This is Tanzania's tourist visa, applied for online through the Tanzania Immigration Services system. The official Guidelines define it precisely and it is worth reading slowly: «A Visa is an authorization given to a foreigner to enable him to travel and present himself for entry clearance into Tanzania. A Visa Grant Notice is a notification informing the applicant of the authorization to enter Tanzania upon fulfillment of other entry conditions at the point of entry». In other words: what arrives in your inbox is NOT the visa, it is a Visa Grant Notice, a notification that you are authorised to present yourself at the border. The visa itself is finalised there. There are two open routes and both are official: applying online before you travel, or getting it on arrival at an authorised entry point. Immigration recommends the first in writing: «It is recommended to use online Visa application platform». The only official portal is visa.immigration.go.tz, and the Guidelines themselves warn: «Visa applicants are advised to make their applications through the Official Tanzania Immigration Services website ONLY and Not through any other online links».
Of our twenty-eight nationalities, twenty-seven need a visa to enter Tanzania and one does not. The exempt one is GUYANA, and not because it is South American but because it is Commonwealth. The official exemption rule is in the Guidelines and works by blocs, not by a list of countries: «There are several countries whose nationals are not required to apply for Visa to enter Tanzania. These are EAC Member State countries, SADC member countries except Comoro and Commonwealth countries except United Kingdom, Canada, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand». Guyana is Commonwealth and is not among the exceptions, so it enters without a visa. Australia is Commonwealth but is named in the exception: it pays like everyone else. The other twenty-six —Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Germany, Andorra and Denmark— need a visa. On the visa ON ARRIVAL there is a nuance we verified on 23/09/2026 by reading name by name the official list in section 7 of the Guidelines («COUNTRIES WHOSE NATIONALS CAN OBTAIN VISA UPON ARRIVAL»): it lists Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Andorra, Australia and the United States. NICARAGUA and the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC do NOT appear, and they are not on the section 8 list of countries that cannot obtain it either. If you hold a Nicaraguan or Dominican passport, don't gamble your trip on getting it at the counter: do the e-Visa online, which is what Immigration recommends for everyone. And one fact that changes the money: the UNITED STATES cannot use the ordinary visa. Verbatim: «All visitors wishing to come for tourism purposes are required to apply for an Ordinary Visa EXCEPT American nationals (USA Passport holders) who are required to apply for Multiple Visa». US citizens pay 100 dollars instead of 50, even if they go just once. Each person applies for their own, with no exception for age: «even minors who are filled in their parents' Visa applications must have their own separate Visa applications submitted».
