Mozambique has approved visa exemption for 28 countries to boost tourism and business in the country.
According to the decree approved by the Council of Ministers, the exemption applies to visitors holding ordinary passports and allows for a 30-day stay, renewable to an additional 60 days.
The model adopted by the Mozambican government is similar to the United States visa waiver program in the sense that it requires travelers to register on a platform for pre-screening, at least, 48 hours before traveling and to pay a processing fee of MZN-650 (equivalent £8.50).
The list approved includes the following countries: Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.
The visa exemption is a follow-up to the launch of a platform last December that allowed prospective visitors to apply for an electronic pre-authorization to travel into the country. The introduction of e-visas has seen an increase of over 30% in the number of travelers entering the country compared to the same period in the previous year.
The e-visa platform commits the country to respond to applications within 5 days, but general feedback places an average response at 24 hours and the few issues reported are usually created by users not uploading the required documentation.
