Tanzania Immigration Procedures

Getting through immigration in the Dar es Salaam airport in Tanzania is a breeze. Don’t even waste your time applying for the E visa. I started an evisa application and it was such a hassle.  The file size of every upload I did seemed to be too large.  Trying to get the passport photos to upload in the proper dimension was a pain.  Trust me.  Visa on arrival was such a breeze that it makes the evisa just not worth the effort.

Here’s what I recommend you do instead-

Before leaving home, find out if your home nation is one of the nations whose citizens are eligible for visa on arrival.  If so then, proceed.

Upon arrival, you will be instructed to complete a very simple form (NEVER travel without two pens!).  The information requested is a fraction of what was requested on the evisa application. Take the form and stand in the application line.  Once it’s approved, you will submit to collection of biometric data:  all your fingerprints will be scanned.  Once that’s completed you will be told which line to stand in next.  I was told “829.”  That meant stand in line 8, you are application number 29.  When it was my turn in line, I told the officer, “29.”  At that point I was billed $100.  It is very important that you bring USD.  They will only accept notes in denominations of 100 or 50.  These notes must have been issued after 2013 and be free of any in marks or tears.  Bills 20 and lower will not be accepted.  No other currency will be accepted either.  Once you pay, your hundred dollars is stuffed into your passport with your application and it’s all sent back for processing.

You will be instructed to go down by the clock and wait.  About every 10 minutes somebody comes out with a stack of passports and reads off all the names in the stack. I probably waited 15 minutes.  Once you have your visa, you just walk in past the immigration booths.

I had read that I needed the following items as well:  passport sized photos, a copy of my passport, proof of my onward ticket, itinerary, and a notarized affidavit by the non traveling parent giving my minor child permission to travel.  I was not asked for any of these items.  But as always–better safe than sorry.

In all, the visa process took about half an hour.

~Bella