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Visas in Windhoek

Digital nomad visa
Yes

Namibia Digital Nomad Visa

Overall6/10Easier visas than about 55% of cities

Good to know

Good to Know

  • If you hold a US, UK, EU/EEA, Swiss, Canadian, or Australian/NZ passport, do NOT assume Namibia is visa-free for you anymore — this changed on 1 April 2025 and many older blog posts are now out of date. You'll need to apply for an eVisa or Visa on Arrival before or at entry.
  • Applying for the eVisa online in advance via the official MHAISS portal avoids an extra ~NAD 400 on-arrival service fee and speeds up the airport queue.
  • The 90-day stay allowance (whether visa-exempt or via eVisa/VOA) resets only once per calendar year, not per border crossing, so a common 'visa run' to Botswana or South Africa and back won't buy you extra time within the same year.
  • Remote work for a foreign employer while on this tourist entry sits in a legal gray area everywhere, but Namibia's rules explicitly require a work permit for any activity resembling employment or business duties performed for a Namibian-based entity — pure remote work for a foreign company is generally the safer read, but there is no dedicated 'digital nomad visa' as of this writing.
  • The digital nomad visa is only valid for up to six months at a time and must be renewed by leaving Namibia and reapplying from outside — plan re-entry logistics if you want to stay longer.
  • Because Namibia taxes on a source basis, most nomads paying foreign clients or employers should owe little to no Namibian income tax on that income, but this does not exempt you from your home country's own tax residency rules.
  • Income proof must come from payslips, employment contracts, or freelance agreements — bank savings alone won't satisfy the income requirement.

Still Visa Free Up To 90 Days

Allowed Stay
Up to 90 days, and this 90-day allowance is cumulative within a single calendar year — exiting to a neighboring country and re-entering does not reset the clock.
Requirements
Passport valid 6+ months beyond entry date with at least 3 blank pages, plus a valid return/onward ticket; travelers receive a Visitor's Entry Permit (VEP) stamp at the port of entry rather than a visa.
Eligible Groups
African Union member states generally, plus a specific non-AU list.

Confirmed Non AU Countries On Exemption List

  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Cuba
  • Hong Kong (SAR)
  • Indonesia
  • Jamaica
  • Kenya
  • Macau (SAR)
  • Malaysia
  • Mauritius
  • Russia
  • Singapore

For Everyone Else Evisa Or Visa On Arrival

Visa fee
NAD 1,600
Process
Apply online in advance via the official eservices.mhaiss.gov.na portal ('Visa on Arrival' under E-Services, upload passport photo and passport scan, pay online) or obtain the visa in person at designated ports of entry (Hosea Kutako International Airport, Walvis Bay Airport, and land border posts).
Allowed Stay
Up to 90 days, same calendar-year cumulative cap as the visa-exempt category.
Who This Applies To
Nationals of the ~33 countries that lost exemption in April 2025 (US, UK, EU/EEA, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc.) plus most other non-exempt nationalities.
Fee Note
N$1,600 applies to non-African Union citizens; nationals of African countries pay a lower N$1,200 fee. A separate ~NAD 400 service fee applies for on-arrival processing, which is avoided by applying via the eVisa portal in advance.

Documents Required

  • Passport valid 6+ months with 3 blank pages
  • Valid return or onward ticket
  • Proof of accommodation
  • Proof of travel insurance
  • Sufficient funds for the stay

Namibia's entry rules changed fundamentally on 1 April 2025. Most Western nomad passports (US, Canada, UK, EU/EEA, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand) LOST visa-free status and now must obtain an eVisa or Visa on Arrival before/at entry. True visa-free entry today is mostly limited to African Union member states plus a short list of reciprocal-agreement countries.

Official Source Links

Major 2025 Policy Change

Effective Date
2025-04-01
Countries That Lost Visa Free Status
Includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada.
Description
Effective 1 April 2025, the Namibian government abolished visa-free entry for nationals of 33 countries citing the lack of reciprocal agreements.

Important Caveats For Nomads

Important Caveats For Nomads

  • This visa-free/VOA/eVisa track is strictly tourism-purpose entry. Any work, remote-employment-adjacent activity for a Namibian entity, volunteering, or study still legally requires a separate work/study permit under the Immigration Control Act regardless of nationality or exemption status.
  • The 90-day limit is a calendar-year cap, not a per-visit reset — long-term nomads cannot indefinitely extend by leaving and re-entering.

Digital Nomad Visa And Tax

Overview
Namibia launched a dedicated digital nomad visa in October 2022, run jointly by the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS).
Visa Fee
NAD 3,300
Visa Name
Namibia Digital Nomad Visa
Visa Ease Tier
moderate
Application Path
Applicants submit a form and required documentation directly to Namibia's Ministry of Home Affairs (working with NIPDB), including an NIPDB motivation letter that has no separate cost. The visa cannot be applied for or renewed from inside Namibia — it must be arranged before entry and, once it expires, requires leaving to reapply.
Visa Ease Tier Rationale
Namibia offers a genuine dedicated 6-month digital nomad visa with a moderate ~$2,000/month income bar and a source-based tax system that leaves foreign remote income untaxed, but the visa cannot be renewed from inside the country and its application process is still relatively new and inconsistently documented.
Visa Validity And Renewal
The visa is valid for up to six months. It cannot be renewed from within Namibia — once it expires, holders must leave the country and reapply from abroad if they want another stay.

Tax Notes

Caveat
Namibia's source-based system is real, but it does not automatically make a nomad a non-resident of their home country — home-country tax residency rules still apply independently based on that country's own tests.
Summary
Namibia's tax system taxes income based on where it is earned, not on the taxpayer's residency status or day-count presence.
Tax Year
The Namibian tax year runs from 1 March to 28/29 February, with returns and payment due by 30 June following year-end.
System Type
source-based, not residence-based
Foreign Income Treatment
Foreign-source income earned abroad is not taxed in Namibia, regardless of residency status, so remote work income paid by non-Namibian clients or employers generally falls outside Namibia's tax net even for someone physically present in the country full-time.
Day Count Note
Some third-party guides describe a 183-day physical-presence residency test for Namibia, but Namibia's Ministry of Finance and major tax-advisory sources describe the core system as source-based rather than day-count-based for what gets taxed; residency status mainly affects treaty relief and certain deemed-source items like foreign interest and royalties.

Documents Required

  • Valid passport with sufficient remaining validity
  • Proof of remote employment, freelance agreements, or client contracts showing income is foreign-sourced
  • Six months of bank statements
  • Proof of income meeting the monthly thresholds (payslips or contracts, not savings)
  • Comprehensive international health and travel insurance for the stay
  • Motivation letter (facilitated via NIPDB)

Income Requirements

Single Applicant
NAD 31,950
Per Child Additional
NAD 7,987
Accompanying Spouse Additional
NAD 15,975
Notes
Income must come from foreign employment, freelance contracts, or self-employment based outside Namibia — not from savings alone.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed September 2026

Sources cited for this category

These are the sources cited in this visas research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.

  1. 1.mhaiss.gov.na
  2. 2.eservices.mhaiss.gov.na

More About Windhoek

Data last updated September 2026 · Verify anything important.