Visitors from 47 selected countries no longer have to apply in advance for visas to Namibia when travelling through the country’s main international airport.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has launched the Visa on Arrival project at the Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) in an effort to simplify the process of visiting the country and to improve economic growth, according to Namibia Airports Company.

‘All three categories of passports, being ordinary, diplomatic and official/service passports, are accommodated for purposes of the visa issuance on arrival,’ says Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Frans Kapofi. ‘Visa on Arrival will benefit the following categories of visitors: bona fide tourists; potential investors coming to explore business opportunities; visitors coming to attend meetings, seminars, workshops; friendship- and family-related visits; and medical-related visits.’

This follows the government’s June announcement that 60 countries worldwide (including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Kenya, Australia, Botswana and the US) are now exempt from requiring a visa when visiting the Southern African nation.

The 27 African nations on Namibia’s Visa on Arrival list include Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda. The 20 non-African countries include Cambodia, Chile, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Venezuela, Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, Singapore and Ukraine.

There are plans to implement the project at Namibia’s other points of entry.

8 October 2019
Image: Alamy