Zambia transit visa

The Department of Immigration issues transit visas to nationals who require a visa to enter Zambia and travel through the country by land, for example on the way between Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana or Namibia. The visa is valid for at most seven days. Nationals on Zambia's visa-exempt list cross the country on their passport alone.

Air passengers who transit directly, or who stay within the precincts of the airport, do not need a transit visa and do not appear before an immigration officer. If a delayed flight forces an overnight stop, the immigration officer may issue a report order that allows the passenger to stay at a prescribed hotel and report back for departure.

The online application needs a passport photo, a copy of the passport and a covering letter to the Director General signed by the applicant, uploaded as JPG, PNG or TIFF files. At the border, the passport must be valid for at least six months from entry with at least three blank pages, and travellers arriving by land must have enough money for their stay and onward journey.

Under the fee table revised in August 2024, the transit visa costs USD 25; card payment adds an administrative fee of USD 0.28, for a total of USD 25.28. A single-entry visa costs USD 50, so travellers who want to stop and visit rather than pass through should apply for that instead.

Everyone leaving Zambia, except passengers in direct air transit who never left the airport, appears before an immigration officer, and travellers who need a visa pay for it at that point if they have not yet done so. Scheduled flight crews may stay up to seven days in the town nearest the airport without immigration formalities.

Section 32 of the Immigration and Deportation Act allows a transit visa for using the transit facilities at a port of entry or for travelling through Zambia to another country, for up to 90 days in any 12 months; once a traveller in transit exhausts those 90 days within the year, an immigration officer may issue a transit permit.

In practice the Department issues the transit permit only to drivers of commercial trucks and their crew who have used up their 90 business-visit days. It is granted for one year and may be renewed for one more year. The application needs a covering letter from the host or company, a recent passport photo, a certified passport copy with the last Zambian endorsement stamp and the fee: ZMW 4,500 to issue, ZMW 5,625 to renew and ZMW 750 to record a new passport.