Visa requirements for Zambian citizens

Zambian 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, Zambia and 47 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).

98 countries ask holders of the Zambian passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Zambia without one: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria and 93 others.

The reverse holds for 15 countries: holders of the Zambian passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Zambia (Bangladesh, Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Gambia and 10 others).

94 countries ask holders of the Zambian passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 22 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Zambia.

72 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Zambia, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Zambia, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in South Africa (25) and Zimbabwe (4).

The United States refused 52% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Zambia in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 145 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 51 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the Zambian passport

By continent, the Zambian passport is visa-free in 17 countries in Africa, 12 countries in the Americas, 5 countries in Asia and 4 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Zambian 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

Zambian citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana and 15 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Zambian citizens enter Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and 35 others. Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea and Saint Kitts and Nevis ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Zambia’s neighbours

Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi and Angola admit Zambian citizens without a visa. For the other neighbours, the rules are: DR Congo (e-Visa for up to 7 days).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Namibian passport ranks 123rd (70 destinations), the Malawian passport ranks 125th (68 destinations), the Tanzanian passport ranks 127th (67 destinations), the Zimbabwean passport ranks 141st (60 destinations) and the Mozambican passport ranks 146th (57 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 116 can enter visa-free, 29 get a visa on arrival and 53 need an e-Visa for Zambia.