Travel Advice
17 Jan 2025

Tourism Industry Update on new Visa Policy: 16 January 2025

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In accordance with TASA's initiative in late 2024 and in collaboration with HAN, please find below an update on the new Visa Policy as per meeting held with Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety & Security yesterday, 15 January 2025.

The Ministry confirmed that:

  • Ministry is on the verge of releasing an online “visa on arrival” application form that would be available, together with the full information / marketing toolkit for the visa-on-arrival currently being finalised by the teams from MHAISS and NIPDB
  • The online application would be linked to the international Interpol platform to enable the necessary security checks to be done, - and thus allow for prompt immigration on the ground.
  • It is envisaged that the form would be ready any time between now and end of January, and would then be released with full information, and shared with all relevant institutions.
  • Ministry reconfirmed date for implementation of the new visa policy to be 1 April 2025, the fee to remain at N$ 1600, ( Industry urged that reference to the costs be indicated with NAD, to avoid confusion about the currency)
  • Ministry confirmed commitment to review reciprocal arrangements with countries, Namibia’s national aim being the establishment of relationships of equal partnerships.
  • NIPDB confirmed that they were close to conclude the documentation for the marketing and promotion of Namibia’s full visa/immigration regulations and would share such for scrutiny with the tourism sector prior to publication on official websites.
  • The new arrival form will be available online as well; information requests will be clearly stipulated for both travellers who require a visa upon arrival as well as for those who do not require such a visa (each client will complete the section relevant to him or her);

  • Airlines have been informed of the new requirement

  • Most of the main land border posts will provide the option for visa upon arrival with swiping facilities - a list will be provided to indicate these borders as the smaller ones would not have these provisions for now.

  • It’s confirmed that the ministry will provide visa for multiple entry to facilitate cross border tours.

  • The departure form will be discontinued

We are currently awaiting an invitation from NIPDB to review the draft information kit, which will be posted online for the "visa on arrival" immigration modality. We anticipate that the complete information will be available online by the end of January.

The Executive Director indicated that his team is undergoing training to execute the new immigration procedures as part of a trial phase starting in February. However, he confirmed that the official implementation date remains April 1, 2025.

This information summary is a collaborative effort between the TASA and HAN offices. Updates to follow

Best regards and a great remaining week to all.

Mureal van Rooyen

Office Manager

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