Tanzania tourist visa (Ordinary Visa)

Everyone needs a visa to enter Tanzania except nationals of the visa-exempt countries, which mainly cover East African Community members, SADC states other than Comoros and most Commonwealth countries. Nationals of 23 referral countries need prior clearance. Many other nationalities, including those of most European states, the Gulf states, China, Russia, the United States and Türkiye, can use both the online visa and the visa-on-arrival facility.

The Ordinary Visa is the category the visa guidelines prescribe for tourism. It also covers attending a meeting, visiting friends or relatives, taking part in a workshop or exhibition, humanitarian or charity activities and health treatment. United States passport holders are the exception: they must apply for the multiple entry visa even for a single holiday trip.

The guidelines list a copy of the biographic page of a passport valid for at least six months with at least one unused visa page, a return ticket, the online application and declaration form, and payment of the fee. The online system also asks for a colour photo with a plain background, no larger than 45 x 35 mm and 500 KB, in JPG or JPEG format. Head coverings are allowed only for religious reasons and the face must remain fully visible.

At the border every foreigner appears in person with a completed and signed arrival declaration card and the passport, and may be asked for the return or onward ticket and evidence of funds for the stay.

The ordinary visa costs USD 50 per person. Online, the fee is paid by Visa or Mastercard and the applicant receives a payment confirmation. All visa fees are prepaid, non-refundable and non-transferable: there is no refund after a refusal, a cancellation or a postponed trip, or when someone arrives before the online visa is approved and is charged again for a visa on arrival.

Tanzanian embassies list the same USD 50 rate for an ordinary visa; the embassy FAQ we checked states that cash is not accepted for applications handled by the embassy.

The department recommends the online route. On the electronic visa system the applicant logs in with an e-mail address, receives an identification number for tracking, completes the form, uploads the photo and documents, pays and submits. Applications are processed within ten days and the decision arrives by e-mail as a Visa Grant Notice, which can also be downloaded from the status page. Travellers should wait for the notice before setting off.

Eligible nationalities may instead buy the visa on arrival at an official entry point. Tanzanian embassy guidance recommends obtaining the visa before travelling because issue on arrival is not guaranteed.

A visa or a Visa Grant Notice is not the final authority to enter: the immigration officer at the entry point decides and may refuse a holder who does not meet entry requirements. Visitors who satisfy the officer receive a visitor's pass of up to three months. Health rules of the Ministry of Health, such as yellow fever conditions, apply in addition; whether yellow fever vaccination is required depends on the countries you travel from or through.

If you selected the Mainland or Zanzibar as your first destination, you can still travel to the other part of the country on the same visa. An ordinary visa holder who visits another East African country after arriving may use the same visa to return to Tanzania while it is still valid. Holders may not work or conduct business.

Each passport holder, minors included, must submit a separate application, even when the child is listed in a parent's form. Someone who visits a spouse or child in Tanzania several times a year can apply instead for the multiple entry visa in the family-visit category (USD 100), uploading an invitation letter, a marriage or birth certificate and the passport, national ID or residence permit of the family member. Each stay on a multiple entry visa is limited to 90 days.

An application in the wrong category or with missing information or attachments is rejected, and the department may give or withhold the reasons. Once submitted, an application cannot be changed; if flight dates change after the grant, the guidelines tell applicants to contact the immigration authority rather than file again. The approval dates on a Visa Grant Notice cannot be postponed.