some point in your application, you will be asked of your entry point. If in case the entry point is not there or if you are unsure, just leave it blank. I had to leave it blank because Mtukula, the border that I crossed was not on the list. Also, make sure that you put the right date of your entry to Tanzania. Even if your visa is granted but you arrive a day before your visa start date, you will not be allowed to enter Tanzania.
Sample Tanzania Visa Grant Notice
Arriving in Tanzania
Do not forget to bring a copy of the entry permit / e-Visa along with your Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate (Yellow Card)if you are arriving at the Mtukula Border from Uganda. If you are arriving at the airport, I am not sure if you will be asked of the yellow fever vaccination certificate. The official immigration website of Tanzania does NOT state that you need a yellow card.
Official Entry Ports
The immigration site of Tanzania said that you should ONLY enter Tanzania through these 5 entry Ports. I did not read this guideline when I lodged my visa application. Luckily, I was allowed to enter at the Mtukula border from Uganda.
- Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA)
- Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA)
- Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA)
- Namanga border
- Tunduma border
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Glen Nomad is a travel blogger and the founder of Escape Manila, one of the top travel blogs in the Philippines. He has visited all 82 provinces in the Philippines and has explored 53 countries across Asia, North & South America, East Africa, Europe, and Australia. Follow him on IG at @escapemanila