Visa requirements for Malawian citizens

Malawian citizens 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, Malawi and 56 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).

92 countries ask holders of the Malawian passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Malawi without one: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia and 87 others.

The reverse holds for 11 countries: holders of the Malawian passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Malawi (Angola, Bangladesh, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and 6 others).

88 countries ask holders of the Malawian passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 10 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Malawi.

78 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Malawi, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Malawi, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in South Africa (24), Zimbabwe (9), Kenya (2) and Zambia (2).

The United States refused 53% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Malawi in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 149 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 47 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the Malawian passport

By continent, the Malawian passport is visa-free in 18 countries in Africa, 12 countries in the Americas, 6 countries in Asia, 4 countries in Oceania and 1 country in Europe. The longest visa-free stays for Malawian citizens are allowed in Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Barbados (180 days), Dominica (180 days), Fiji (120 days), Vanuatu (120 days) and Bangladesh (90 days).

Visa on arrival

Malawian citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and 16 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Malawian citizens enter Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and 36 others. Israel, Ivory Coast, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Suriname ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Malawi’s neighbours

Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia admit Malawian citizens without a visa.

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Tanzanian passport ranks 127th (67 destinations), the Zambian passport ranks 135th (63 destinations) and the Mozambican passport ranks 146th (57 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 64 can enter visa-free, 84 get a visa on arrival and 50 need an e-Visa for Malawi.