The visa · Namibia
Namibia
Namibia has a purpose-built Digital Nomad Visa run through the investment board, giving six months of legal remote work with no renewal. Since April 2025 most European, North American and Australasian passports need a visa on arrival, while South Africans, Brazilians and most SADC nationals still enter visa-free. The thing to know before applying: the tax authority taxes services performed on Namibian soil as Namibian-source income, so the nomad visa's promise of untaxed foreign earnings depends on a treaty and a day count.
- Nomad visa · September 2026YesRoutes4Bases0
- No city guide here yetthe bases
Remote jobs open to Namibia
Listings whose hiring region includes this country, newest first · apply on the board's own page
- SaaS Product Support JediEurope, EMEA, UK, Germany, France, European timezones
- Tier III Service Desk EngineerWorldwide
- Non-Linguistic QC (China / US Time Zone)Anywhere
- Devices & IOT Field Engineering ManagerAnywhere
- Senior Backend EngineerRemote job
- International Audio/Video Remote Armenian InterpreterAnywhere
- International Audio/Video Remote Arabic InterpretersAnywhere
- International Audio/Video Remote Afghani/Dari InterpreterAnywhere
The routes
Researched 6 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice
Nomad visa
Digital Nomad Visa
Namibia Digital Nomad Visa (English only; administered by the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security)
Remote employees, freelancers and self-employed professionals whose employer or clients are all outside Namibia and who want a single six-month stay rather than a base.
- Income floor
- USD 2,000 per month from sources outside Namibia for the main applicant, plus USD 1,000 per month for an accompanying spouse and USD 500 per month per child, evidenced by six months of bank statements and proof of income (NIPDB published figures).
- Duration
- Six months, single stay. Published as non-renewable; a fresh application may be made only 12 months after the expiry date.
- Cost
- NAD 3,300, payable after formal approval by the Ministry and before arrival. Some consular pages quote separate visa fees in local currency, so the exact amount collected can differ by mission.
- Processing
- No statutory or published processing time. Third-party guides in 2025 and 2026 report roughly three to four weeks from emailing the file to a decision; this is reported, not official.
- Eligibility
- Any nationality. Must work remotely for foreign employers or clients only, meet the income floor, hold valid international health or travel insurance covering the stay, hold a valid passport, and supply police clearance, a medical certificate and a radiological report. Local employment or seeking it is excluded.
- Work rights
- Remote work for companies or clients based outside Namibia only. Working for Namibian clients or taking Namibian employment is not permitted, as published by NIPDB.
- Dependants
- Spouse and children may accompany the holder; each needs their own form and the income floor rises by USD 1,000 for a spouse and USD 500 per child.
- Leads to
- No. Time on the visa is not published as counting towards permanent residence, and the visa cannot be extended in-country.
- Apply
- By email to the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (the address given in third-party guides is [email protected]; NIPDB's own page lists [email protected]), which reviews the file and forwards it to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security. Payment is made after approval and before travel.
Documents Visa application form 3-1/0033 (separate form for each dependant) · Medical certificate on form 3-1/0003 · Radiological report on form 31/0004 · Certified copy of passport · Proof of international health or travel insurance · Bank statements for the last six months · Proof of foreign income meeting the monthly floor · Police clearance certificate · Employer motivation letter, or equivalent for freelancers
Temporary stay
Visitor visa / online visa on arrival
Visa on Arrival (online or at port of entry), Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security
Short visits and scouting trips by nationals of states that have not reciprocated Namibia's visa exemption, including the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and most EU members.
- Income floor
- none published
- Duration
- Multiple-entry visitor stay. The permitted length was not confirmed on an official page during this research; commercial and consular guides describe visitor stays capped at 90 days in a calendar year. Extensions are handled by Ministry offices.
- Cost
- NAD 1,600 for non-African nationals and NAD 1,200 for African Union nationals; children aged 6 to 11 pay half and under-sixes are exempt. A NAD 400 service surcharge for applications made manually at the counter was announced in September 2025. Consular tourist visas at missions carry their own tariffs (the Geneva mission quotes CHF 80).
- Processing
- Online applications are made before travel on the Ministry e-services portal; at the border the visa is issued at one of 12 designated ports of entry including Hosea Kutako International Airport and Walvis Bay. No published turnaround time.
- Eligibility
- Nationals of the 33 states listed from 1 April 2025 plus the roughly 36 added in October 2025. Nationals not on either list, including India, Turkey and China, must obtain a visa from a Namibian mission before travel. Visitor entry does not confer any right to work.
- Work rights
- None published. The visitor category is for tourism and visits; remote work for a foreign employer on a visitor entry is not expressly permitted in published rules and the Digital Nomad Visa is the route the Ministry and NIPDB publish for it.
- Dependants
- Each traveller, including children, needs their own visa; reduced fees apply for minors.
- Leads to
- no
- Apply
- Online at the Ministry e-services portal before travel, or in person at 12 designated ports of entry; nationals not covered by the on-arrival scheme apply at a Namibian embassy or high commission.
Documents Passport valid beyond the stay · Online application on the Ministry e-services portal, or a form at the port of entry · Fee in NAD, payable online or at the counter
Long stay
General Employment Permit (work permit)
Employment Permit under the Immigration Control Act 7 of 1993
Foreigners with a Namibian employer willing to sponsor them after proving no suitable Namibian is available; not a route for location-independent workers.
- Income floor
- none published; the employer must show tax, social security and employment-equity compliance
- Duration
- Issued for two years and renewable for a further two years, as reported by immigration practitioners.
- Cost
- Reported figures differ between sources: a 2023 practitioner guide cites NAD 5,200 plus an application fee, while the Ministry's September 2026 announcement states the General Employment Permit fee is NAD 2,600. Treat the figure as disputed until confirmed with the Ministry.
- Processing
- Eight to ten weeks for a long-term permit as reported by practitioners; short-term permits of up to six months are faster. No statutory time.
- Eligibility
- A confirmed job offer, compulsory labour-market testing (the post advertised in three national newspapers for two weeks and checked against the Ministry of Labour database), police clearance, medical and radiological reports, and an employer registered and compliant with Namibian tax and social security.
- Work rights
- Local employment for the sponsoring employer only.
- Dependants
- Spouses and children may apply for dependant permits linked to the principal holder, as reported by immigration firms; no official dependant rules were retrieved.
- Leads to
- Permanent residence is available under the Immigration Control Act after a period of lawful residence; the ten-year figure is quoted by immigration firms, not retrieved from an official page.
- Apply
- Through the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, with short-term work visas handled on the e-services portal.
Documents Passport and photographs · Comprehensive CV with at least two reference letters · Police clearance certificate · Medical certificate and radiological report · Employment contract and employer registration documents · Employer tax compliance and social security good-standing certificates · Evidence of local labour-market testing
Investor
Employment Permit to Conduct a Business (Investor Permit)
Employment Permit to Conduct a Business, under amended Regulation 17 of the Immigration Control Act 7 of 1993
Foreign investors and business owners, plus their core staff, whose investor status has been confirmed by the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board; relevant to a nomad only if they intend to set up a Namibian company.
- Income floor
- No investment threshold has been published; NIPDB conducts an economic evaluation and impact assessment of the proposed business.
- Duration
- Up to five years, compared with the two-year standard employment permit. Renewal terms not yet published.
- Cost
- NAD 2,600 on approval, the same fee as the General Employment Permit.
- Processing
- Not published. The process is NIPDB assessment, then referral to the Chief of Immigration and the Immigration Selection Board for the final decision.
- Eligibility
- Confirmed investor status from NIPDB; applications are submitted manually. Non-qualifying foreigners continue to use the General Employment Permit.
- Work rights
- The permit itself serves as work authorisation for conducting the approved business in Namibia.
- Dependants
- Immigration firms report that spouses and children under 21 may obtain dependant visas; not confirmed on the official announcement.
- Leads to
- Immigration firms report eligibility for permanent residence after ten years of continuous lawful residence; not confirmed on an official page.
- Apply
- Manually through NIPDB, contact [email protected], which recommends to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security.
Documents Prescribed application forms available from NIPDB and the Ministry · Business plan and supporting documents for NIPDB's economic evaluation · Passport and standard immigration medical, radiological and police-clearance papers
Without a visa, by passport
The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated
- EU / EEA / SwitzerlandVisa required since 1 April 2025 for most member states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, plus Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia from October 2025); obtainable online or on arrival for NAD 1,600. Other EU states should check the Ministry list.Visitor entry carries no work right; remote work on it is not expressly addressed in published rules and is at best grey. The Digital Nomad Visa is the published route.
- United KingdomVisa required since 1 April 2025; online or on arrival, NAD 1,600, multiple entry.Remote work on a visitor entry is not published as permitted; grey. Nomad visa is the published route.
- United StatesVisa required since 1 April 2025; online or on arrival, NAD 1,600.Same as above: no published tolerance for remote work on a visitor stay.
- CanadaVisa required since 1 April 2025; online or on arrival, NAD 1,600.Not published as permitted; grey.
- AustraliaVisa required since 1 April 2025; online or on arrival, NAD 1,600.Not published as permitted; grey. New Zealand is treated the same way.
- IndiaVisa required, and India is not on the online visa-on-arrival list; apply at a Namibian mission before travel.Remote work on a visitor visa is not published as permitted.
- BrazilVisa-free for visits.Visa-free entry is for tourism; remote work on it is not expressly permitted. The Digital Nomad Visa applies equally to visa-exempt nationals.
- South AfricaVisa-free for visits, as for other SADC nationals (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola).No published work right on a visa-free visit; grey for remote work, and Namibian-source rules and the South Africa treaty's 183-day test apply to anyone working from Namibian soil.
- JapanVisa required since 1 April 2025; online or on arrival, NAD 1,600.Not published as permitted; grey.
- TurkeyVisa required and not on the visa-on-arrival list; apply at a mission before travel.Not published as permitted.
- Singapore / Malaysia / Hong Kong / Indonesia / RussiaVisa-free for visits, per the Ministry's exemption list.Tourism only as published; remote work not expressly addressed.
Tax
When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer
- Residency trigger
- Namibia taxes on a source basis, not residence, and the Income Tax Act 24 of 1981 contains no general day-count residency test. What matters is where the income arises: section 15(1)(e) deems income from services rendered or work performed in Namibia to be Namibian-source regardless of who pays or where. Consequently a remote worker physically working in Namibia can in principle be within the Namibian net from day one, unless a treaty gives relief. The tax year runs 1 March to 28 or 29 February; for 2025/26 the first NAD 100,000 is taxed at 0 percent and the top rate is 37 percent above NAD 1,550,000.
- Special regime
- None. There is no nomad or newcomer tax regime. NIPDB and third-party guides present the Digital Nomad Visa as allowing foreign earnings to remain untaxed in Namibia; tax practitioners point to the services-rendered deeming rule as cutting the other way. The two positions are in tension and no ruling reconciling them was found.
- Social security
- Social Security Commission Maternity, Sick Leave and Death Benefit contributions are 0.9 percent from the employee and 0.9 percent from the employer on basic salary, on a ceiling of NAD 11,000 a month rising to NAD 12,500 from 1 September 2026 (maximum NAD 112.50 each), with a NAD 4.50 minimum. The scheme is built around Namibian employers; no published rule requires a nomad-visa holder paid abroad to contribute, and no certificate-of-coverage mechanism with foreign systems was found.
- Treaties
- Double-taxation agreements are in force with South Africa, Botswana, Mauritius, the United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Romania, France, India and Malaysia. Under the employment article a treaty-resident employee of a non-resident employer with no Namibian permanent establishment is typically relieved if present no more than 183 days in the tax year, which fits inside a six-month nomad visa. Nationals of non-treaty states, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil, have no such relief and rely on the source rules alone.
Practicalities
- Bank account
- No published route for opening a Namibian account on a six-month nomad visa; banks apply Financial Intelligence Act know-your-customer rules requiring identity and proof of address. Most nomads run on foreign cards; the Namibian dollar is pegged one-to-one to the South African rand, which is also legal tender.
- SIM registration
- Mandatory since the Communications Regulatory Authority deadline of 31 March 2024; foreigners register with a passport and proof of address, and unregistered SIMs were suspended from 1 April 2024.
- Health insurance
- Valid international health or comprehensive travel insurance covering the whole stay is a documentary requirement for the Digital Nomad Visa; there is no state scheme open to visitors.
- Address registration
- No municipal address registration for foreigners was found in published rules; the immigration file records the intended Namibian address.
- Tax number
- Registration with the Namibia Revenue Agency is through its ITAS online system and is required where Namibian-source income arises or a Namibian employer operates PAYE; nomad-visa holders with only foreign earnings are not published as needing to register.
- Overstay penalties
- Overstaying is an offence under the Immigration Control Act 7 of 1993 exposing the person to prosecution, fines or detention; specific fine amounts were not retrieved. The Ministry ran a one-month amnesty from 15 December 2025 to 15 January 2026 letting overstayers report and leave on a 120-hour departure notice without penalty.
Namibia: a six-month nomad visa, a reciprocity-driven visa-on-arrival regime and source-based tax
Where remote workers base and why
Windhoek is the practical base: it has the country's only reliable fibre and the international airport, and it is where NIPDB and the Ministry sit if a file needs chasing. Swakopmund on the coast is the second choice for people who want a smaller town with decent connectivity. Outside those two, mobile data is the norm and the appeal is the landscape rather than the desk.
The six-month cap with a twelve-month wait before reapplying shapes how people use the country. It suits a single season, often the southern winter from May to September, rather than a rolling base. The Namibian dollar's peg to the rand keeps day-to-day costs predictable for anyone paid in a major currency.
What applicants report about the process
The Digital Nomad Visa is an email application to NIPDB, which vets the file and passes it to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security for the decision. The government publishes no processing time; guides written in 2025 and 2026 report about three to four weeks, and the fee of NAD 3,300 is paid only after approval and before travel.
The form numbers matter. The Ministry's medical certificate and radiological report are its own prescribed forms, and applicants report that files without them are returned. The employer motivation letter is a Namibian immigration convention carried over from work permits; freelancers substitute client contracts and invoices.
For the visitor route the change that catches people out is the April 2025 reciprocity decision. Passports that entered freely for decades now need a visa, and the online route through the Ministry portal avoids the counter surcharge and the queue at Hosea Kutako. Indian, Turkish and Chinese passports are not on the on-arrival list at all and must go to a mission first.
Tax and money
Namibia does not tax by residence, so the familiar 183-day question does not arise in domestic law. The catch is the deeming rule that treats work physically performed in Namibia as Namibian-source income. Practitioners writing in 2026 read this as reaching a foreign-paid employee working from Windhoek, while the visa's promoters treat foreign earnings as outside the net. Treaty residents of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, India, South Africa and a handful of others can usually rely on the 183-day employment-article relief within a six-month stay; United States, Canadian, Australian and Brazilian nationals have no treaty and should expect to argue the source point if it is ever raised.
Social security is an employer-based scheme with a low ceiling and does not, as published, reach a nomad paid from abroad. Banking on a six-month visa is difficult and most people run on foreign cards; rand notes are accepted everywhere.
What is changing
The 2026 reform energy is aimed at investors rather than nomads: the new five-year business permit routes through NIPDB in the same way the nomad visa does, and the minister has framed it as modernising immigration administration. Nothing published in 2026 alters the nomad visa's six-month, non-renewable design, its USD 2,000 floor or its NAD 3,300 fee.
The visa-on-arrival list has grown twice in eighteen months and the Ministry has signalled it will keep expanding on a reciprocity basis, so the entry position of any given passport is worth rechecking on the Ministry portal before travel.
Researched from nipdb.com · nipdb.com · missionofnamibia.ch · atta.travel · visasnews.com · thebrief.com.na · visasupdate.com · taxsummaries.pwc.com · ajm.inc · afriwise.com · the authority