Visa requirements for Malawi

Most visitors get a visa on arrival in Malawi. 48 enter visa-free; 40 need a visa or authorisation arranged in advance.

Find your passport

Rules by passport

Visa-free (48)

Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Botswana
Burundi
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Ghana
Grenada
Haiti
Hong Kong
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Libya
Malawi
Malaysia
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Rwanda
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Singapore
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Tanzania
the Bahamas
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
the Gambia
the Philippines
the Seychelles
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Uganda
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Checked against Malawi Government Gazette (Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2026), Embassy of Malawi in the USA (official), Malawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (e-visa portal) on October 10, 2026.

Visa on arrival (111)

Albania
Andorra
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Belarus
Belgium
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Canada
Cape Verde
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Finland
France
Gabon
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Japan
Jordan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao
Madagascar
Malta
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Myanmar
New Zealand
Nicaragua
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
the Comoros
the Maldives
the Marshall Islands
the Netherlands
the Republic of the Congo
the Solomon Islands
the United Arab Emirates
the United Kingdom
the United States
the Vatican City
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam

E-Visa (40)

Afghanistan
Algeria
Bangladesh
Cameroon
Chad
China
India
Iran
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Lebanon
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Nauru
Nepal
Niger
Nigeria
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Qatar
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Samoa
Senegal
Serbia
South Sudan
Syria
Tajikistan
the Central African Republic
the Dominican Republic
Togo
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Yemen

Visa fees for Malawi

E-Visa fee: No official source publishes this information. No official fee schedule published after checking the sources listed Checked: Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Malawi, Department of Immigration, Malawi, Malawi Government Gazette (Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2026), Embassy of Malawi in the USA.

Visa on arrival fee: No official source publishes this information. No official visa-on-arrival fee published Checked: Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Malawi, Department of Immigration, Malawi.

Processing times

Visa type	Processing time	Source
Visa on arrival	issued at port of entry	Department of Immigration, Malawi

E-Visa processing time: No official source publishes this information. Portal states only 'after the necessary processing'; no timeframe published Checked: Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Malawi.

Apply through official channels

Start the official Malawi e-Visa portal

Department of Immigration - visa sectionVisa on arrival obtained at port of entry; e-visa also available

Travel insurance for Malawi

Travel insurance

Not required. No official source we have checked requires travel insurance to visit Malawi, and none publishes a minimum coverage amount for visitors.

Some visa services claim insurance is mandatory for Malawi and charge you for a policy. We found no official rule behind those claims, so we will not present it as one. Insurance may still be a sensible choice for your trip, but for Malawi it is your choice, not an entry rule. We watch for new mandates daily, and this page will say so if one appears.

Countries that do require it: the full travel insurance requirements list.

Sources and verification

199 of 199 passport rules verified against Malawi Government Gazette (Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2026), Embassy of Malawi in the USA (official), Malawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (e-visa portal), 0 with no official source publishing the rule.

Malawi Government Gazette (Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2026) (checked October 10, 2026)
Embassy of Malawi in the USA (official) (checked October 10, 2026)
Malawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (e-visa portal) (checked October 10, 2026)

Common questions

Do I need a visa for Malawi?

It depends on your passport. 48 of 199 passports enter Malawi visa-free, 111 can get a visa on arrival; 40 need a visa or authorisation arranged in advance. Find your passport in the groups above.

How long does Malawi visa processing take?

Standard processing for the visa on arrival: issued at port of entry.

Do I need travel insurance for Malawi?

No verified requirement. No official source we have checked requires travel insurance to visit Malawi, and none publishes a minimum coverage amount for visitors. Some visa services claim it is mandatory and charge for a policy; we found no official rule behind those claims.