Zanzibar visa requirements

One visa covers both

Zanzibar is part of the United Republic of Tanzania, so a standard Tanzania visa — obtained as an e-Visa in advance, or in the categories where it's still available, on arrival — is valid for both the mainland and Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba). There is no separate Zanzibar-only visa to apply for, and a single approval covers you whether you land first in Zanzibar, in Dar es Salaam, or at Kilimanjaro International Airport for a mainland safari.

Applying online vs on arrival

Tanzania's e-Visa system, applied for in advance through the official immigration portal, is now the primary and most reliable route for most nationalities. Recent reporting on Tanzania's entry rules has been inconsistent about whether visas on arrival remain available at every port of entry — some sources describe the on-arrival option as discontinued for most travellers, while others still list it as available at major airports. Because this detail genuinely varies by source and keeps shifting, we recommend not relying on getting a visa at the airport: apply for the e-Visa in advance, budget at least 5–10 working days for processing, and treat on-arrival issuance as a fallback rather than a plan.

What you'll typically need

Requirement	Detail
Cost	In the region of $50 for most nationalities on a single-entry tourist visa; around $100 for US passport holders, who are generally required to take the multiple-entry visa valid up to a year. Business and transit visas are priced differently. Fees vary by nationality and do change — confirm the current figure for your passport on the official portal.
Passport validity	At least six months remaining from your entry date, with at least one blank visa page
Photo and scan	A recent passport-style photo and a clear scan of your passport bio page, in the file formats the portal specifies
Supporting documents	Proof of a return or onward ticket, and typically proof of accommodation for your stay
Processing time	Can take anywhere from a couple of days up to around ten — apply well ahead of travel, not in the final days before departure
Children	Each child needs their own separate visa application, with the same document requirements as adults

Length of stay and extensions

A standard tourist visa is generally valid for stays of up to 90 days per entry. If you need to stay longer, extensions are usually possible at an Immigration Department office in Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar Town before your current visa expires — bring your passport, current visa, and proof of accommodation, and expect a fee for the extension. Overstaying without extending is taken seriously and can lead to fines or complications on departure, so it's worth sorting out in advance rather than hoping it goes unnoticed.

Not the same as the mandatory insurance

Zanzibar's mandatory inbound travel insurance, in effect since October 2024, is a completely separate requirement from your visa, administered by a different authority (the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, not immigration). You need both to enter smoothly. See our Travel Insurance for Zanzibar page for what that involves and how to buy it.

Yellow fever certificate

A yellow fever vaccination certificate is not a blanket requirement for all visitors, but it is required if you are arriving from, or have transited through, a country with yellow fever risk — this catches out travellers combining a Kenya safari with Tanzania, since Kenya is treated as an endemic country. See our Vaccinations & Malaria page for the detail, and carry your certificate with you if it applies to your routing.

Practical tips that avoid delays

• Apply early. Processing times are not guaranteed, and a rejected or delayed application close to your travel date can be genuinely stressful.
• Use the official portal only. A number of third-party sites offer to process Tanzania visas for a service fee on top of the government fee — these aren't illegitimate, but you can apply directly yourself for the government fee alone if you prefer.
• Bring clean US dollar notes as backup. Even with an approved e-Visa, it's sensible to travel with some newer-series, undamaged US dollar bills, since older or torn notes are sometimes refused by Tanzanian institutions.
• Don't lose your arrival/departure card. Keep any paper form you're given on arrival safe until you leave — you may be asked for it again on departure.
• Double-check your visa category. "Tourist" is what you want for a beach holiday and safari; business and transit visas are different categories with different rules and are not interchangeable.

A step-by-step walkthrough of the e-Visa application

While exact screens and portal design change from time to time, the general process for the Tanzania e-Visa has followed a consistent structure:

1. Create an account on the official Tanzania Immigration e-Visa portal using a valid email address you can access throughout the application and travel period.
2. Select your visa category — ordinary/tourist for a standard leisure visit, taking care not to confuse it with business or transit categories.
3. Enter passport and personal details exactly as they appear on your passport — small mismatches (a missing middle name, a transposed digit) are one of the most common causes of delay or rejection.
4. Upload your documents — passport bio page scan, passport-style photo, and proof of return/onward travel, in the file size and format the portal specifies (usually JPEG or PNG under a set size limit).
5. Pay the visa fee by card. Payment portals for Tanzania's e-Visa system have occasionally had technical issues reported by travellers; if a payment button fails, some travellers have found success switching card networks (for example, trying Mastercard if Visa fails, or vice versa) rather than assuming the application itself has failed.
6. Wait for approval, which arrives by email as a PDF to print and carry, alongside your passport, when you travel.

Typical costs by traveller type

Visa costs vary meaningfully by nationality and visa category, and change periodically, so treat this table as an illustrative starting point rather than a locked price for your passport specifically:

Traveller type	Typical visa category	Broad cost range
Most nationalities, single visit	Ordinary single-entry tourist	Around $50
US passport holders	Multiple-entry (required for US citizens even for a single tourist trip)	Around $100, valid up to 12 months, 90 days per visit
East African Community citizens (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan)	Visa-free	No visa required for short tourist stays
Regional multi-country travellers (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda)	East Africa Tourist Visa	Around $100, covering all three countries for 90 days, useful if combining a Kenya or Uganda safari with Zanzibar
Business travellers	Business visa	Meaningfully higher than tourist visa — confirm current rate for your nationality
Travellers transiting under 7 days without leaving the airport area	Transit visa	Lower than a full tourist visa, but not applicable if you're stopping to visit Zanzibar itself

What happens if your application is rejected or delayed

Rejections are relatively uncommon when the application is filled out accurately, but the most frequently cited causes include: passport validity under six months remaining, mismatched personal details between the application and passport, unclear or incorrectly sized document uploads, and selecting the wrong visa category for your trip purpose. If your application is taking longer than expected, most guidance suggests contacting the portal's support channel rather than submitting a duplicate application, which can create confusion in the system. Because delays do happen, applying with real buffer time before your flight — ideally several weeks rather than a few days — significantly reduces the stress of a slow turnaround.

Special cases worth planning around

Travelling with children

Each child needs their own visa application and their own passport — Tanzania does not permit children to travel on a parent's passport for visa purposes. The application requirements (photo, passport scan, proof of travel) are the same as for adults, just submitted separately for each child.

Cruise ship passengers

Cruise passengers calling at Zanzibar for a short shore excursion sometimes fall under different, cruise-specific arrangements coordinated by the cruise line, rather than needing to independently apply for a standard tourist e-Visa. If you're arriving this way, check with your cruise operator directly, since their arrangements with Tanzanian immigration authorities may differ from the general guidance on this page.

Digital nomads and longer stays

Tanzania has, at various points, discussed dedicated longer-stay or remote-work visa categories, but for most visitors planning an extended beach-and-safari trip within the standard 90-day tourist window, the ordinary tourist e-Visa (extended if needed, as described above) remains the relevant route. If you're planning a stay of several months, it's worth checking directly with Tanzania Immigration for the most current guidance on longer-stay categories.

Multi-country itineraries

If your trip also includes Kenya or Uganda — a common pairing for travellers doing a broader East African circuit — the East Africa Tourist Visa can be more cost-effective and convenient than applying for separate single-country visas, provided your routing fits its rules (generally, it requires your first port of entry to be one of the three participating countries).

Common mistakes that catch travellers out

• Applying with a passport that has less than six months' validity remaining at the date of entry, not the date of application.
• Assuming a "multiple entry" visa allows unlimited stay — it still restricts each individual visit to a maximum number of days (commonly 90), even though it allows re-entry multiple times within its overall validity.
• Confusing the mandatory Zanzibar travel insurance with the visa fee — they are separate charges from separate authorities, and you need both.
• Losing the arrival/departure card issued on entry — some visitors are asked for this again when leaving the country.
• Carrying only damaged, marked, or pre-2006 series US dollar notes as a backup — these are sometimes refused by Tanzanian institutions, including occasionally at immigration counters.

Quick answers

Do I need a separate visa for the Serengeti safari?

No — your Tanzania visa covers the whole country, Zanzibar and mainland alike.

Can I still get a visa on arrival?

Guidance on this has been inconsistent recently. Apply for the e-Visa in advance rather than counting on getting one at the airport.

Do I need a yellow fever certificate too?

Only if arriving from, or transiting more than 12 hours through, a country with yellow fever risk — see our Vaccinations & Malaria page.

Is the mandatory insurance included in the visa fee?

No, they're separate systems from separate authorities — you need to arrange both.

How long before travel should I apply?

As early as your travel plans are confirmed, and no later than two to three weeks before departure if possible.

Can I extend my visa once I'm in Zanzibar?

Yes, generally at an Immigration Department office in Zanzibar Town or Dar es Salaam, applied for before your current visa expires.

What if I lose my passport with my visa in it while in Zanzibar?

Contact your embassy or consulate immediately for emergency travel document support, and report the loss to local police — your tour operator or hotel can usually help point you to the nearest station and the relevant immigration office.

Do East African Community citizens need any documentation at all?

Yes — a valid passport or, in some cases, a national ID depending on current bilateral arrangements, even though a visa itself isn't required.

How the visa fits into your wider pre-departure checklist

The visa is usually just one item on a short list of things worth confirming before you fly, alongside the mandatory Zanzibar insurance, any yellow fever documentation relevant to your routing, and general health preparation. Because these are handled by different systems and sometimes different authorities, it's worth tracking them as separate checklist items rather than assuming approval of one implies the others are automatically sorted:

Requirement	Handled by	Separate from visa?
Tourist e-Visa	Tanzania Immigration Department	—
Mandatory inbound insurance	Zanzibar Insurance Corporation	Yes, entirely separate system and fee
Yellow fever certificate (if applicable to your routing)	A registered yellow fever vaccination centre in your home country	Yes, a health document, not an immigration one
Passport validity	Your home country's passport office	A precondition for visa approval, not part of the visa itself

Working through these as a single pre-departure checklist, rather than tackling the visa in isolation and discovering the others late, is the most reliable way to avoid last-minute stress. If you're booking your Zanzibar and safari trip through us, we typically flag all of these against your specific nationality and routing as part of planning your itinerary, precisely because they're easy to overlook individually.

A note on third-party visa services

A number of commercial websites offer to "process" your Tanzania e-Visa application for a service fee on top of the government charge. These aren't necessarily illegitimate, and for some travellers who'd rather not navigate a government portal themselves, the convenience may be worth the extra cost. But it's worth knowing you can apply directly through the official government portal yourself for the base government fee alone, without a middleman markup, if you're comfortable completing the application. If you do use a third-party service, check reviews carefully and confirm they're actually submitting through the official channel rather than operating some unofficial workaround.