Starting today, April 1, 2025, nationals of 17 European Union and Schengen Area countries need to obtain a visa in order to be permitted entry to Namibia.
Announcing the news, the authorities said that the type of document that the affected EU nationals will need to obtain is a visa on arrival. This means that visa requirements will be applied upon arrival in Namibia, Schengen.News reports.
The list of EU/Schengen countries whose passport holders are subject to the visa-on-arrival requirement in Namibia from today is as follows:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Ireland
While the 17 EU/Schengen countries have just today been added to the list of countries whose nationals need a visa on arrival for Namibia, the visa requirement has already been applied to a number of other countries part of the bloc.
Passport holders of Croatia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Vatican City State, have been subject to the visa-on-arrival requirement for some time now.
Visa Requirement Introduced as a Reciprocal Measure
By making it mandatory for the EU/Schengen Area nationals of the countries listed above to obtain a visa on arrival, the authorities explained that Namibia aims to promote fair and balanced diplomatic relations with countries that have not reciprocated simplified rules.
This decision aims to promote fair and balanced diplomatic relations with countries that have not reciprocated the favourable treatment granted to their nationals when visiting Namibia.
Since Namibia does not have a visa liberalisation agreement with the EU in place, all its passport holders need to obtain a Schengen visa in order to be permitted entry into the bloc.
When applying for a Schengen visa, nationals of Namibia need to submit a number of documents and meet several criteria.
The short-term Schengen visa permits its holders to stay in the territory of the Schengen Area for up to 90 days within any 180-day period.
Those who want to remain in the bloc for a longer period, for study or work purposes, among others, need to apply for a national visa.
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfopassport holders of Namibia filed only 5,575 Schengen visa applications in 2023. Of the total number of applicants, 5,172 of them were granted a visa whereas 271 of them had their applications rejected.