VisaSão Tomé and Príncipe visitors should check arrival charges despite visa exemption
Current official resources distinguish a short tourist visit from a longer stay and publish different arrival-charge descriptions that travellers should resolve before departure.
Official source date: 2026-09-15
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Visa exemption does not settle every arrival payment
Visitors planning a short holiday in São Tomé and Príncipe should check both their immigration category and the applicable arrival charge. The tourism authority publishes a €25 tourist levy for São Tomé and €10 for Príncipe, while British entry guidance describes a €20 entry fee. The reviewed pages do not explain whether these descriptions concern overlapping, replacement or separate charges. This current planning guide identifies that uncertainty rather than presenting an unverified new November increase.
The tourism authority’s dedicated levy page says non-resident tourists and excursionists aged twelve or above must pay, while children below twelve, São Toméan nationals and residence-card holders are exempt. It identifies payment at São Tomé’s international airport and Príncipe’s airport. Use that named resource to ask the carrier, accommodation provider or tourism authority for the current collection arrangement and which exemption evidence is accepted. Do not simply add every amount appearing on different pages into a claimed universal total.
Establish the nationality and duration conditions for visa-free admission
The government tourism information resource describes a fifteen-day visa exemption for citizens of CPLP countries, the EU, the United States and Canada holding a valid passport. It also describes the same short exemption for other nationalities holding both a passport valid for more than three months and a Schengen or US visa. Those conditions must be considered together: a passport from another country alone does not establish eligibility under that conditional route.
The tourism resource also requires return transport and identifies subsistence resources of €100 per day. For an illustrative ten-day trip, that reference amounts to €1,000 of support for the stay, rather than a €1,000 visa charge. Establish with immigration how resources must be evidenced in the actual case. The resource directs visits beyond fifteen days to consular or immigration visa procedures. A short exemption should not be extended informally because a return flight or accommodation booking has changed.
British travellers have their own passport and purpose checks
The UK entry page says full British-citizen passport holders may visit for tourism for up to fifteen days without a visa, with a passport valid for the duration of the stay. Work, study, business travel and longer visits must meet the relevant government requirements. Use that nationality-specific guidance and its immigration contact rather than assuming a tourist exemption establishes permission for an assignment or employment. Other travel documents require their own confirmation.
The British page describes the €20 entry payment as payable in euros, US dollars or local currency. As that differs from the tourism authority’s levy information, confirm the actual charge before departure and prepare the accepted payment method. The page also requires yellow-fever vaccination evidence for arrivals from a transmission-risk country. A visa exemption does not remove a route-dependent vaccination requirement, and a payment receipt does not establish the right to remain beyond the period admitted.
A longer visit and a connection through Gabon need separate permission
France Diplomatie’s entry guidance for French travellers requires a passport valid six months after return and a tourist visa for visits exceeding fifteen days. It describes a thirty-day, single-entry tourist visa costing €20, obtainable through the relevant consular route or following emailed immigration authorisation presented at São Tomé airport. Use this resource to identify that particular longer-visit procedure; its visa price should not be confused with either of the differently described arrival charges.
The French guidance also warns travellers routing through Gabon to check the number of entries on their Gabon visa where they enter before and after the São Tomé visit. An illustrative return itinerary involving entry into Gabon twice cannot rely on a single-entry permission without resolving the second entry. This is separate from São Toméan admission and from an airside connection’s particular requirements. Confirm the passport, duration, transit arrangements and charges with the relevant authorities before travel; the reviewed resources do not provide one guaranteed extension or processing deadline for every case.
