Visa requirements for citizens of Botswana

Citizens of Botswana need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Botswana and 42 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

61 countries ask holders of the passport of Botswana for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Botswana without one: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium and 56 others.

The reverse holds for 30 countries: holders of the passport of Botswana get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Botswana (Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde and 25 others).

88 countries ask holders of the passport of Botswana for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 7 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Botswana.

81 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Botswana, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Botswana, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in South Africa (33) and Namibia (2).

The United States refused 38% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Botswana in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 117 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 79 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the passport of Botswana

By continent, the passport of Botswana is visa-free in 18 countries in Africa, 16 countries in the Americas, 6 countries in Asia, 4 countries in Oceania and 2 countries in Europe. The longest visa-free stays for citizens of Botswana are allowed in Georgia (360 days), Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Barbados (180 days), Dominica (180 days), Fiji (120 days) and Vanuatu (120 days).

Visa on arrival

Citizens of Botswana can get a visa at the airport or land border of Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and 14 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how citizens of Botswana enter Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and 31 others. Israel, Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea and Suriname ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Botswana’s neighbours

Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia admit citizens of Botswana without a visa.

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the South African passport ranks 97th (95 destinations), the Namibian passport ranks 123rd (70 destinations) and the Zimbabwean passport ranks 141st (60 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 103 can enter visa-free, 94 need an e-Visa and 1 need a visa from an embassy or consulate for Botswana.