Tanzania E-Visa Application: Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

The Tanzania e-visa portal works well when you fill it out correctly and badly when you don't. The form takes 30 minutes if you have everything ready in advance and several hours of frustration if you don't. I have helped roughly 600 visitors navigate this application over the past three years and most of the problems people hit are the same handful of fields filled in the wrong way. Here's the universal walkthrough — applies to any nationality applying for the standard tourist e-visa.

Before you start

Have these ready before opening the portal:

• Passport bio page photo or scan (clear, all corners visible, no glare). Save as a JPEG under 300KB.
• Recent passport-style photo of yourself with a plain white background, no glasses, no hat. JPEG, under 300KB.
• Confirmed or held flight itinerary showing your arrival and departure dates. A refundable booking is fine if you haven't ticketed yet.
• Accommodation confirmation for at least the first 2–3 nights of your trip. If you're booking with a safari operator, request a "visa support letter" — they'll send it the same day.
• A working credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express) in your name.
• Your passport in front of you for the data-entry fields.

If you've been in a yellow-fever-endemic country in the 6 days before your Tanzania arrival, you'll also need a yellow fever vaccination certificate as a JPEG. Most North American, European, and Australian travellers don't need this unless they're transiting through specific African or South American countries.

Time required: 30 minutes if everything is ready. Cost: $50 single-entry (most nationalities) or $100 multiple-entry (US citizens mandatory, multiple-entry option for others).

Step-by-step e-visa application

The official portal is [visa.immigration.go.tz](https://visa.immigration.go.tz). Bookmark this. There are dozens of third-party "visa service" sites that charge an extra $50–$150 for the same application; avoid them.

Step 1: Create an account

• Click "New Application" on the homepage.
• Enter an email address you'll keep checking for the next 30 days. The decision email goes here.
• Set a password (the portal forces specific format requirements — letters, numbers, symbols).
• You'll receive an email verification link; click it to activate the account.

Step 2: Select visa type

• "Visa Type" → choose Ordinary Visa for tourism (the $50 option for most nationalities).
• US passport holders: the system auto-selects Multiple Entry Visa ($100); this is mandatory.
• Travellers planning multiple Tanzania trips in 12 months: choose Multiple Entry Visa voluntarily.

Step 3: Fill in personal details

• Surname (family name) as on your passport.
• First name(s) — include middle names exactly as on passport.
• Sex, date of birth, place of birth.
• Nationality — drop-down, select your passport country.
• Marital status.
• Father's full name and mother's full name (this is required and frequently missed by Western applicants who assume it's optional).
• Profession (e.g. "Software Engineer", "Teacher", "Retired"). Be specific.
• Employer's name and address. For self-employed, write your business name or "Self-Employed Consultant".
• Email and phone number (international format with country code: +44 for UK, +1 for US, +61 for Australia).
• Home address (full street address, city, postal code, country).

Step 4: Passport details

• Passport number — exactly as printed (no spaces, no hyphens unless they appear on the passport).
• Issue date and expiry date.
• Issuing authority (e.g. "His Majesty's Passport Office" for UK, "Department of State" for US, "Australian Passport Office" for AU).
• Place of issue (your country).

Step 5: Travel details

• Purpose of visit: Tourism (or Visiting Friends/Family if applicable).
• Date of arrival in Tanzania.
• Date of departure from Tanzania.
• Port of entry: typically Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO), Julius Nyerere International (DAR), or Zanzibar (ZNZ).
• Means of transport: Air (almost always).
• Carrier name: your airline (KLM, Qatar, Turkish, Emirates, Ethiopian, etc.).
• Flight number: e.g. KLM569, QR1357.
• Accommodation: name and address of your first hotel or camp. If you're with a safari operator, they'll provide a support letter you can paste.

Step 6: Travel history

• "Have you visited Tanzania before?" Yes/No.
• "Have you been to any country in the past three years?" — list them. Most travellers list 3–5 countries.
• Yellow fever and other vaccinations relevant to the routing.

Step 7: Upload documents

• Passport bio page (JPEG, under 300KB).
• Passport-style photo (JPEG, under 300KB).
• Flight itinerary (PDF or JPEG, under 500KB).
• Accommodation confirmation (PDF or JPEG, under 500KB).
• Yellow fever certificate if relevant.

The portal will reject uploads that exceed size limits or wrong format. Compress images with any free online tool (TinyPNG, Squoosh) before uploading.

Step 8: Review and submit

• The portal displays a summary of all fields.
• Read carefully — typos here cause rejections. Common typo locations: middle names omitted, passport number off by one digit, wrong birth year.
• Click Submit. You'll be routed to payment.

Step 9: Payment

• USD 50 (single-entry) or USD 100 (multiple-entry).
• Visa, Mastercard, or American Express accepted.
• Your card will be charged in USD; your bank applies FX conversion automatically.
• Successful payment generates a confirmation page with your application reference number. Screenshot this.

Step 10: Wait for the decision email

• Typical processing: 10–20 business days.
• Sometimes 3–5 days. Sometimes 30+.
• The decision email comes from noreply@immigration.go.tz or evisa@immigration.go.tz. Check spam.
• Approved applications include a PDF attachment — your e-visa.

Step 11: Print and bring the e-visa PDF

• Print the PDF in colour and bring it in your carry-on.
• Some airlines (KLM, Qatar, Turkish, Emirates) check at boarding.
• Tanzanian immigration officers check on arrival.

Document specifications (every nationality)

Passport bio page: - JPEG format only. - Under 300KB file size. - All four corners visible. - No glare on the laminated photo area. - Smartphone photo with good lighting on a dark surface works fine.

Passport-style photo of yourself: - JPEG format only. - Under 300KB. - Plain white background (a white wall in your house works). - Full face, looking straight at camera. - No glasses (even prescription glasses; remove them). - No hats unless for religious reasons (then write a note in the application). - Neutral expression. - Recent (within 6 months). - Get this done at any passport-photo machine (Walgreens, CVS, Boots, Australia Post, NZ Post) — they output JPEGs to the right specifications.

Flight itinerary: - PDF or JPEG, under 500KB. - Must show your name, the arrival flight to Tanzania, and the departure flight. - A booked-but-not-ticketed reservation is acceptable.

Accommodation confirmation: - PDF or JPEG, under 500KB. - For the first 2–3 nights at minimum. - A safari operator's visa support letter on company letterhead is the strongest format. - Booking.com or Airbnb confirmations are accepted.

Yellow fever vaccination certificate (if applicable): - JPEG of your International Certificate of Vaccination card. - Must show the yellow fever stamp. - Required if you've been in a yellow-fever-endemic country in the 6 days before arrival.

The tricky fields and how to fill them

Father's and mother's name: Required, not optional. Write the full name as it appears on official documents (yours or theirs). If a parent is deceased, write the name and add "(deceased)" — the application accepts this.

Profession: Be specific. "Engineer" is fine; "Software Engineer at [Company]" is better. Retired? Write "Retired" plus your prior profession (e.g. "Retired Doctor").

Employer: For self-employed/freelancers, write your business name or "Self-Employed [Profession]". For retired travellers, write "Retired" again. For students, write your university name. For people between jobs, write your most recent employer.

Address: Full street address. P.O. boxes typically rejected. If you live in an apartment, include the unit number.

Place of birth: City and country as on your passport. Some passports show only the country; in that case write the country.

Port of entry: Typically the first Tanzanian airport you'll land at. For safari travellers flying into JRO, write "Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)". For Zanzibar-first trips, "Zanzibar International Airport (ZNZ)".

Accommodation: First few nights' lodging. If you're with a safari operator, paste their visa support letter content (operator name, address, your booking reference). If you have no booking yet, get one for at least the first night — even a refundable booking.com reservation works.

Payment — methods and watch-outs

Accepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express. Cards must be in the applicant's name (not a third party).

The portal occasionally rejects cards for unclear reasons. Workarounds:

• Try a different card (sometimes Mastercard works where Visa doesn't, or vice versa).
• Disable your card's fraud-prevention for international transactions before applying. Email your bank or use your banking app.
• Use a travel-money card (Wise, Revolut, Travelex). These tend to work reliably and skip the FX fee.
• Pay via the Tanzania embassy in your country as a fallback — they accept payment and forward to the system.

If the payment fails after multiple attempts but your application has been submitted, contact evisa@immigration.go.tz with your reference number. They can sometimes re-trigger the payment link.

After submission — what happens next

• Within 24 hours: confirmation email with your reference number.
• 3–20 business days: decision email. Could be approval, rejection, or "request for additional information."
• If approved: PDF attached. Print and bring.
• If rejected: reason stated. You can re-apply.
• If additional information requested: respond promptly. The clock essentially resets.

Tanzanian business days exclude Saturday-Sunday and public holidays (notable: Easter, Idd-El-Fitr, Mwalimu Nyerere Day in October, Independence Day in December). If you submit just before a holiday weekend, processing slows.

If your application stalls

If 21 business days pass with no decision:

• Email evisa@immigration.go.tz with your application reference number and a brief, polite note: "Application reference [X] submitted [date]; travel date [Y]; any update?"
• Response typically within 3–5 business days.
• If still no response after another week, call the Tanzania Immigration Department directly: +255 22 215 2000 or +255 22 212 8120. English-speaking staff available during business hours.
• Final escalation: contact the Tanzanian embassy in your country. They can sometimes accelerate.

If your travel date is approaching and there's still no decision, apply for visa on arrival as a backup. The e-visa application will eventually be processed (or refunded if not), and you'll have a working visa for travel.

Common mistakes that cost time or money

1. Applying too early. Applications submitted 4–6 months ahead seem to back-burner. Submit 30–60 days before travel.

2. Wrong photo format. Photos with grey backgrounds, sunglasses, or hats get rejected. Use a passport-photo service — small cost, no risk.

3. Skipping the parent name fields. Western applicants frequently leave these blank. The portal accepts the submission but the application is then rejected during review.

4. Using a third-party visa service that charges $100–$200 extra. The official portal is straightforward enough for any traveller to use in 30 minutes.

5. Submitting and forgetting the reference number. Screenshot it. Save the confirmation email.

6. Travelling on a passport that expires within 6 months. The e-visa system catches this; the airline catches it at check-in.

7. Wrong port-of-entry field. If you wrote "JRO" but actually arrive at "DAR," immigration may not let you in. Re-apply if your routing changes.

8. Bringing damaged USD cash for on-arrival backup. Tanzanian immigration rejects damaged or pre-2009 USD bills. Bring crisp post-2009 series.

9. Paying for an "express service." There is no official express service. Sites offering it are third-party services that submit the same application.

10. Assuming Zanzibar needs a separate visa. It does not. Zanzibar is part of Tanzania; one visa covers both.

For nationality-specific guidance, see Tanzania visa for US citizens, the UK/EU post, or the AU/NZ post.

When you're ready to plan the trip itself, send us your dates — we include a visa support letter with every booking confirmation, written on company letterhead in the exact format the e-visa portal expects.