An Aerial View travel guide

Do you need to apply before you fly?

A growing number of African countries now ask you to apply for entry permission online before you travel, even without a visa. Miss it and you can be turned away at boarding.

We track what each scheme actually asks for, so you can sort it out before you book, not after.

Needs one

Seychelles

Compulsory for everyone

Needs nothing

Rwanda

Visa on arrival, no pre-travel step

🇧🇮 Burundi

All-Africa waiver claim contradicted by two government sources; narrower EAC-only exemption confirmed

UPDATED 13 SEPTEMBER 2026. Two Burundian government-affiliated sources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' free-visa page and the Burundi Embassy in Turkey's exemption list, both directly contradict the May 2026 blog's claim of an all-Africa waiver: the embassy page names only Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya as visa-exempt, and the ministry page limits fee waivers to EAC and CEPGL member nationals, EAC students, and diplomats. Note the embassy's 5-country list omits South Sudan, which earlier compilations included as a 6th EAC member exempt from Burundian visas, that discrepancy is not yet resolved. A mandatory e-Visa (immigration.gov.bi) still applies to non-exempt nationalities, including most non-EAC Africans.

It's required for nothing for the 5 exempt EAC-region nationalities named by the embassy source. Required for other African nationalities, including possibly South Sudan pending the discrepancy above..

e-Visa reported around USD40 (single entry) to USD90 (multiple entry) for non-exempt nationalities, pending confirmation of whether this still applies to non-EAC Africans.

You can also get it on arrival.

Good to know

The all-Africa waiver claim is now treated as effectively debunked, two independent Burundian government-affiliated pages (checked 2026-09-13) describe only a narrow EAC/CEPGL exemption, not a continent-wide one. Re-verify interval relaxed from 30 to 90 days now that the high-stakes contradiction is resolved; the open question going forward is the exact exempt-country count, not whether a blanket waiver exists.

Sources

Still confirming: Reconcile the embassy's 5-country exempt list against the 6-member EAC roster (South Sudan's status specifically); Current e-Visa fee and process for non-EAC Africans, confirmed directly rather than via the still-unconfirmed USD40-90 range; Whether Somalia's 2024 EAC accession has any bearing on Burundian visa exemption (not mentioned by either new source)

Checked 2026-09-13.

All 54 countries we cover

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Rules change without much notice, and we recheck each one on its own schedule. Last updated 2026-09-19. This page is a starting point for planning, not legal or immigration advice, always confirm with the destination country before you travel.

Curious about the numbers behind the destinations? See Tourism at a Glance. Not sure what you can pack? See what you can't carry across Africa.