Mozambique President Announces VOA Visa On Arrival Return to all Open Border Posts and International Airports
Mozambique President Announces Visa On Arrival (VOA) Return to all Open Border Posts and International Airports
19/12/20
Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi announced on Thursday 17th the relaxation of a number of measures that had been put in place to control the spread of Covid-19. Most relevant to the flailing tourism industry is the confirmation that frontier visas will be available again at all of Mozambique's International Airports, and all land borders posts that are currently open. The government also intends to open negotiations with the South African Government to reopen the important Ponta do Ouro (Kosi Bay) border which has been closed since March.
Frontier visas are the Mozambican equivalent of Tourism Visas and are valid for 30 days and two entries.
Visitors from other SADC countries have been able to enter Mozambique with valid PCR tests however there was still considerable confusion regarding other nationals. And many visitors have complained that applications for tourism visas at Mozambican Embassies was taking weeks or months. The announcement finally paves the way for increased business especially for the north of Mozambique, and Tour Operators in Maputo who have seen a dramatic decrease in business since the borders closed earlier this year. Tunelga Manjate, Managing Director from Tours Maputo told us that she can finally get her team working again.
"The border closure was obviously devastating. A vast majority of our clients come from Europe and the US so we are starting to get requests again after months of near silence. It's still going to take a long time for things to get back to normal but this is an important first step. At least we can now reply to our clients who are planning trips with confidence that they will be able to get their visa on arrival."
And international visitors are already taking advantage of the good news. This visitor had to reach out to Mozambique Tourism para todos Facebook group feedback regarding the tourist visa and posted this regarding her experience in the group.
