Zambia and Visa-Waivers
A few years ago, Zambia decided to boost its tourism appeal by introducing a Visa-waiver for visitors who had pre-booked accommodation in Zambia. It began with Victoria Falls and has spread to the whole of Zambia.
In theory this is how the process works. Our clients send us their passport numbers about three weeks prior to arrival and we send this information onto the first lodge where they are staying in Zambia as well as out clients’ total length of stay in Zambia. This information is handed into the immigration authorities at the airport or border post where the clients will be arriving. It is usually, though not always, filed under the name of the lodge. When the client arrives at the immigration desk, they tell the officials where they are staying and the official looks up their names in the file for that particular lodge or safari company. The client’s name is found and the visa is granted.
However in practice recently we’ve found that the system is not working as well as it should, and that the success rate for receiving the fee-waivered visa is hovering around 60%. It seems that certain border posts are more efficient than others.
What this means is that all clients should be aware that we cannot guarantee a fee-waivered visa. Even if you give us your passport number at the correct time and we pass it on to the lodge and the lodge hands it into the authorities, we are at the mercy of government administration. Be aware that you might have to pay, and then when it all works smoothly, you can rejoice that you received a free visa.
If you are at the immigration counter and they cannot find your name, make sure that they know exactly where you are staying. It is worth standing your ground a little bit so that they do more than just a cursory search. But the visa is not that expensive, in the context of your overall safari, so if a reasonable search does not produce a positive result, we recommend that you accept it with good grace. However please tell your lodge that the system didn’t work, as they can then follow-up with the authorities to improve the situation in the future.