Madagascar Visa and Entry Requirements

The quick answer

You can visit Madagascar for up to 15 days without a visa. You still pay a 10-euro administration fee on arrival, and you must be ready to show onward or return tickets. For longer, you buy a visa at the airport.

Your passport

To enter Madagascar your passport must have an expiry date at least 6 months after the date you arrive, and at least 2 blank pages.

Six months is a stricter rule than most Indian Ocean destinations apply, and it is measured from arrival rather than departure. Check it against the actual date on the document rather than against a memory of when you renewed it.

Visas

• Up to 15 days: no visa. A 10-euro administration fee is paid on arrival.
• Longer: buy a 30-day or 60-day single-entry tourist visa on arrival at the airport. The FCDO says it can be paid for in US dollars, euros or Malagasy ariary.
• In advance: you can instead apply to the Embassy of Madagascar in London for a tourist or immigrant visa.
• Extensions: either visa can be extended inside Madagascar to a maximum total stay of 90 days.

Two things the FCDO says plainly and that we will repeat. Make sure you get your passport stamped. And if you overstay, you may be detained or deported.

Traveling with children

A child aged 17 or under traveling without one or either parent must carry written authorization from the absent parent or parents when leaving Madagascar. This is checked on departure, which is the worst possible moment to discover you do not have it.

Vaccine certificates

To enter Madagascar you must be able to prove you have had:

• a yellow fever vaccination, if you are arriving from a country listed as a transmission risk;
• a polio vaccine, in some circumstances.

Neither is a blanket requirement on every traveler, and both turn on where you have been rather than where you live. See Madagascar Packing List for where the certificate itself belongs.

Health screening on arrival

Cholera

If you enter Madagascar from a cholera-affected country, airport authorities may ask you to take an anti-cholera drug, doxycycline. Anyone unable to take it should be offered an alternative by the health authorities, and the FCDO specifically names people who are pregnant, under 8 years old, or have a pre-existing medical condition. You are likely to be asked to leave contact details, and may be followed up after three to five days.

Ebola

Madagascar has additional measures in response to the Ebola outbreak. If you have been in or transited through an affected country in the previous 21 days you may not be allowed to enter unless you are exempt. Exempt categories can enter but must complete a 21-day quarantine and health monitoring period at an approved location, at their own cost for accommodation, food and transport. All travelers complete a health declaration form, declare any travel through an affected country in the previous 21 days, and undergo screening on arrival.

⚠ Customs, which is where visitors actually get caught

Food

Do not take any food into Madagascar, including fruit. It is illegal. This is the rule most often broken by accident, usually by someone who bought something at a transit airport and forgot it was in their bag.

What you may take out

Leaving Madagascar you may, after declaring them and showing receipts, take out:

• up to 2kg of vanilla;
• up to 1kg of pepper or cloves.

Other plant and animal products may only be exported with permission. Keep your receipts from the moment you buy, not from the moment you think about the airport.

Money

There is a limit on how much Malagasy ariary you may bring in: the FCDO gives it as 400,000 ariary. See Madagascar Currency and Money Guide for what that means in practice and why it is rarely a constraint.

Before you book

These rules are the UK government's understanding of Madagascar's requirements for the most common kinds of travel on a full British citizen passport, and the Malagasy authorities set and enforce them. If your nationality, route or purpose differs, confirm with the Embassy of Madagascar rather than with a summary, including this one.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Madagascar entry requirements: passport validity, the visa-free allowance and its arrival fee, vaccine certificates, cholera screening and the customs rules on food, vanilla and spices. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Madagascar health advice: the emergency number, the named health risks, unsafe tap water and what the hospitals in Antananarivo can and cannot do. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Madagascar travel advice, including the political situation and the 17 October 2025 transitional government. Accessed 14 September 2026.