Visas & Entry
Americans used to visit Namibia without a visa. Since April 2025 that has changed; here is what to apply for, what to carry and what catches families out.
If you are checking the Namibia visa rules for US citizens, set aside anything you read before 2025. Since 1 April 2025, Namibia has required visas from US passport holders, along with Canadian, British and most EU nationals, ending years of visa-free tourist entry. Plenty of older blog posts and forum answers still say otherwise, so treat them as out of date.
There are two routes: an e-visa, applied for online through the Namibian government’s official portal before you fly, or a visa on arrival at designated airports and border posts. At the time of writing (September 2026), the fee published by Namibia’s diplomatic mission is N$1,600 per adult for nationals of countries outside the African Union, which includes the US. Both routes are legitimate; the e-visa simply moves the paperwork, and some of the queuing, to before your trip.
Entry rules change, sometimes at short notice. Treat this page as a planning summary rather than legal advice, and check the official sources at the foot of the page shortly before you travel. When we plan your journey, we check the current requirements against your passport and route.
| Item | What applies to US travelers (September 2026) |
|---|---|
| Visa | Required since 1 April 2025, as an e-visa or a visa on arrival |
| Where to apply | Online at the official portal, eservices.mhaiss.gov.na, or on arrival at a designated port |
| Fee | N$1,600 per adult; N$800 for children aged 6–11; children under 6 exempt from the fee |
| Passport | Valid for at least six months on arrival, with at least three blank pages (UK government guidance; confirm with the US State Department) |
| Children under 18 | A full, unabridged birth certificate naming both parents, plus a consent affidavit if only one parent is traveling |
| Yellow fever | A certificate is needed only if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk |
| Length of stay | Set by the immigration officer and recorded in your passport; check the date before leaving the desk |
Fees are in Namibian dollars (N$), which trade one-to-one with the South African rand. Position at the time of writing; check the official sources below before you fly.
Namibia Airports Company advises applying online in advance and carrying proof of approval. This is the practical sequence; the portal itself sets the exact documents it asks for.
Make sure it has at least six months’ validity on arrival and plenty of blank pages, more if you are adding Botswana, Zimbabwe or South Africa, since every border adds stamps. Renewing a US passport takes weeks, so do this before anything else.
Apply at eservices.mhaiss.gov.na, run by Namibia’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security. Look-alike agency websites add a service charge and nothing else.
Expect to enter passport details, travel dates and where you are staying. The itinerary we send you lists your first-night address and flight numbers, which covers the usual questions.
Pay the fee online and download the approval as soon as it arrives. Save it to your phone for offline use and print two copies, one for your carry-on and one for a companion’s bag.
At immigration in Windhoek or Walvis Bay, hand over your passport with the printed approval. The officer stamps you in and records your permitted stay; check that date before you walk away.
If you would rather not apply in advance, visas on arrival are issued at the ports below (September 2026). Queues after a long-haul arrival can be slow, one reason the airports themselves point travelers to the e-visa.
Hosea Kutako International, about 45 km east of Windhoek, where nearly every international flight lands; and Walvis Bay on the coast, used for open-jaw trips and flights to and from South Africa.
Trans-Kalahari on the highway from Gaborone and Ghanzi; Ngoma, toward Kasane and Chobe; Mohembo, on the Okavango panhandle; and Impalila Island, where boats cross to Kasane.
Explore →Katima Mulilo, the crossing to Zambia in the far north-east; and Noordoewer and Oranjemund, on the Orange River border with South Africa.
Oshikango, the main northern crossing. Few safari routes use it, but it is on the official list of visa-on-arrival ports.
UK government guidance says your passport must be valid for at least six months from arrival and have at least three blank pages. For Americans the reference is the US State Department’s Namibia page, so check its current wording against your own passport before you book. Blank pages disappear quickly on combination trips: a loop through Namibia, Botswana and Victoria Falls can easily use six stamps or more.
Families are where most problems happen. Children under 18 need a full, unabridged birth certificate naming both parents, which for US families usually means the long-form certificate rather than a short-form abstract. If one parent is traveling alone with a child, carry an affidavit of consent from the other parent. Children aged 6–11 pay a reduced visa fee and under-6s pay none, but every child still needs the documents.
Namibia has no yellow fever risk, and you don’t need a certificate when flying in from the US or Europe. You do need one if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, and UK guidance adds that a transit of more than 12 hours in such a country counts too, which matters if you add an East African safari first or build a long layover into your route. Vaccines and malaria are covered in our Namibia health guide.
Many Namibia journeys cross a border. UK government guidance says the Namibian visa is issued as multiple-entry for the duration you request, which would let you slip into Botswana or Victoria Falls and return on the same visa. Confirm this for your own application before relying on it, and request a duration that covers the whole trip, side trips included.
The KAZA UNIVISA, the joint visa sold by Zambia and Zimbabwe, does not cover Namibia; our Victoria Falls guide explains when it is worth buying. Botswana and South Africa set their own entry rules, which their own sections cover, starting with our Botswana safari hub.
On our 12-day Namibia and Botswana safari, for example, you cross by road at Ngoma after a stay in the Zambezi Region and fly out of Maun. Each country’s requirements are checked against your passport as we plan, so the border day is a formality rather than a worry.
Safaris
Windhoek · Sossusvlei · Etosha National Park · Zambezi Region · Kasane · Okavango Delta · Maun
Travelers who want Namibia’s landscapes and Botswana’s water safari in a single trip, without backtracking
Windhoek · NamibRand · Sossusvlei · Damaraland · Cape Town
Couples who want space, silence and striking landscapes, then a stylish city finale
Windhoek · Sossusvlei · Skeleton Coast · Etosha National Park
Travelers who would rather fly than drive, and who value remote wilderness and photography over a long species list
Good to know
Yes. Since 1 April 2025, US passport holders need a visa for Namibia, either an e-visa applied for online before travel or a visa on arrival at designated airports and border posts. The earlier visa-free entry no longer applies.
At the time of writing (September 2026), Namibian government sources give the fee as N$1,600 per adult for nationals of countries outside the African Union, N$800 for children aged 6–11 and nothing for children under 6. Fees can change, so check the official portal before you pay.
Both are valid, but the e-visa is the calmer option. The airports themselves advise applying online in advance, and it spares you a queue after a long-haul flight; a visa on arrival remains a fallback if your plans change late.
Apply once your flights are booked and leave several weeks before departure, so any query can be resolved without stress. Processing times are not published as a firm commitment, so avoid leaving it to the final week.
No. The KAZA UNIVISA covers Zambia and Zimbabwe, and Namibia is not part of the scheme. If your trip adds Victoria Falls, you may need the UNIVISA or separate visas on top of your Namibian one.
Children aged 6–11 pay a reduced fee of N$800 at the time of writing, and children under 6 are exempt from the fee. Whatever the fee, every child still needs a passport and a full, unabridged birth certificate naming both parents, plus the other parent’s consent affidavit if only one parent is traveling.
Share your dates, who is traveling and whether you imagine dunes at dawn, rhino tracks in Damaraland or a waterhole at night. We’ll shape a private route around those ideas and talk you through every choice before anything is confirmed.
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