Namibia Visa and Entry Requirements

If you read one thing on this page, read this. Namibia changed its entry rules recently enough that a great deal of what is written about the country online is now wrong, and wrong in the direction that leaves people at an airport.

You now need a visa

From 1 April 2025 a visa is required to visit Namibia. The Namibian authorities run a visa on arrival scheme which has been extended to British passport holders, and there are two ways through it: apply online in advance for an e-visa, or apply on arrival at a port of entry.

A visa granted on arrival is issued as a multiple entry visa valid for the period you asked for. Fees apply and vary by age, and this page does not print them, because a fee in prose is wrong the moment it is revised and the reader cannot tell how old it is.

Working, volunteering and longer stays are not covered by the visa on arrival process and need a different application through a Namibian mission.

Applying online in advance is the calmer option. The on arrival route exists and works, and it means resolving a payment and a form after a long flight.

Your passport, and the stamp

Your passport must be valid for at least six months after you arrive and must have at least three blank pages.

Then the part people skip: check your entry stamp before you leave the hall. Check the date and check the length of stay you have been given. Immigration officials examine both when you leave, and Namibia can detain, arrest or fine a traveler who overstays or who has an incorrect or missing stamp. An error made by somebody else at the desk becomes your problem at the other end of the trip.

Traveling with anyone under eighteen

Namibia requires a full birth certificate showing both parents’ details, original or certified copy, for every traveler aged seventeen or under, alongside their passport. An abridged or short form certificate will not be accepted, which is the detail that strands families, because the short form is what many countries issue by default.

A legal guardian whose name is not on the certificate needs documentation proving it. Anyone traveling with a child who is not their own needs an affidavit of consent from the parents or guardians, and a child traveling with one parent should carry an affidavit from the other. An unaccompanied child needs a consent affidavit and a letter from their host giving the address where they will stay.

If your route goes through a South African airport, South Africa has its own requirements for traveling with children and they apply to you in transit.