Tanzania Visa Types
Tanzania offers six types of visas for valid entry into Tanzania. Each visa type corresponds to a different purpose of travel. The applicant should read the details about visa types and select the correct visa category in the application form. The irrelevant visa type may lead to the rejection of the visa application.
Ordinary Visa or Single Entry Visa
Tanzania grants a single entry visa for nearly all the reasons, including tourism, leisure, holidays, and attending conferences or Humanitarian or charity activities, visiting a friend or a family, health treatment, or any other type of purpose.
This type of visa has a validity of 90 days.
Business Visa
Tanzanian government usually grants business visas for the short term. Travellers with the following motives can apply for a business visa:
- To conduct any task (such as fixing/repairing machines) or deliver short term training.
- To play short time professional roles such as making feasibility studies, making professionals and business contacts, auditing accounts, making arrangements for investments during the startup period etc.
- To run any other short term business-related task legally allowed by the laws of the country.
The validity of business visas is limited to 90 days.
Multiple entry Visa
If the traveller needs to visit the United Republic of Tanzania frequently, he should apply for a multiple entry visa.
The category of the citizens who are eligible for the multiple entry visa is given below:
- Directors of Companies registered in Tanzania who do not reside in Tanzania
- Persons engaged in Bilateral Meetings
- Spouses married to Tanzanians/Residents
- Government Consultants
- Representatives of international NGO’s
- American citizens who wish to come for Holiday or Tourism purposes are not allowed to apply for an ordinary visa. These nationals must select a Multiple Entry visa in the application form of Tanzania eVisa for holiday or tourism purposes.
- Any other person holding permission by the Commissioner General of Immigration or Commissioner of Immigration Zanzibar
The multiple entry visa has a validity of 12 months, but the visa holder cannot stay for twelve 12 consecutive months in a country. As he applied for a multiple entry visa, he needs to leave the country, after every three months (at most) and re-enter.
Transit Visa
Foreign nationals who wish to transit through Tanzania to any country outside Tanzania can apply for a transit visa. This visa is granted for seven days, and the applicant has to provide a visa for the destination country or an onward ticket as proof.
The applicants should not consider applying for transit visas for short tourism plans. The sole purpose of this visa type is Transiting.
Student Visa
A diplomatic passport or official passport holder or his dependant can apply for a student visa. An ordinary passport holder can also apply for this type of visa after seeking permission through the Commissioner-General of Immigration and Commissioner of Immigration Zanzibar.
Referral cases
The nationals of the countries eligible for a referral visa require special clearance from the Commissioner General of Immigration or the Commissioner of Immigration (Zanzibar) in advance.
The applicants of referral visas should not book flight tickets or make payments for any reservations in Tanzania before they receive their visa approval. These applicants should apply at least two months before the intended date of travel.
Note:
Stateless persons or Refugees holding Vienna Convention documents also need to obtain a referral visa before coming to the United Republic of Tanzania.
Visa guidelines
The travellers who wish to travel to Tanzania should consider the following points before starting the application.
- Applicant’s passport must have a validity of six months.
- There should be at least one blank page in the passport for stamping.
- An application having incorrect information or lacks sufficient attachment may lead to rejection.
- The visa fee is non-refundable or non-transferable in all cases.
- The grant of visa is not the final authority for the applicant to enter the United Republic of Tanzania. If the immigration officer finds any problem in the applicant’s application/visa / or documents, he can refuse the applicant from entering the country.
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