The Zambia Tourism Board has recently launched the e-Visa facility at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka that seeks to facilitate the arrival of foreigners to the country for investments, businesses or tourism.
The e-Visa facility is meant to serve all foreign nationals that require visa to enter Zambia and can be easily accessed from any pc with internet connection through the following web address: https://evisa.zambiaimmigration.gov.zm.
The e-Visa is an innovative alternative to the traditional visas issued at the Zambian ports of entry and missions abroad, which were a constraint for foreigners targeting the country, as there are only 27 Zambian missions abroad, to serve more than 120 countries whose nationals require visa to visit Zambia.
In addition, the e-Visa reduces the visa processing time from up to 10 days when applying at missions abroad to 3 or 5 days after all required information has been electronically submitted.
Once the approval letter is received and printed, the person only needs to show it to officers at the Zambian ports of entry and pay the e-Visa fee of USD 50 for a single entry, USD 80 for multiple entries, USD 50 for transit, and USD 20 for day tripper.
With the issuance of the e-Visa approval letter through the e-Visa portal, Zambia expects to boost further the tourism sector by reducing logistical costs, paper work, reach more people abroad, and optimize the human resources’ work.
Zambia’s Department of Immigration is also seeking to make online the KAZA UniVisa with Zimbabwe which is always requested by foreigners visiting Victoria Falls, and that is expected to be available in 2016 according to Zambia’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
Zambia received 946,969 tourists in 2014 up from 914,576 in 2013 according to the Zambia Tourism Board, and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates the country will reach 1 million tourist arrivals by end of 2015.
