Tanzania student visa and student pass

The student visa is issued to foreigners who come to Tanzania for academic purposes: students admitted to registered universities, colleges or other approved institutions, exchange students, interns, volunteers and research students. It must be applied for online while the prospective student is still outside Tanzania. Applicants from countries that do not need a visa to enter Tanzania, as well as students who are already in the country, apply for a Student Pass instead of a visa.

The visa guidelines require a copy of the passport biographic page, the fee for the relevant category, a covering letter from the host institution stating the course or field and the duration of the programme, and an open return ticket. The immigration website adds that the admission and registration documents from the institution should be combined into a single PDF and uploaded with the application. The passport needs at least six months of validity, and the online photo rules apply.

The fee matrix sets USD 50 for academic programmes of up to three months, USD 250 for programmes of up to two years, USD 300 for research students and USD 550 for PhD students. Fees are paid online by Visa or Mastercard and are not refunded. The guidelines limit visas for language courses: language schools cannot provide the two-year validity, and the September 2026 guidelines cap language-course visas at six months.

Once you hold an admission letter, apply on the electronic visa system, select Student Visa and the category matching the programme length, upload the merged admission and registration PDF and the institution's covering letter, pay and submit. Decisions take up to ten days. Applicants may be called for an interview at the nearest Tanzanian embassy. Citizens of East African Community states are handled separately through a free exemption certificate.

Students already in Tanzania apply for a Student Pass on the e-Services pass portal, not for a student visa. Student Pass I is for persons studying at approved training establishments, including adult children of legal residents; it requires the institution's registration certificate, evidence of sponsorship or scholarship, evidence of enrolment, the admission letter and joining instructions, and costs USD 200. Student Pass II is for minor children of legal residents who are not endorsed on their parents' permits; it requires the admission letter, sponsorship evidence, parental consent, the parent's permit or pass, birth certificates and the parent's passport, and costs USD 100. All copies must be certified, and passes are valid for at most two years.