Visa Application for Tanzania
Hi - leaving on safari to Tanzania and Kenya in July. In trying to apply for the Tanzania visa, when you get to the page where you have to enter your residence at birth, USA is not one of the options. AI says I need a multiple entry visa, but I cannot find where to apply on line for that. I am ready to just use Tauck's service but if anyone knows how to successfully navigate getting the US required visa I'd appreciate your help!
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My husband recalls USA is not in the usual place, not in alphabetical order, so look very carefully at the list again. Again, from memory when we applied last year, for multiple entry there is a check box at the top. We had to apply for visas for 9 members of our family last year, some born in the UK, some born in the US, so he became a bit of an expert. Having said that, it was tricky navigating the site at first.
I remember that also. USA is not in the correct place, and as I recall it was phrased in a different manner. I would not give up and use a service. There is a sharp learning curve. It took a while to do my own visa, but it only took a few minutes to do the next one for my wife. You may need to check on the timing for your applications. Some Africa visas can only be obtained ninety days in advance.
Per Tauck the Tanzania visa is good for one year. (Kenya is 3 months). I am also going in July and applied over 2 weeks ago. Yesterday my status moved from "received" to "On progress". There were at least 3 government holidays in Tanzania this month, so I wondered if that was part of the delay. I did not have trouble finding United States on the drop downs. I also did not have trouble finding the "multiple entry" application, once I read the instructions. I did notice a glitch; my passport says birthplace is "California, USA" and on the application I indicated the city. Don't know if this will fly. I will let you know. This is apparently within the norm for passports and I am just now noticing it. Weird. I am hoping to hear soon, then we will do my husband's.
I just did this a few weeks ago for May Safari. I think you have to put in what it says on the passport. It asks for City of birth, but if passport has the state, that's what I used -= and I was approved.
Lynda how long did yours take?
Hi Mary. I just completed my application a couple of days ago. It took far longer than it should have.
On the PERSONAL INFORMATION page, where it asks for nationality at birth and present nationality, you must choose American.
Also, if you don’t choose appropriately on that page, when you get to the TRAVEL INFORMATION page, and select multiple entry visa, you will not see “tourism” in the purpose of travel drop-down box.
Thanks everyone - almost there this was very helpful! I need to get a new passport photo so will finish Monday and let you experts know if I have any questions - Wan, when in July are you going our tour is the 16th! Appreciate the help here!
So sorry Mary, we are not on the same trip! Hope all goes well with the visas. I called Tauck yesterday and they said they have seen it take as long as 3 weeks, so I am hoping to find out this week.
I don’t know why Tauck says don’t apply for Tanzania visas earlier than 90 days. We had to apply earlier than that last year and it was one thing done and dusted and less to worry about before our trip. Of course you can’t do that for Kenya.
British I was told twice in the last few weeks by Tauck agents including the front line that we could apply for Tanzania sooner because it was good for 1 year. So I think they are updated now.
The information is still incorrect, this is what I just saw on the website
Please Note: E-visas are available for both Kenya and Tanzania. Visas may not be processed more than 3 months prior to departure and, once obtained; you should print out a copy for one or both countries, before departing for your journey
These type of things are quite often out of date or completely wrong on tour pages. Our upcoming tour which is a small ship, Le Bellot talks about us being on Le Champlain. We know it is wrong, but can you imagine a new Tauck customer being confused and concerned. It’s really not good. The worst we have encountered was our Iceland tour They sent green books to everyone from the previous year’s tour which was completely different. When I called them, they admitted their mistake snd had to resend the booklet out to everyone. By that time, we were completely confused above the entire itinerary.
You really have to do more research for just about every journey these days and check and recheck. Look at the Namibia tour, the country now requires a visa and yet when we went less than two years ago, you didn’t.
British, you are correct that the Tauck website is in major need of attention. This is not a new problem. (In the 10 years that we have traveled with Tauck, communication pre-travel as a whole needs an upgrade.) However, this time I was reassured by the instructions given on the phone by the agents, which I confirmed on the Tanzania visa web page. You are correct that we all have to stay on top of things for ourselves.
Ponant routinely changes which ship does a given itinerary … Tauck does not own any ships. Le Bellot and Le Champlain are both ‘explorers’, and they are identical except for the name on the side. We are cruising on Le Champlain for the second time in about six weeks. These are small ships that carry only 184 guests.
I am on the Tauck Gorilla Safari trip leaving July 9 that stops in Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. I applied for the Kenya eTA on Thursday, and it was approved the next day with an email that included an attached pdf file that contains the visa. I just needed to print it out. For the Kenya visa application, I used photos of myself and my wife that I took with my iPhone. I used a headshot on a white background. Also took photos of our passports, which I cropped to fit the size of the passport. That seemed to have worked. I have to admit that I spent the better part of a whole afternoon getting this application filled in properly. When I applied for the Tanzania visa, it initially rejected the same photos I used for the Kenya app. Instead, I received a message on the Tanzania app that the size of the photos could not be more than 300 kb. I then opened the photos in the Preview app on my Mac, and then used "Adjust Size" in the "Tools" menu of the toolbar. Next I used the Fit into "Custom" pixels option to adjust the size. I think I chose 800x800. The resulting image size will show at the bottom of the box for the Image Dimensions tool. Even when I got the image down to less than 300 kb, the Tanzanian app kept rejecting my images. I finally got the app to accept my photos when I manually changed the image type from .jpeg to .png. You just blank out the jpeg ending on the photo, and type png, then accept the change. That was the only way I could get it to work. I applied for the Tanzania eTA on Friday (4/25), and have not received a response yet.
My Tanzania E-visa just got approved after waiting over 3 weeks. I left 2 messages at the embassy in Washington DC. That might have helped. 202-939-6125
Did anyone have trouble with the proof of ticket box just showing a gray square when you reviewed your documents?
Thanks Wan I have only been waiting a week but appreciate the number! We have plenty of time but nonetheless that's a long time!
After waiting 3 weeks, we finally received my wife's eVisa for Tanzania after I called the embassy in Washington on Monday on the 202-939-6125 number. Mine had come through in only 4 days.
I've been waiting four weeks. Left a message with the embassy last week.
Someone posted on a FB page saying that A&K told them that they would be admitted with their application number due to acknowledged processing delays. Worst case, I imagine I'll have to fill out another form and apply at the airport when I arrive in June. I'm sure I'll get a prompt refund of my online payment...
In my experience there are no visa refunds. I have paid for a couple of them twice. I think you will find somewhere on the website that there will be no refunds.
We waited 4 weeks for our visas for our family. We contacted the embassy 3 times and finally got a live person the third time. They stated that their systems had been down and that they were behind in issuing them. We received them a couple days after the call. Hang in there!
That’s clearly what is happening this year. When my husband did visas for nine of us last year, the website would crash for a while now and again, I think it took him a couple of days on and off in all. They came back pretty promptly. You can start a visa for Tanzania well in advance of the 90 days that Tauck suggests, That way, you won’t be panicking quite so much, the visa only starts when you enter the country. This is not true for Kenya. Of course, if you cancel your vacation, you will not get your money back for visas.
Hallelujah. Tanzanian visa approved after four weeks and two days. Cross that one off the to do list.
Now, on to travel recovery day spa appointments at the Gran Melia.