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Namibia

Namibia is a southern-African country bordering Angola, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa and the Atlantic. With about 2.6 million people spread across roughly 825 000 km² — bigger than France and the UK combined, larger than Texas — it is one of the most thinly populated places on earth, and the country travellers reach for when they want desert, wildlife and self-drive freedom without the logistical friction of much of the continent. Windhoek, the capital, sits on a 1 700-metre plateau in the centre of the country and serves as the hub for nearly all itineraries. From there, tarred B-roads and well-maintained C-grade gravel routes fan out to Etosha National Park in the north, the Sossusvlei dunes in the Namib-Naukluft south-west, the Atlantic coast at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, Damaraland and Spitzkoppe in the north-west, the Quiver Tree Forest and Fish River Canyon in the deep south, and the Kunene River and Caprivi (Zambezi) region in the far north. English is the official language; German and Afrikaans remain widely spoken; the Namibia Dollar (N$) trades 1:1 with the South African Rand. International access is via Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) outside Windhoek, typically routed through Johannesburg, Cape Town, Addis Ababa, Doha or one of the European hubs.

Arrange your visa on arrival
  • Visavisa on arrival
  • CapitalWindhoek
  • CurrencyNAD $
  • TimezoneCentral Africa Time (UTC+2)
  • Population2.6 Million
  • RegionAfrica · Southern Africa
  • Phone code+264

Visa Requirements for Namibia

Namibia runs a three-tier system by passport. Twenty-two nationalities — including Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Kenya, South Africa and most other SADC states, plus Hong Kong, Macau, Cuba and Jamaica — enter visa-free for holidays. Eighty-nine listed nationalities — among them the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, most of the EU, Japan, South Korea and 28 African states on a parallel list — can use Visa on Arrival. Under the official May 2025 fee schedule, adults and travellers aged 12 or older from listed African countries pay N$1,200, while those from other listed countries pay N$1,600; children aged 6–11 pay half and children under six pay nothing. A holiday visa may be granted for up to 90 days and multiple entry, which matters for itineraries crossing back into South Africa or Botswana. Although eligible travellers can apply physically on arrival, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security recommends applying online in advance through its official e-services portal, paying the fee electronically and carrying the issued e-visa. Passports must be valid for at least six months and contain at least three blank pages. Visa on Arrival is processed only at designated ports of entry, so self-drive travellers crossing from South Africa, Botswana, Angola or Zambia should confirm their border post is on the current list before finalising the route. Visitors from countries outside both the exempt and Visa-on-Arrival lists — including India, Nigeria, China and the Philippines — must obtain an e-visa before travelling. Travellers under 18 should carry an international birth certificate showing both parents, or a certified English translation, particularly where surnames differ or one parent is travelling alone. Work, volunteering, study, journalism, filming and long-stay travel require separate permits and cannot be regularised under a Visa on Arrival.

Visa types

Up to 90 days per visit, multiple entries within a 12-month period. No visa, no fee, free entry stamp at the border. KAZA UniVisa holders moving between Zambia, Zimbabwe and adjoining Botswana/Namibia day trips remain covered under the regional protocol.

For citizens of 22 nationalities — Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Kenya, Hong Kong, Macau, Cuba, Jamaica and most other SADC member states (South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Mauritius, Seychelles) — for holidays and short visits.

Guides

Namibia is the country travellers come to when they want the silence of empty landscape combined with the kind of infrastructure — fuel stations, mobile signal on the main routes, NWR rest camps inside the national parks, a thriving private lodge sector — that makes a self-drive trip realistic without a guide. Sossusvlei, in the Namib-Naukluft, holds the orange dunes and the white clay floor of Deadvlei with its 900-year-old camel-thorn skeletons; Etosha National Park in the north is built around an enormous salt pan and a string of floodlit waterholes that draw elephants, black rhino, lion, giraffe and large zebra herds within a few metres of the road. Damaraland, in the north-west, is the country of free-ranging desert elephants, the Twyfelfontein rock engravings (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the granite inselberg of Spitzkoppe rising from the gravel plain. Southern Namibia holds the Fish River Canyon, the Quiver Tree Forest outside Keetmanshoop and the ghost-town of Kolmanskop being slowly reclaimed by the dunes. The Atlantic coast pairs Swakopmund's German-coastal-town atmosphere with the Cape fur seal colony at Cape Cross and the desert-meeting-ocean drama of the Skeleton Coast. In the far north, the Kunene River traces a 350-kilometre border with Angola and runs over Epupa Falls in a series of cascades through the palms. Most itineraries follow a 12–16 day clockwise or counter-clockwise loop out of Windhoek, with a 4x4 only strictly necessary for the deep north-west, Sandwich Harbour and the dry-river beds of Damaraland. The dry season — May to October — is the prime window: cooler days, no rain, vegetation thin enough to see game, and waterholes concentrating wildlife. The wet season (December–March) is hotter, greener, full of newborn animals and considerably cheaper, though some unsealed tracks can wash out.

Namibia travel guide →

The full guide — the waterhole circuit, the dunes, the granite north-west, the Skeleton Coast and the self-drive loop.

Money in Namibia →

Namibia dollars, the rand peg and cash planning — the practical money guide.

Getting around Namibia →

The physics of gravel, where the 4x4 zones really come from, fuel-range habits and why dusk is the dangerous hour.

Health & safety in Namibia →

Two risk profiles — town and bush — plus malaria's real map, desert heat, camp habits and the evacuation reality.

Cities & planning

LuderitzKarasSwakopmundErongoWalvis BayErongoWindhoekKhomas

Regions

Embassies & missions

Frequently asked questions

It depends on your passport. Twenty-two nationalities (including South Africa and most SADC states) are visa-exempt outright. Eighty-nine more — including the UK, US, Canada, Australia and most of the EU — use Visa on Arrival, paying online in advance or at the border. Everyone else needs an e-visa before travelling.

Not for the core route — Sossusvlei's tarred spur road, Etosha and the Quiver Tree route are manageable in a sedan. A 4x4 is essential for Kaokoland, the Marienfluss, Sandwich Harbour and parts of Damaraland.

Most itineraries run 12-16 days in a clockwise or counter-clockwise loop out of Windhoek, covering Sossusvlei, Etosha, Damaraland and the coast. Shorter trips can focus on just Etosha and Sossusvlei in about a week.

Planning a trip to Namibia? Check what you need to enter and apply online in minutes.

Arrange your visa on arrival

Treat this Visaja page as your starting point: verify the current rules directly with the official source before you submit an application.