Solomon Islands business visa

The visa is for businesspeople, consultants and investors who visit Solomon Islands often for legitimate short-term business: meetings, conferences, negotiations, consultations, trade events or exploring business and investment opportunities. Under regulation 13(1) of the Immigration Regulation 2013 the Director must be satisfied that the purpose is short-term business and that you have sufficient means of support, and you need a grant letter signed by the Director. Business travellers from countries without a visa exemption arrangement apply for this visa before travelling.

Submit a copy of the passport bio page (valid for more than six months), the travel itinerary or ticket, a support letter from the Solomon Islands company or organisation you are doing business with, and your own cover letter explaining the business, both addressed to the Director, Solomon Islands Immigration Division, PO Box G26, Honiara. Personal details must be accurate: mistakes delay the file and false information can lead to refusal of the visa or of entry. The paper version of the application is Form 3.

The business visa costs USD 450 plus the USD 50 online lodgement fee, as listed both on the visa page and in Schedule 1 of the Immigration (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, where it is the short-term single or multiple entry sub-class with no extension fee. It is valid for one year from entry, allows multiple entries and three months per entry, and cannot be extended.

Applications and payments are made electronically through the eVisa portal; under regulation 9 of the fee regulations as amended in 2025, the Immigration Division may accept a manual application only in exceptional cases such as a system outage or an applicant with limited access to electronic platforms. You register an account with an active email address, select the correct visa class (the portal highlights the first class by default), register the application and pay by Mastercard or Visa; the receipt and all updates arrive by email.

Once approved, a grant letter is emailed to you. A visa applied for from abroad is valid from the date you enter Solomon Islands, and you must present a copy of the grant letter to immigration officers on arrival. You can follow up on an application after 30 working days through the contact form, by email to immigration.visas@immigration.gov.sb or by telephone on +677 45650.

Under section 23 of the Immigration Act 2012 there is a character concern if a person has a record of serious criminal conduct, has more than one conviction anywhere, is a threat to national security or is linked to terrorism, people trafficking, child sex offences or drug smuggling, or was acquitted on grounds of unsoundness of mind and detained. Under section 21 the Director may cancel a visa for a character concern or where it was obtained by fraud or false documents.

It is a condition of the business visa that the holder must not take up employment or any income-generating activity; paid work needs a separate employment visa. A business visa holder who later qualifies for another visa pays the Schedule 2 conversion fee: USD 1,208 to a long-term employment visa, USD 604 to a provisional investor visa and USD 180 to a family relationship or foreign national dependant visa. Urgent technical work of up to 30 days is covered instead by the emergency employment visa (USD 150 plus USD 50), with Labour Division support.