Botswana Visa and Entry Requirements

The quick answer

Botswana operates an official online visa service at evisa.gov.bw, a Government of Botswana domain. That service and the government portal are the authorities. Any other source, including this page, is a summary that can go out of date.

Why this page names no fees, categories or validity periods

Entry rules change without much notice and they change in ways that matter at a check-in desk: fees are revised, eligible nationalities are added and removed, and the documents an officer asks for are not always the documents a website lists. A page that prints those details is useful for a while and then quietly becomes a liability.

So we describe the shape of the system and where to confirm the detail, which is the part that stays true.

The shape of the system

Botswana has long admitted nationals of many countries without a visa for short visits, and it now also runs an online application service for those who need one. Whether your passport needs a visa for your travel dates is exactly the sort of thing to confirm at source rather than infer from a blog.

Apply in advance where you can. It separates the paperwork from the arrivals hall and gives you something to show an airline at check-in.

What to have ready

• A passport with ample remaining validity and blank pages — give yourself margin rather than meeting a minimum exactly.
• Your visa approval where one applies, printed as well as on your phone.
• Onward or return travel details, and the address of your first night.
• Any health documentation your routing requires. Yellow fever certificate rules depend on the countries you have passed through, not only on where you are going.

⚠ If you are traveling with children

Southern African countries have at various times required additional documentation for minors — typically evidence of parentage, and consent from any parent not present. Requirements have changed more than once across the region and differ by country and by border post. If anyone under 18 is traveling, check the current position with the Botswana authorities and with every country on your itinerary, well before you fly. This catches families out more often than any other entry rule in the region.

Crossing to the neighbors

Botswana borders South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia, and a Victoria Falls or multi-country itinerary will use at least one land crossing:

• Kazungula Bridge to Zambia, opened in 2021, which replaced the ferry across the Zambezi and made the road link north far more practical. It is directly relevant to anyone combining Botswana with Zambia.
• Ngoma and Kasane for Namibia's Caprivi and for Zimbabwe.
• Trans-Kalahari crossings for Namibia in the west, and several posts along the long South African border.

Each is a separate set of rules with its own opening hours, and a rental vehicle taken across a border needs written authority from the rental company plus its own paperwork.

Where to check

Use the sources listed at the foot of this page: the Government of Botswana for Botswana, and the UK and US advisories to cross-check. Airlines occasionally enforce documentation more strictly than a government website implies.

Planning with LABUSA Travel

We will tell you what your specific routing needs and when to start, and we will say plainly when something is outside our control. We do not submit visa applications on your behalf.