Lesotho visa application

The Ministry of Home Affairs states that Lesotho currently has only two kinds of visa. The single-entry visa is meant for a single journey and is valid for three months; the multiple-entry visa allows several journeys and is valid for six months. There is no separate tourist, business or transit visa category; the purpose of the trip is declared in the application.

A business visa needs an invitation from the sponsor, who is the company director or the director's nominee, with the sponsor's trader's licence, tax clearance, passport copy (the original is shown too), a sworn declaration and three months of bank statements showing economic activity, plus the applicant's passport copy, return ticket, medical insurance and a bank guarantee of a fixed deposit equal to the air fare home. A visitor's visa needs the host's invitation, the host's passport copy and residence permit if not a citizen, a return ticket, three months of bank statements and a medical report.

Other purposes have their own lists: missionaries add a letter from the head of the church, the church's constitution and a certificate of ordination; international volunteers an invitation from a legally registered organisation and bank statements of at least M10,000; exchange and sports visitors a letter from the sponsoring team and a contract; and a marriage visa requires affidavits from both families, an impediment letter and police clearance obtained through the invitee's embassy, local medical insurance and a monthly income of at least M10,000.

The ministry's revised list of entry visa requirements asks every applicant for a passport valid for at least six months. For a tourist visa it lists an application letter from the applicant, a passport copy, a return ticket, confirmed hotel bookings or other accommodation, a travel plan, and either three months of bank statements or a valid debit or credit card with enough funds for the stay.

Visa fees are prescribed by the Aliens Control (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations, 2018. The ministry's web pages do not reproduce the current amounts, so ask for the fee and the payment method when you send the application.

Visas were previously issued manually at the ministry's headquarters in Maseru and at missions abroad, which made them hard to access. In May 2017 the Department of Immigration Services engaged a service provider to process visa applications online on its behalf. Adjudication, the decision itself, remains with the ministry.

The ministry's eServices page now marks the eVisa application system as suspended and gives VISA-Applications.Immigration@gov.ls as the address for online applications. General enquiries go to info.homeaffairs@gov.ls or the ministry's headquarters at the corner of Moshoeshoe and Lerotholi Roads, PO Box 174, Maseru 100 (+266 2221 5900 or 2232 7205; toll-free +266 8005 0074).

All 14 border posts are on the border with South Africa, so overland travellers must also be admitted to South Africa. Opening hours differ: Maseru Bridge and Maputsoe/Ficksburg are open 24 hours, Van Rooyen's Gate 06:00 to 22:00, Qacha's Nek 07:00 to 20:00, Sani Pass and Moshoeshoe I International Airport 06:00 to 18:00, and several smaller posts 08:00 to 16:00. Hours change during festive seasons.