Timor-Leste transit visa

If you want to spend more than three days in Timor-Leste on your way, take the 30-day tourist visa on arrival for USD 30 instead, since a transit visa cannot normally be turned into a longer stay once you are in the country. Travellers without a visa exemption choose between these two visas at the border.

You must hold an acceptable travel document, intend a genuine transit to a country other than your country of origin, intend to leave within 72 hours, have complied with the conditions of any earlier visa and be of good health and character. Entrants on tourist, transit and Business Class I visas must be able to show USD 100 for each entry and USD 50 for each day of stay. This can be waived if a Timorese citizen, a resident permit holder, a diplomatic or consular card holder, the holder of a work, business, residence or specialised temporary stay visa, a Special Stay Authorization holder or a company registered in Timor-Leste signs a term of responsibility covering food and accommodation.

At a border post no application form is needed: show your passport valid six months from entry, the completed arrival declaration and, if asked, funds, accommodation and onward travel. Visa-exempt travellers do not need a transit visa. Anyone previously refused entry, removed or excluded, or with unpaid fines must get the visa from an embassy or consulate before travelling, using the application form, a 3x4 cm photo and evidence of subsistence, onward travel and accommodation.

Extensions, or switching to another visa such as a tourist visa to stay longer, are generally not permitted. The exception is exceptional circumstances: serious medical or humanitarian reasons or genuine transport problems not caused by you. In that case apply in person at the Migration Service headquarters in Dili with the extension form; the fee is USD 20 and processing takes up to 15 days.