Yemen tourist visa: group tourism and the urgent tourist visa

The group tourism visa covers foreign tourist groups of no fewer than ten people. The group has to be brought in by a Yemeni travel agency accredited by the General Authority for Tourism, and the application also needs a letter from an accredited agency in the country where the Yemeni embassy or consulate is located. The urgent tourist visa is also requested by an accredited agency inside Yemen, but the sticker is issued at the border crossing once the Immigration, Passports and Nationality Authority approves it.

The portal does not list a tourist category for people travelling on their own. The Yemeni Embassy in Washington states that it is not issuing tourist visas at this time.

For both tourist categories the portal asks for a letter from the General Authority for Tourism, the application of the licensed agency setting out the tour programme, round-trip tickets, the passport data page of each traveller (valid at least six months) and a health certificate from an official authority showing freedom from infectious diseases. Each traveller also pledges not to engage in any activity during the tour and to leave when it ends, and the traveller data are entered in the portal's lists.

Both tourist visas cost USD 75 per person. For the urgent tourist visa, groups of more than ten people pay half the fee. The portal states that, until an internationally accepted electronic payment method is in place, fees are paid in cash in US dollars, either at the Authority's main centre in Aden through your host in Yemen or through a Yemeni embassy or consulate.

The agency files the group on the eVisa portal and the Authority reviews it, usually within 3–5 working days of receiving a complete file. For the group visa the sticker is then issued by a Yemeni embassy or consulate abroad; for the urgent visa it is issued at the border. The traveller prints the approval notification and shows it on arrival together with the passport.