Namibia Clarifies visa issue

TRAVEL agents need to
advise their clients that
a visa is required when
travelling to Namibia for work
purposes.
The High Commission of
Namibia in Pretoria says
South Africans travelling to
Namibia for the “purpose of
employment or conducting
a business or carrying on a
profession or occupation”
would still be required to
apply for a work visa or
employment permit.
At the end of May, Namibia
announced that it had
scrapped its business and
‘conference and meetings’
visa requirements for SA
passport holders (see TNW,
June 8).
However, a traveller
attending a meeting as
part of ‘exercising their
profession’ would need a
work visa. “Travellers going
to Namibia for employment
purposes where they will
be remunerated must apply
for a work visa,” said the
High Commission. Travellers
to meetings, conferences
or workshops where they
will not specifically be
remunerated and which are
not categorised as ‘work’, do
not require a visa.
Work visas can only be
applied for through the
Ministry of Home Affairs
and Immigration and can
either be done via email or
through applications directly
submitted at the offices in
Namibia.