Namibia visa and entry requirements

The rule changed on 1 April 2025

• Namibia now requires a visa of nationals of every country that has not reciprocated its own visa exemption. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security names them on its fact sheet, and the list includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and almost every EU state.
• Twenty-two countries are still exempt, among them South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil and Russia. If you are reading an older guide that says Namibia is visa-free, it was written before April 2025.
• A tourist stay is up to 90 days. Extending it by a further 3 months means applying to the Ministry in Windhoek before the current permission expires.

The fee, and the fact that two official sources give different ones

• The Ministry's own fact sheet says NAD 1,600 for citizens of non-African countries and NAD 1,200 for citizens of African countries, and adds that the fees are subject to annual review.
• The FCDO says 1,600 Namibian dollars for travellers over 11, 800 for children aged 6 to 11, and nothing for children under 6, and does not mention the lower African rate at all.
• The two do not agree, so budget on the higher figure and carry the means to pay either. Nobody publishes a consolidated fee table that reconciles them.
• Applying at a Namibian mission instead is dearer. The High Commission in London charges 95 pounds for a single entry tourist visa and 125 pounds for multiple entry, takes no cash, no cheque and no credit card, and returns the passport 2 to 5 working days later.

Online, or at the border, and the difference matters

• Online, through the Ministry's e-services portal, before you fly. This is the route the airport operator recommends.
• In person on arrival, at twelve ports only: Hosea Kutako International Airport, Walvis Bay International Airport, Walvis Bay Harbour, and the Ariamsvlei, Impalila, Katima Mulilo, Mohembo, Ngoma, Noordoewer, Oshikango, Oranjemund and Trans Kalahari border posts.
• An e-visa is accepted at every gazetted port except a published list that includes Rundu, Keetmanshoop, Luderitz, Gobabis, Ondangwa, Grootfontein and Mpacha airports and several small border posts. If you are flying into a regional airport, check that it is not on that list.

The approval notice is not the visa

• The Ministry's own manual is explicit: the Approval Notice you download after approval is not a valid e-visa. Approval only triggers an email prompting you to pay.
• You pay online, and only then can you download the e-visa. A traveller who lands holding the approval notice has not bought a visa.
• Carry a hard copy of the e-visa or the approval notice. That is the airport operator's own instruction, and paper survives a flat battery at the immigration counter.

What they ask you for

• A passport valid for at least 6 months after arrival, with at least 3 blank pages. Both numbers are enforced; three pages is more than most countries want.
• Medical or travel insurance. In Namibia this is a visa document, not merely a prudent purchase.
• Proof of accommodation, travel bookings and sufficient funds, plus an invitation letter if you were invited.
• A valid return or onward ticket, which the airport operator cites straight from the Immigration Control Act 7 of 1993.

Children

• A full, unabridged birth certificate showing both parents, original or certified copy. The FCDO is explicit that Namibian officials will not accept an abridged short certificate, which is what the UK issues by default.
• A child travelling with one parent needs the other parent's consent in an affidavit; a child travelling with anyone else needs affidavits from the parents or guardians, contact details for them, and a letter from the host giving the address.
• Transiting a South African airport adds South Africa's own child documentation rules on top.

At the desk, and afterwards

• Get the stamp, and read it. Check the date and the length of stay you have been given, because immigration checks both when you leave.
• Overstaying, or a missing or wrong entry stamp, can mean a fine, arrest, detention or deportation.
• A tourist visa permits no work of any kind, including volunteering. Convictions carry heavy fines, imprisonment or deportation.
• A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country listed as a transmission risk. The certificate becomes valid 10 days after the vaccination, so this is not a last-week errand.