Visa requirements for Sao Tome and Principe

Most visitors need an e-Visa for Sao Tome and Principe, applied for online before travel. 57 enter visa-free. For 1 passport, no official source publishes the rule.

Find your passport

Rules by passport

Visa-free (57)

Andorra
Angola
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Cape Verde
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Finland
France
Gabon
Germany
Greece
Guinea-Bissau
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Kuwait
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
Morocco
Mozambique
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
the Netherlands
the United Arab Emirates
the United Kingdom
the United States
the Vatican City
Timor-Leste
Togo
Turkey

Checked against U.S. Department of State, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca), German Federal Foreign Office (Auswaertiges Amt), Togolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official diaspora portal diasporatg.org), Chinese MFA consular services entry-facility table for ordinary-passport holders (official document, Nov 2023; accessed via mirror), Hong Kong Immigration Department (HKSAR Government), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) on October 10, 2026.

Visa on arrival (1)

China

E-Visa (139)

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brunei
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
North Macedonia
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
the Bahamas
the Central African Republic
the Comoros
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
the Dominican Republic
the Gambia
the Maldives
the Marshall Islands
the Philippines
the Republic of the Congo
the Seychelles
the Solomon Islands
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Visa required (1)

Taiwan

No official source publishes this (1)

Macao

No official source publishes this information.

For these passports we checked official sources and none state the visa rule, so we will not guess. What we checked for each passport:

Macao: HKSAR-side (Macao publishes no outbound visa list, checked October 10, 2026; ImmD Appendix 12 covers HKSAR passports only) and Sao-Tome side (2017 ST-government announcement granted 15-day VOA to Macao alongside China/HK, but current official status is unconfirmed by any official ST source via text fetch), checked October 10, 2026

Visa fees for Sao Tome and Principe

E-Visa fee: No official source publishes this information. No official fee schedule published after checking the sources listed Checked: Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF), Sao Tome and Principe, U.S. Department of State.

Visa on arrival fee: No official source publishes this information. No official visa-on-arrival fee published Checked: Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF), Sao Tome and Principe.

Visa fee: No official source publishes this information. No official fee schedule published Checked: Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF), Sao Tome and Principe.

Processing times

Visa type	Processing time	Source
Visa on arrival	issued at port of entry (Sao Tome airport, 15 days)	Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF), Sao Tome and Principe

E-Visa processing time: No official source publishes this information. No official processing time published Checked: Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF), Sao Tome and Principe.

Visa processing time: No official source publishes this information. No official processing time published Checked: Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF), Sao Tome and Principe.

Apply through official channels

Servico de Migracao e Fronteiras (SMF) - official siteSMF states it provides online services to foreigners; the e-VisaST portal URL could not be verified from an official source in this environment (smf.st/evisa returns 404)

Travel insurance for Sao Tome and Principe

Travel insurance

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

Some visa services claim insurance is mandatory for Sao Tome and Principe 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 Sao Tome and Principe 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

198 of 199 passport rules verified against U.S. Department of State, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca), German Federal Foreign Office (Auswaertiges Amt), Togolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official diaspora portal diasporatg.org), Chinese MFA consular services entry-facility table for ordinary-passport holders (official document, Nov 2023; accessed via mirror), Hong Kong Immigration Department (HKSAR Government), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan), 1 with no official source publishing the rule.

U.S. Department of State (checked October 10, 2026)
UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (checked October 10, 2026)
Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca) (checked October 10, 2026)
German Federal Foreign Office (Auswaertiges Amt) (checked October 10, 2026)
Togolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official diaspora portal diasporatg.org) (checked October 10, 2026)
Chinese MFA consular services entry-facility table for ordinary-passport holders (official document, Nov 2023; accessed via mirror) (checked October 10, 2026)
Hong Kong Immigration Department (HKSAR Government) (checked October 10, 2026)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) (checked October 10, 2026)

Common questions

Do I need a visa for Sao Tome and Principe?

It depends on your passport. 57 of 199 passports enter Sao Tome and Principe visa-free, 1 can get a visa on arrival; 140 need a visa or authorisation arranged in advance. Find your passport in the groups above.

How long does Sao Tome and Principe visa processing take?

Standard processing for the visa on arrival: issued at port of entry (Sao Tome airport, 15 days).

Do I need travel insurance for Sao Tome and Principe?

No verified requirement. No official source we have checked requires travel insurance to visit Sao Tome and Principe, 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.

Why do some passports say no official source publishes the rule?

We check official government sources for every route. For 1 passport, no official source states the visa rule for Sao Tome and Principe, so instead of guessing we list exactly what we checked. Confirm with Sao Tome and Principe's embassy or official immigration portal before you book anything.