Mozambique - Immigration
Officials in Mozambique are notorious for demanding they hold on to your passport (a ploy to extract money from you in order to get these documents back). If the return of passports becomes impossible, the South African Immigration officials are familiar with cruisers arriving from Mozambique without them. You may, therefore, decide to leave without them and have them reissued once in SA. Authorities here will issue you with a temporary travel document until such time as your local embassy can issue new documents.
The Mozambique Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that passports and other original documents are stored in a safe place and that certified photocopies are carried instead.
Immigration Procedures:
Passports must be valid for six months and there should be three blank pages in them.
On arrival Immigration officials will stamp your passport and then issue embarkation cards or shore passes to yachts in transit, instead of issuing visas. This is now standard practice up and down the coast. These shore passes usually have a limit of 30 days but can be extended. It is important to get an extension before the expiry date.
Other Visa Information:
In summer 2017, Mozambique introduced the possibility for tourists to buy visas at border posts. However, border visas should be considered an exception, not standard practice; they’re intended for visitors originating in countries where there is no Mozambican diplomatic mission to issue visas.
If you’re travelling from a country where there is Mozambican diplomatic or consular representation you should continue to apply for a visa before travelling. If you intend to ask for a border visa on arrival, you should be ready to explain clearly why you didn’t get a visa before travelling. Full details of the visa requirements and a list of the border posts which issue visas can be found at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website here.
Visa Validity
Single entry visas are valid for up to one month and are renewable to a maximum of 90 days provided application is made before the visa expires.
Multiple Entry Visas are valid for up to 90 days. It is recommended that those wishing to return to Mozambique after visiting the Kruger National Park in South Africa should apply for a multi-entry visa.
Last updated: September 2021
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To all,
I suggest to see this video from 19 min.: Bazaruto anchorage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_DChPX9OYQ&t=5s
We are at Bazaruto beach ( 7/11/2016) and the fisherman with red shirt is the village boss and the thief.
We were at our anchorage when they indicated us a new position. No problem, we changed our anchorage .
Any way, it was difficult to trust them ( they were well looking at our deck) and, over all, the very unfriendly boss. So when we had, after a while, the visit of a rangers boat ( two uniform of them on board and. we payed a modest Park fee) I asked them if the anchorage was safe. “ No problem, Sir, my family lives here at village on the shore”
We went ashore for a short walk with some gifts (colored pens, books ecc) for children.
Before sunset we hauled out the tender and we fixed it on right side (the outboard with little chain). The day after, at dawn, the outboard was disappeared. We sailed away immediately.
I hope this experience may help…over all, don’t stay alone for more one night anchorage.
Giovanni Testa
Sv EUTIKIA
For our Madagascar, Mahajanga armed robbery look at:
https://www.noonsite.com/report/madagascar-mahajanga-armed-robbery-october-2016/
Reported by Des Cason:
I have been involved in weather f/casting and route planning for yachts coming to SA via Madagascar/Reunion/Mauritius and so far have had 22 either safe in Richards Bay or still en route, in addition, the 15 ARC yachts en route from Reunion.
Having learnt from bitter experience to stay out of Mozambique I have consistently warned yachties about the corruption and crime with the recommendation to stay away. During the past 5-7 years the port operations were privatised which one would assume would be a good thing, but this just brought into play a more efficient ”mafia” to extort exorbitant fees etc. from defenceless yachties. Threats of attaching/impounding yachts and confiscation of passports were favourites.
The bright spot to this is a report received from SV PARMELIA (Italian registry) following a visit to Ilha D’Mozambique (14 59S 40 46E). He was advised that due to the negative effect corruption has had on tourism, the central government has clamped down with draconian measures and all of a sudden it is all happiness. The fees he was charged were reasonable and he had no hassle with officials who could not be more accommodating and helpful.
Whether this is a local anomaly or a sign of what we can expect at other ports (especially needed at Nacala which is a den of iniquity) we don’t know yet, but it is a bit of positive news out of Africa for a change. I will keep you posted on developments.
Regards,
Des