Transit visa Ethiopia

Visa requirements in Ethiopia also apply to foreign transit passengers. Stay without entry permission is only allowed in the transit area of an airport and for a duration of maximum 6 hours. If you stay longer, you will need a transit visa.

German air passengers landing in Addis Ababa or Dire Dawa have the option to apply for a transit or tourist visa upon arrival. However, due to the infrastructure of the airports that needs improvement, long waiting times can be expected. Especially for transit stays that are already limited in time, it is recommended to apply for the visa before the trip. People crossing Ethiopia by land, must have the visa before the trip. Visas upon arrival are not available at the border crossings to or from Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti not.

The responsible points of contact for visa issuance are the Ethiopian foreign missions. We are happy to handle the application for your travel permit at the Embassy of Ethiopia in Berlin or the Consulate in Frankfurt am Main. You can conveniently send us your application documents by post, we will take care of everything else. We wish you a pleasant stopover in Ethiopia.

If you need a transit visa for Ethiopia, you are required to prove your intended onward travel. Ethiopian representations accept the main visa for your destination (by land) or booking confirmations for the outbound flight as evidence.

What validity do transit visas for Ethiopia have?

The validity of your entry permit depends on the information on the entry visa for your destination country or the data of the tickets for onward travel. Normally, after the visa is issued, you have only 14 days to enter. The departure must also take place within the validity period of the travel permit. Therefore, it is important not to apply for the visa too early. Ethiopian immigration authorities differentiate visas for transit based on the permitted length of stay. Higher fees apply for longer layovers. When applying for your visa, please consider the timing of your trip:

• up to 12 hours (single entry)
• up to 24 hours (single entry)
• up to 48 hours (single entry)
• up to 72 hours (single entry)
• every 24 hours (double entry)