Malawi: The government of Malawi through the Ministry of Homeland Security has announced Visa Waivers for 48 new countries as of February 2024. The list of nations permitted to travel Visa Free to Malawi has been recently updated by the Ministry of Homeland Security in February 2024.
The list was made public by the ministry on February 7.
The Malawi Government has gazetted the Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2024, granting visa waivers to 48 nations. The list includes names of Malawi’s close and cherished allies, including Germany, the USA, the UK, Ghana, the Maldives, and France, among others.
The visa waivers also extend to 11 Caribbean Nations as of 2024. The names of the visa-free Caribbean Nations have been listed below:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Barbados
- Bahamas
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Jamaica
- St Kitt and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- St Vincent and The Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
The aim of the Visa Waivers is to boost the trade and tourism of the country and promote it as a notable tourist attraction for the rest of the world. Tourism is one of the most profitable and important sectors of a nation’s economy.
It leads to the creation of a number of jobs for the people of the country and strengthens the economy, leading to an improved standard of living. The Malawi Government has gazetted the Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2024, granting visa waivers to 48 nations.
The step was taken by the administration after the president of the country, Lazarus Chakwera announced Visa Waivers for some nations including, the United States and the United Kingdom in February 2023.
After careful considerations and deliberations, the Homeland security ministry has gone further to include other countries to the list. The complete list of countries has been specified in the Immigration (Amendment) Regulations, 2024.
The complete list of countries which do not need a Visa to travel to Malawi for short stays includes:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Belize Papua
- Brunei Samoa (Western)
- Canada
- China
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gambia
- Germany
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Kiribati
- Malaysia
- Maldives Island
- Malta
- Nauru
- Netherlands
- New Guinea
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Solomon Island
- Sri Lanka
- St Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sweden
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tuvalu
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
Nationals from all over can travel to Malawi without obtaining a visa prior to their travel. The new law will help in easing travel to Malawi for business, trade and tourism. The initiative taken by the Chakwera led administration will increase the footfall of travellers to the nation.
The new development will give a boost to the Trade and Tourism Sector of the country and highlight Malawi as a destination for investment and travel in the African continent. The Visa Waivers came into effect starting February 2024. The administration and local population of the country are extremely happy with the development of the country.
Some nationals of Malawi expressed their views on the step taken by the Chakwera led administration on their social media. One of the users applauded the initiative, saying:
Tourism must be taken very serious as it is the number one source of job creation world wide. Utilize the lake shores of Lake Malawi. The social media user urged the administration to build more government funded hotels, B&b, Restaurants and lease them to impower locals.