VisaMozambique travel authorisation needs advance payment and the correct document route
This current guide distinguishes Mozambique’s ETA from a tourist e-visa, explains the published application and correction deadlines and identifies the evidence needed for travel.
Official source date: 2026-10-29
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
An ETA and a tourist e-visa are different documents
Mozambique travellers should identify whether their passport requires an electronic travel authorisation or a tourist e-visa before paying. The official portal explains that an ETA is a pre-travel authorisation for certain visa-exempt visitors, while an e-visa covers the specified purpose and duration granted. This current guide addresses existing procedures; it does not announce a new universal visa requirement on 29 October.
The Foreign Ministry describes visa exemptions as dependent on the applicable agreements. A person’s departure airport or residence abroad should not be treated as determining passport eligibility. British passport holders, for example, are directed by current UK government guidance to obtain an ETA for tourism or business visits up to 30 days. That example should not be extended automatically to every other nationality or to paid work.
Allow time for processing and complete the online payment
The UK guidance tells British travellers to apply at least five working days before travel through the official Mozambique e-visa portal and says payment must be made online, rather than at the border. It describes an approximate total of USD47, comprising a USD37 charge and a 650-metical processing component. Treat the dollar equivalent as approximate and confirm the actual amount presented for payment.
The portal FAQ gives approximately five working days for standard e-visa processing but recommends at least 48 hours for an ETA. Those are different published indications, not a guarantee that an application made two days before a flight will be completed. Applicants following the British route should allow the longer period specified in that guidance and additional time for corrections. Keep the decision and payment record rather than treating the transaction alone as authorisation.
Tourist e-visas have separate entry and stay periods
The tourist e-visa page describes tourism, holidays and leisure stays of 30, 60 or 90 days, with the issued product determined by the itinerary. It gives a two-month period for using the e-visa, starting on issuance, while the length of stay is the period written in the approval. Those dates answer different questions: when the traveller can enter and how long the approved visit can last.
The same checklist requests a colour passport biodata copy with more than six months of validity, a recent photograph, financial evidence, accommodation and confirmed return tickets. Scans must be clear and in the supported JPEG, PDF or PNG formats. For applicants under 18 it identifies parental-authority evidence and a responsibility declaration. Prepare the selected category’s documents rather than assuming that submitting a passport scan completes every application.
Correct missing documents within the specific portal deadline
The official FAQ explains a preliminary-rejection process for missing or incorrect documents. An applicant receiving that email has five calendar days to upload the requested material. Supplying it within the period allows processing to continue; failing to do so produces automatic rejection and a need for a new application. This correction window applies to preliminary document requests, not to every final refusal.
Use the official status function with the application reference to check progress and read the actual email instructions. The FAQ also says that changing the travel dates is not handled by amending an existing e-visa and directs applicants to a new request where required. Recheck the approved use period before repaying or submitting a duplicate. The reviewed resources do not establish an automatic refund for rejected or repeated applications.
Check the arrival evidence and any proposed longer stay
British guidance says arrival checks can include accommodation, onward or return travel and sufficient funds, and recommends carrying the printed approved ETA and payment confirmation. It also requires two blank passport pages. Families should check the separate birth-certificate and parental-consent requirements for children, rather than assuming a child’s inclusion in a booking resolves border documentation.
The tourist e-visa page directs travellers seeking a longer stay to contact the Mozambican embassy. For illustration, a visitor postponing departure must resolve the authorised stay; someone changing the arrival date must also check the use period. Neither a future flight booking nor a pending request proves that permission has been extended. Identify the passport route, submit complete evidence, answer correction requests in time and travel with the approval actually issued.
