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Malawi visa requirements

Current entry categories for 199 passport nationalities, paired with official evidence as it is reviewed.

Access data checked August 24, 20268 official sources collected
Citizenship1Visa-free43Visa on arrival111eVisa44
Passport directory

Access by passport

Open any status for its canonical passport–destination page, evidence timeline, official sources, and application route where available.

199 passports

Citizenship

1

Visa-free

43

Visa on arrival

111

eVisa

44
Policy history

Official evidence timeline

One group agreement or destination policy can support many passport relationships. Dates are recorded only when an official source establishes them.

  1. Visa on arrival

    Category Two ordinary passports: visa on arrival

    The effective 24 February 2026 Department notice and its current Category Two schedule expressly allow this cohort to obtain a visa at designated ports. The portal encourages a pre-departure eVisa but preserves actual border issuance, so the easier supported route is visa_on_arrival, not evisa.

    • The public notice permits Category Two nationals to board without a visa and obtain one on arrival at designated ports. It does not enumerate the operating ports, an arrival fee, passport-validity, funds, onward-ticket, accommodation, vaccination, extension or stay limit; do not assume these from the separate electronic-application product.
    • The official PDF's phrase 'with or without prior authorization' and the portal's encouragement to apply online preserve case-specific pre-authorisation possibilities. They do not defeat the notice's expressly available arrival-issuance baseline, nor make the optional eVisa an ETA.
    • The notice does not establish ordinary-visitor duration or extension. Work, residence, business-only, transit, diplomatic, official, service, refugee and special-document routes are excluded; admission remains discretionary.
    108 passport nationalities covered

    Japan, South Korea, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Malta, United Kingdom, Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, Australia, Canada, Czechia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, United States, Croatia, Iceland, Monaco, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus, Chile, Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, San Marino, Brunei, Uruguay, Mexico, Vatican City, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Macao (SAR China), Peru, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), Solomon Islands, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Tonga, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Micronesia, Palau Islands, Moldova, Venezuela, Kuwait, Timor-Leste, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Guyana, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Bolivia, Belarus, Suriname, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cape Verde Islands, Mongolia, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, Kyrgyzstan, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Cuba, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Comoro Islands, Guinea-Bissau, Congo (Rep.), Vietnam, Cambodia, Jordan, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar, North Korea

    Official sourcesMalawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services: Malawi eVisa public notice: Visa on Arrival eligibilityMalawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services: Category Two Countries
  2. eVisa

    Category One ordinary passports: advance electronic visa

    The current Category One schedule requires this cohort to obtain a visa well in advance or prior authorization. The Department's live nationality selector offers its Single Entry product for each listed ordinary passport, supporting evisa rather than visa on arrival.

    • The source requires a visa well in advance or prior authorization. For every listed code, the live Department selector returned the electronic Single Entry product for an Ordinary Passport; this supports evisa rather than assuming a mission-only route. It does not establish any VOA alternative.
    • The official eVisa FAQ currently says processing is within three working days and lists electronic single-entry, transit and multiple-entry products. Its listed electronic fees include USD 50 single-entry, USD 50 transit, USD 150 six-month multiple entry and USD 250 12-month multiple entry; recheck products, fees and case processing before travel.
    • The eVisa is not automatic entry. It does not decide the visitor permit, stay or extension, port, passport-validity, funds, onward-ticket, accommodation, vaccination, work, residence, business-only, transit, diplomatic, official, service, refugee, special-document, security or individual-admissibility rules.
    44 passport nationalities covered

    Ukraine, Serbia, Russian Federation, Qatar, Türkiye, China, Oman, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Togo, India, Mauritania, Niger, Algeria, Tajikistan, Mali, Chad, Liberia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Egypt, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Djibouti, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, Libya, Eritrea, Iran, Palestinian Territory, Bangladesh, Nepal, Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan

    Official sourcesMalawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services: Malawi eVisa public notice: Visa on Arrival eligibilityMalawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services: Category One CountriesMalawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services: Malawi eVisa Visa Assistance eligibility selectorMalawi Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services: Malawi eVisa Frequently Asked Questions
  3. Current official routeVisa-free

    Named ordinary passports: visa-free visitor entry

    The current Government Tourism arrangements expressly designate this ordinary-passport cohort Visa Free. The broader SADC and COMESA wording remains subject to reciprocity, so only the page's explicit named-country outcomes are normalized.

    • The Tourism page says visa exemption is subject to reciprocity and may change. This is an ordinary-passport short-visitor classification only, not a finding on work, residence, business-only, study, transit, diplomatic, official, service, refugee or other special-document travel.
    • The page's named Visa-Exempt Countries section includes Dominica although its detailed country grid omits a Dominica row. It is retained as directly named visa-free evidence, but that internal presentation gap is a material review risk.
    • The official High Commission's dated 2024 79-country waiver announcement names examples that differ from the current 2026 schedules. It is retained as historical reconciliation evidence only, not expanded into a present-day default without a current authoritative bridge.
    • A visa exemption does not itself state a passport-validity, funds, onward-ticket, accommodation, vaccination, fee, port or stay limit. Immigration admission and security controls remain applicable.
    39 passport nationalities covered

    Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong (SAR China), Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas, Seychelles, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Mauritius, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Dominica, Kiribati, Belize, South Africa, Ecuador, Fiji, Vanuatu, Jamaica, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, eSwatini, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, The Gambia, Philippines, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Haiti

    Official sourcesDepartment of Tourism, Government of Malawi: Malawi Visa ArrangementsMalawi High Commission, United Kingdom: Malawi opens visa-free entry for 79 countries
  4. Current official routeCitizenship

    Malawian citizens: constitutional right to return

    The Constitution directly provides a right to return to the Republic, so the Malawi ordinary-passport same-country pair is not classified under a foreign visitor visa route.

    • This records only the constitutional return right. It does not determine passport issuance or validity, dual nationality, document screening, health, customs, criminal process, security checks or other border formalities.
    1 passport nationalities covered

    Malawi

    Official sourceGovernment of Malawi: Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, section 39