Uganda tourist visa and East African Tourist Visa

Uganda waives visas only for nationals of countries with which it has visa abolition agreements, such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Everyone else must apply. Check the list for your passport type: some entries cover diplomatic passports only.

The single-entry tourist visa is not limited to sightseeing: NCIC grants it to travellers coming for tourism, medical treatment and family visits, and the same application form has categories for business meetings and for students who come to take up a place at a school. Once you leave Uganda, the visa is used up and a new trip needs a new application.

The East African Tourist Visa is a joint visa for tourism in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda only. It allows multiple entries between the three countries for 90 days from issue, forbids any employment and cannot be renewed, either inside the region or after you leave it. The country that issues the visa must be your first point of entry, so apply through Uganda's portal only if you will land in Uganda first.

Its document list is short: passport copy with six months of validity, photo, return ticket and itinerary. At USD 100 it is cheaper than buying separate visas for the three countries when you plan to cross borders.

For a tourism application NCIC asks for a scan of the passport bio-data page with at least six months of validity, a recent passport-size photo, a tour plan, your travel itinerary or booking, and a hotel reservation; if you stay elsewhere, give the address. For a family visit, replace the tour plan with an invitation letter and proof of your host's immigration status in Uganda. All attachments must be in English, and officers may ask for further documents while processing.

Older versions of the requirements list a yellow fever certificate. Since NCIC's notice of 2 October 2026 it is no longer mandatory for entry, though a few service pages have not yet been updated.

The single-entry visa costs USD 50 and the East African Tourist Visa USD 100. Payment is made on the portal by Visa or MasterCard; NCIC adds a 3% surcharge to every online payment, and bank charges may also apply. If an application has mandatory online payment, it is not submitted for processing until it is paid, and unpaid applications are cancelled automatically. Fees are not refunded if the visa is refused.

An approval is valid for 90 days from the date it is granted. If you do not travel within that period the authorisation is cancelled automatically and you must file and pay for a new application, so avoid applying many months ahead. NCIC does not publish a standard processing time; status updates arrive by email and can be checked under 'Manage your application' using your application ID, passport number and date of birth.

The period stamped on entry with a single-entry visa can be extended for a further 60 days, granted in two intervals. Visa-required nationals use 'Extend your application' on the portal with the original application ID; nationals of visa-exempt countries use the separate extension site extendvisa.immigration.go.ug. Extensions can also be requested in person at the Kampala headquarters or a regional immigration office. The East African Tourist Visa cannot be extended.