Visa policy of Zambia

Visitors to Zambia must obtain a visa from one of the Zambian diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or countries whose citizens are eligible for visa on arrival. Visitors may alternatively obtain an electronic visa.^[1]

All visitors must hold a passport valid for at least 6 months. As of November 2014, Zambia and Zimbabwe also offer a universal visa.^[2]

Visa policy map

  Zambia

  Visa not required

  Visa on arrival / eVisa

  eVisa

Visa exemption

Holders of passports issued by the following countries and territories do not need a visa to enter Zambia for up to 90 days in one year as tourists or 30 days in one year for business:^[3][4][5]

All European Union member states  Albania  Andorra  Angola [6]  Antigua and Barbuda  Argentina  Australia1  Bahamas  Bahrain1  Barbados  Belize  Bhutan  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Botswana  Brunei  Canada1  Cape Verde  China1  Comoros  Costa Rica  Dominica  Dominican Republic  Eswatini  Fiji  Grenada  Guatemala  Guyana  Honduras  Hong Kong  Iceland  Iraq1  Israel  Jamaica  Japan1  Kenya  Kiribati  Kuwait1  Laos  Lesotho  Liberia  Liechtenstein  Madagascar  Malawi  Malaysia  Maldives  Marshall Islands  Mauritius  Micronesia  Moldova  Monaco  Montenegro  Morocco  Mozambique  Namibia  Nauru  New Zealand1  North Macedonia  Norway1  Oman1  Palau  Papua New Guinea  Qatar1  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Samoa  San Marino  Sao Tome and Principe  Saudi Arabia1  Serbia  Seychelles  Singapore  Solomon Islands  South Africa  South Korea1  Suriname   Switzerland  Tanzania  Tonga  Trinidad and Tobago  Turkey  Tuvalu  Uganda  Ukraine  United Arab Emirates1  United Kingdom1  United States1  Vanuatu  Vatican  Zimbabwe

_{1 - As of 1 November 2022, visa requirements were waived for tourists holding a passport from the following countries and territories:^[7]}

In addition, visa exemption applies to holders of passports issued to residents of the following jurisdictions:

Holders of the following British passports: British Overseas Territories Citizens:  Anguilla  Bermuda  British Virgin Islands  Cayman Islands  Falkland Islands  Gibraltar  Montserrat  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha  Turks and Caicos Islands British Citizens:  Isle of Man  Guernsey  Jersey Holders of the following New Zealand passports:  Cook Islands residents  Niue residents  Tokelau residents Holders of the following Australian passports:  Christmas Island residents  Cocos (Keeling) Islands residents  Norfolk Island residents Holders of the following United States passports:  American Samoa residents  Guam residents  Northern Mariana Islands residents  United States Virgin Islands residents Holders of the following Danish passports:  Faroe Islands residents  Greenland residents

Date of visa changes
26 March 1972: Romania[8]

Visa on arrival

Nationals of following countries and territories may obtain a visa for Zambia on arrival for up to 90 days as tourists or 30 days for business:^[9]

Belarus  Bolivia  Brazil  Burundi  Chile  Colombia  Congo  DR Congo

Cuba  Djibouti  Ecuador  Eritrea  El Salvador  Georgia  Ghana  Haiti

Kazakhstan  Mexico  Mongolia  Myanmar  Nicaragua  Panama  Paraguay  Peru

Russia  Rwanda  Thailand  Uruguay  Western Sahara  Venezuela  Vietnam

Holders of diplomatic or official passports of any countries may obtain visa on arrival.

Electronic Visa (e-Visa)

Zambia introduced an e-Visa system in late 2014.^[10] It is an alternative to visas issued at Zambian missions abroad or on arrival.^[11]

Visa holder can stay in Zambia for the period of 90 days during a given calendar year since the date of entry into Zambia.^[12] For nationals that may obtain visas at ports of entry, the e-Visa takes 3 working days to process and for nationals that require visas prior to travel to Zambia processing time takes a minimum of 5 working days.^[13]

Universal visa

KAZA visa eligible countries

External image
Map of entry points where universal KAZA visa can be obtained

Zambia and Zimbabwe introduced a universal visa on 28 November 2014 called KAZA Visa. This visa can be obtained on arrival and is valid for both countries for visits up to 30 days while remaining within Zambia and Zimbabwe (including day trips to Chobe National Park in Botswana at Kazungula).^[14] In second phase Namibia, Angola and Botswana are expected to join the project.^[15][16] In third stage three SADC pilot countries are expected to join and in fourth stage all SADC countries are expected to become part of the universal visa project.^[17]

The universal visa project was suspended in 2015 due to running out of visa stickers and the expiry of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries. The new Memorandum was signed in December 2016, extending the list of eligible countries (including territories) from 40 to 65.^[18] In Zambia it is issued at Livingstone Airport, Victoria Falls, Kazungula and Lusaka Airport border crossings.^[19]

Eligible countries are:^[20][21]

Andorra  Argentina  Australia  Austria  Belarus  Belgium  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Brazil  Brunei  Burundi  Canada  Cape Verde  Comoros  Croatia  Cuba

Czech Republic  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France[22]  Georgia  Germany  Greece  Haiti  Hungary  Iceland  Israel  Italy  Japan  Kazakhstan

Latvia  Liechtenstein  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Marshall Islands  Moldova  Monaco  Netherlands  New Zealand[23]  Norway  Poland  Portugal  Russia  Rwanda  Samoa

Sao Tome and Principe  Serbia  Slovakia  Slovenia  South Korea  Spain  Sweden   Switzerland  Turkey  Ukraine  United Arab Emirates  United Kingdom[24]  United States[25]  Uruguay

Visitor statistics

Most visitors arriving to Zambia were from the following countries of nationality:^[26][27][28]

Country	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2015	2014	2013
Tanzania	169,798	118,708	206,771	161,990	222,095	166,833	219,215	184,187
Zimbabwe	139,881	185,154	424,921	340,263	242,848	225,527	208,962	191,048
Democratic Republic of Congo	75,466	48,311	108,421	82,578	96,480	96,201	89,796	—
South Africa	36,018	28,437	92,033	94,170	92,486	94,030	98,216	87,048
India	14,944	10,960	30,789	25,505	22,337	25,517	21,117	17,136
Mozambique	14,765	12,955	23,671	19,899	19,833
Malawi	12,683	13,603	26,208	32,667	28,783	31,539	29,579	—
United States	12,256	6,120	39,930	41,390	39,121	38,496	32,625	31,826
Kenya	7,848	5,530	13,924	11,754	10,626
Botswana	7,315	8,991
United Kingdom	7,226	8,510	27,019	34,789	43,487	36,997	31,280	32,309
China	6,918	7,696	34,400	27,796	26,562	20,648	30,831	27,603
Namibia	6,148	7,537				22,311	16,742	—
Uganda	4,175
Germany	2,271	1,502	7,856	9,565	7,952
France	1,956	1,623	6,142	6,460	5,092
Netherlands	1,434	1,174
Canada	1,244	1,406	6,786	6,911	5,311
Italy	933	851	4,232	5,733	3,138
Australia	677	1,644	10,614	11,059	8,547
Denmark	424	379	1,670	1,764	2,225
Total	554,290	501,606	1,266,427	1,072,012	1,009,173	931,782	946,969	914,576

See also

• Zambia portal

• Visa requirements for Zambian citizens
• List of diplomatic missions of Zambia

Sources

• Nationals who do not require a visa, Department of Immigration
• Nationals requiring visas on arrival or at missions abroad, Department of Immigration
• Nationals requiring visas prior to travel, Department of Immigration
• e-Visa