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
🇸🇹 São Tomé and PrÃncipe
Mandatory eVisa/embassy visa, small African exemption list
Mandatory eVisa/embassy visa, small African exemption list
Resolved: visitors must obtain a visa, either online through the eVisaST portal or from a São Toméan diplomatic mission, before arrival, unless they hold a passport from one of roughly eight visa-exempt countries (a 2015 policy covering, from Africa, Angola, Cape Verde and Equatorial Guinea, alongside the EU, US, Canada and Brazil) for stays up to 15 days. The AVOI 2025 report separately names São Tomé and PrÃncipe as one of the most restrictive ECCAS members toward fellow Central African states.
It's required for non-exempt African nationalities.
Not established; eVisa reported single-entry, valid 30 days from issue, stay up to 30 days.
You can't get it on arrival. It has to be sorted before you fly.
Good to know
Resolved from 'unchecked'; sourcing here is a tertiary Wikipedia/VisaHQ compilation rather than the eVisaST portal itself, so fee and lead-time details should be confirmed against the primary portal before being treated as settled.
Sources
- Country scores and rankings, 2025African Development Bank / African Union Commission
- ECCAS regional note, São Tomé and PrÃncipe among the most restrictive to fellow membersAfrican Development Bank / African Union Commission
- Visa policy of São Tomé and PrÃncipe, mandatory visa/eVisa unless exemptWikipedia compilation of São Tomé and PrÃncipe immigration rules; corroborated by eVisaST portal description (VisaHQ)
Still confirming: Confirm the current exact exemption list and eVisa fee from the official eVisaST portal; Whether the eVisa is available to African nationalities outside the roughly eight-country exempt list, or whether they are pushed to embassy applications only
Checked 2026-08-15.
All 54 countries we cover
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- São Tomé and PrÃncipe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- The Gambia
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Travelling somewhere not listed yet?
We're adding new countries as we confirm the details. Join the Aerial View community and we'll let you know as new destinations, trips and travel guides go live.
Explore Aerial ViewRules 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.